Shohei Ohtani

Image Credits:- Getty Images



Shohei Ohtani is a Japanese professional baseball two way player for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball. He previously played for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball's (NPB) Pacific League. Shohei is nicknamed “Shotime,” and his love for the sport is so immense that in Japan, he is known as "yakyū shōnen"—a kid who lives, eats, and breathes baseball.

Shohei Ohtani hails from Oshu, Japan and made his MLB debut on March 29, 2018 with the Los Angeles Angels. He has established himself as one of the top-notch players in the league, excellent in both pitching and batting. Throughout his NPB career, he has accomplished numerous achievements for himself. In MLB, he is already a 3-time MLB All-Star player, 2 times AL MVP, 3 times Edgar Martinez Award winner, and 2 times Silver Slugger Award winner. Ohtani has also recently been compared to Babe Ruth because of his playing skills. With 608 strikeouts in 481.2 innings and 171 home runs with 437 RBIs in his career so far, he has proved to be one of the most consistent and reliable players of the teams that he has played for. The 2024 MLB season with the Los Angeles Dodgers can see him taking his talents to new heights.

Shohei Ohtani's Personal Information

NameShohei Ohtani
Age29 years old (as of March 2024)
DOBJuly 5, 1994
NationalityJapanese
Mother NameKayoko Ohtani
Father nameToru Ohatani
ProfessionBaseball Player
Net Worth$60 million (approximately)
Height6'4" (193 cm)
Weight210 lbs (95 kg)
EducationHanamki Higashi High School
Relationship StatusMarried to Mamiko Tanaka

Shohei Ohtani's Early Life

Shohei Ohtani awas born and grew up in Oshu, Japan. He attended Hanamaki Higashi High School in Iwate Prefecture, Japan, and played baseball for his school team. He was also into swimming and could have been on the Olympic team according to his baseball coach. He learned to play baseball under the guidance of his father Toru Ohtani and his high school coach Hiroshi Sasaki. Ohtani started his professional baseball career with the Hokkaido-Nippon Ham Fighters of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) after they drafted him in the 2012 NPB draft. He made his team debut on March 29, 2013, and stayed with the team from 2013-2017. Throughout his 5 seasons in the NPB, Ohtani scored 48 home runs and 166 RBIs with 13 stolen bases and a batting average of .286. He also scored 316 strikeouts. Notably, he won the Japan Series in 2016 and also became the Pacific League MVP in 2016. He was also a 5-time NBL All-Star from 2013-2017. He was also the WBSC Player of the Year in 2015.

After Ohtani's NPB career, he signed his first contract with the Los Angeles Angels on December 9, 2017. He finally arrived in the MLB on Opening Day with the Los Angeles Angels on March 29, 2018.

Shohei Ohtani's Personal Life

Shohei Ohtani's personal life consists of his family members his parents, Toru Ohtani and Kayoko Ohtani. He also has an elder sister named Yuka Ohtani and an elder brother named Ryuta Ohtani. Shohei Ohtani recently married his wife Mamiko Tanaka, a basketball player from Japan. His favorite pitcher is Yu Darvish and his favorite hitter is Hideki Matsui. Ohtani can speak English and Spanish but he prefers to communicate through his interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara.

Shohei Ohtani has also involved himself in giving back to his community off the field. He has partnered with the Tohoku Earthquake Children's Relief Fund to support the citizens who were affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami.

Shohei Ohtani has also teamed up with the Japan Heart Foundation and helps the organization fight cardiovascular disease among Japanese citizens through donations.

Ohtani recently also donated approximately 60,000 baseball gloves to around 20,000 elementary schools in Japan. He wants kids to have a happy time playing baseball.

Shohei Ohtani's Family Background

Shohei Ohtani's family background consists of his father Toru Ohtani, his mother Kayoko Ohtani, his elder sister Yuka Ohtani and his elder brother Ryuta Ohtani. His parents are former athletes themselves.

Toru Ohtani is the father of Shohei Ohtani. He is a former amateur baseball player at the Japanese Industrial League. He also worked at a nearby automobile manufacturing plant. He coached Shohei Ohtani in baseball from elementary school to junior high school. He used to keep a notebook for advising his son on his strenghts and weaknesses as a player. He also kept his son humbled and encouraged him to work harder to get better at the game. He helped his son understand the basic concepts of the game and how he can make better decisions on the field. Shohei Ohtani still keeps his father's advice in his mind during his games.

Kayoko Ohtani is the mother of Shohei Ohtani. She is a former amateur badminton player. She would take her youngest Shohei Ohtani with her to the badminton court wghen he was a child. There he played with the badminton equipment while she practiced her game. He learned how to swing better from swinging racquets according to his mother. Ohtani had stated that his mother is a much better badminton player than he is and he could never defeat her in a badminton game.

Ryuta Ohtani is the elder brother of Shohei Ohtani. He is also a baseball player and a coach for Toyota Motor East Japan Inc. in the Japanese Industrial League. His father, Toru Ohtani regrets that he could not give enough time to his older son Ryuta Ohtani, as he had given to his younger son Shohei Ohtani due to demanding hours at work.

Yuka Ohtani is the elder sister of Shohei Ohtani. She, as per online sources is a former volleyball player and presently works as a nurse.

Shohei Ohtani's Wife

Shohei Ohtani with Mamiko Tanaka, Image Credits:- X, @Dodgers

Shohei Ohatani is married to his wife Mamiko Tanaka. She is a professional women's basketball player for the Fujitsu Red Wave in the Women's Japan Basketball League. The couple got married secretly after Shohei Ohtani informed his fans about his marriage on February 29, 2024, through his Instagram account. Later, the Los Angeles Dodgers team officially confirmed their marriage. Ohtani has described his wife as someone very special to him. The couple are now excited to start the next chapter of their lives.

Shohei Ohtani's Kids

Shohei Ohtani and his wife Mamiko Tanaka do not have any children as of yet.

Shohei Ohtani's Social Media

Shohei Ohtani has a limited presence on social media. His Instagram account is called @shoheiohtani and it has 55 posts and 7.7M followers in it. He mostly posts about his professional baseball career on this account.

Shohei Ohtani's Net Worth

Shohei Ohtani, as per online sources, is estimated to have a net worth of approximately $60 million as of 2024. This net worth is mostly from his outstanding baseball career, increase in salary, multiple endorsement deals, brand ambassador deals, and investments.

The table below provides an overview of Ohtani net worth over the last few years.

YearNet Worth
2023$52 million
2022$44 million
2021$37 million

Shohei Ohtani as a Brand Ambassador

Shohei Ohtani has been selected as a brand ambassador for Dip Corporation, a Japanese Internet job agency. He has also been selected as a baseball game ambassador by Konami to celebrate the 30th anniversary of video game series Power Pros and the 20th anniversary of the video game series Professional Baseball Spirits.

Shohei Ohtani also has multiple endorsement deals in place with brands like Japan Airlines, New Balance, Aquarius Sports Drink, Kose, Churu, Panini, MLB The Show'22, Topps, Hugo Boss, Oakley, Salesforce, Nishikawa (mattresses), Kowa, Seiko Watch Corp. Mitsubishi Financial Group, Asics and Descente Athletics. He earnes around $35 million from these deals as per Forbes.

Shohei Ohtani's Investments

Shohei Ohtani has invested in TMRW Sports, a sports media & technology company in 2022. He invested in the Seed VC Round.

Shohei Ohtani's Career Stats

Shohei Ohtani is presently one of the best two players available in MLB. After impressing the fans with his performance with the Los Angeles Angels, he is set to do the same with the Los Angeles Dodgers 2024 MLB season onwards. The tables below detail his career stats so far.

Hitting Stats

Categories Career Regular Season Stats
At-Bats 2483
Runs 428
Hits 681
Home Runs 171
Runs Batted in (RBIs)437
Stolen Bases 86
Batting Average .274
On-Base Percentage (.OBP).366
On-Base Percentage Plus Slugging Percentage (.OPS).922

Source:- mlb.com

Pitching Stats

Categories Career Regular Season Stats
Wins 38
Losses 19
Earned Run Average (ERA)3.01
Games 86
Games Started 86
Saves 0
Innings Pitched 481.2
Strikeouts 608
Walks Plus Hits Per Innings Pitched (WHIP)1.08

Source:- mlb.com

Shohei Ohtani's Achievements

Shohei Ohtani has already made a huge impact in MLB through his excellent two-way baseball skills. Accordingly, he has accomplished a lot so far in his career. The table discusses his achievements in detail.

Years Achievements
2018AL Player of the Week Award winner (April 8, 2018 and September 9, 2018), AL Rookie of the Month Award winner (April 2018 and September 2018), Baseball America Major League All-Rookie Team member, Baseball America Major League Rookie of the Year Award winner, Jackie Robinson AL Rookie of the Year Award winner.
2019Hit for the cycle on June 13, 2019
2021 1st MLB All-Star game appearance, AL Player of the Week Award winner (June 20, 2021 and July 4, 2021), AL Player of the Month Award winner (June 2021 and July, 2021), Participated in Home Run Derby, AL All-Star Award winner, Baseball America Major League Player of the Year Award winner, Commissioner's Historic Achievement Award winner, MLB Players Choice AL Outstanding Player Award winner, MLB Players Choice Player of the Year Award winner, AL Silver Slugger Award winner, AL MVP Award winner, All-MLB First Team member, All-MLB Second Team member, Edgar Martinez Outstanding DH of the Year Award winner, AP Male Athlete of the Year Award winner.
2022 2nd MLB All-Star game appearance, AL All-Star Award winner, All-MLB First Team member, All-MLB Second Team member, Edgar Martinez Outstanding DH of the Year Award winner.
20233rd MLB All-Star game appearance, AL Player of the Week Award winner (June 18, 2023, July 2, 2023 and July 30, 2023), AL Player of the Month Award winner (June 2023 and July 2023), AL All-Star Award winner, Baseball America Major League Player of the Year Award winner, MLB Players Choice AL Outstanding Player Award winner, AL Silver Slugger Award winner, AL MVP Award winner, All-MLB First Team member, All-MLB Second Team member, Edgard Martinez Outstanding DH of the Year Award winner, AP Male Athlete of the Year Award winner, AL Hank Aaron Award winner, World Baseball Classic Pool B MVP Award winner, World Baseball Classic MVP Award winner, WBC All-Tournament Team member.

Source:- mlb.com

Shohei Ohtani's Contract

Shohei Ohtani will earn $70,000,000 from the 2024 MLB season. He signed a 10-year $700,000,000 contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers on December 9, 2023. Based on this contract, he has been guaranteed the same amount as an annual average salary. The contract has a full no-trade clause His adjusted salary with the team is $2,000,000. This contract will extend till the 2033 season following which, Ohtani will kick in his unrestricted free agency in 2034.

Talking about Shohei Ohtani's contract history, he first signed his contract with the Los Angeles Angels on December 9, 2017, for which, he received a signing bonus of $2,315,000. He next signed a 1-year $650,000 contract with the team on March 12, 2019. Then, he signed a 1-year contract worth $700,000 with the team on March 11, 2020. He avoided arbitration and signed a 2-year contract worth $8.5 million with the team on February 8, 2021. Then, he again avoided arbitration and signed a 1-year $30 million contract with the team on October 1, 2022. The team extended a $20.325 million qualifying offer to him on November 6, 2023, which he rejected on November 14, 2023. This led to Shohei Ohtani signing his latest contract in December 2023.

Shohei Ohtani's Diet

Shohei Ohtani follows a strict diet plan. He consumes thigh meat, fillet meat, or white meat in the case of chicken. Additionally, he also consumes various seafood like tuna, salmon, and white fish. These foods provide him with 60 grams of protein during each meal. For him, eating is not a culinary requirement. It helps him to fuel up his body. He also has the same approach towards alcoholic drinks. He has stated that despite enjoying the taste of alcohol, he does not drink it as it does not help him in keeping up his physical fitness. However, he has a soft corner for chocolate. Even in this case, he balances it with his nutritional diet and does not eat chocolate at night.

Shohei Ohtani's House

Shohei Ohtani is extremely private and has not disclosed any details about his house in the public sphere during his tenure with the Los Angeles Angels. However, there have rumors that he resides somewhere near Newport Coast in Newport Beach, California, United States. Ohtani however, has not confirmed this fact.

Shohei Ohtani's Cars

Shohei Ohtani has multiple luxurious cars in his collection. This includes a Tesla Model X SUV which was his first car. He also has a Bentley Continental GT, a Rolls Royce Wraith, an Aston Martin DB11, a Porsche Carrera S and a Mercedes Benz S63 AMG.



Shohei Ohtani FAQs

Q. Which team does Shohei Ohtani play for?

A. Shohei Ohtani will play for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2024.

Q. What is Shohei Ohtani's salary?

A. Shohei Ohtani's salary as of 2024 is $60 million.

Q. What is Shohei Ohtani's age?

A. Shohei Ohtani's age is 29 years as of March 2024.

Q. Does Shohei Ohtani have any experience playing in MLB All-Star games?

A. Shohei Ohtani is a well-known competitor in MLB All-Star competitions. He took part in the 2021, 2022, and 2023 seasons.

Q. Q. In a single season, how many home runs has Shohei Ohtani hit?

A. Shohei Ohtani created history in the 2022 game between two American League MVP awards by hitting 30 home runs and winning 10 pitching games in a single big league season, an unprecedented accomplishment.