Here’s what you need to know about the 6ft 4in (1.93m), overly polite yet brutally analytical superstar who is breaking records with each game.

Biography

Shohei Ohtani was born on July 5, 1994, in Oshu, Iwate Prefecture, Japan, with a “very ordinary” upbringing, according to his father. Idolising former Japanese MLB star Ichiro Suzuki, Ohtani made a name at the Hanamaki Higashi High School. By 17, he had broken the national high school pitch speed record – 160km/h – and became a scout and fan favourite.

In 2012, Ohtani was drafted by the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters as the number one overall pick in the 2012 Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) Pacific League Draft.

It did not take long for the lanky teen to garner a reputation as a two-way phenom. He was 2016 Series champion and MVP, a five-time All-Star, and record-holder for the fastest pitch in NPB history at 165km/h (breaking his own record from 2014). He was already in the “Samurai Japan” national team, famously smashing a ball through the Tokyo Dome roof in a game against the Netherlands the same year.

But the worldwide anticipation was immediately put on hold after Ohtani was diagnosed with a UCL injury in his right elbow. He was hit by injury again, this time requiring Tommy John surgery after doctors discovered new damage to the UCL. He was named American League Rookie of the Year two months later despite his pitching limitations.

Though he became the first Japanese-born player in MLB history to hit for the cycle (single, double, triple and home run in the same game), Ohtani called his injury- and Covid-19-impacted 2020 season “pathetic” while reflecting to Kyodo.

Ohtani truly announced himself to the world in 2021. Fully fit and desperate to prove the hype, he became the first player in almost a century to start on the mound while simultaneously leading the league’s home run table – then-New York Yankees star Ruth had done so in 1921. He also overtook Hideki Matsui’s 2004 record for most home runs by a Japanese-born player in an MLB season.

In July, he would become number one seed at the Home Run Derby – the first Japan-born player to feature – and make history as the first All-Star to play as both a pitcher and hitter. “That doesn’t happen, like, ever. What he’s doing is kind of unheard of … it’s pretty spectacular to watch,” said Angels manager Joe Madden.

Family and background

Ohtani’s father Toru was an avid corporate team player while his mother Kayoko played badminton for the same firm. He has two older siblings, Ryuta and Yuka, the former an aspiring baseball player turned corporate team coach. The Ohtanis were based in Oshu, a farm town in rural Iwate, north of Tokyo.

Ohtani was reportedly an active child who fell in love with baseball in primary school. He joined his first team in early secondary, with his father also becoming a team coach, and started to take notes and analyse performances. Both Ohtani and his brother had aspired to reach the big leagues.

“If only I had worked together with [Ryuta] more … I’ve got to give Shohei what I couldn’t give his older brother,” Toru told Mainichi before his US move.

Though he has integrated admirably in terms of baseball, Otahni encounters the occasional language or cultural barrier. He prefers to communicate officially via trusty interpreter Ippei Mizuhara.

In contrast, several analysts from Japan and the US believe Ohtani’s ability to hit 470-foot home runners, yet remain gracious and well-mannered, is the perfect poster boy for a still-globalising league.

Records and statistics

That Ohtani is an early feature on the mound while being a designated hitter is an extremely rare sight in the sport’s top league – he was the first pitcher to bat second for a team since 1903, and this is from a team that boasts serial stat-breaker Mike Trout.

“I came here to do the two-way thing. That’s a big motivation for me, to try to prove to everyone I’m capable of it,” he told The New York Times upon arrival.

Ohtani hit his first MLB homer in his first career game in April, second the following day, and third the day after, a feat no Angels rookie had accomplished before. The same month, he was the first since the Ruthian era to start a game on the mound while leading home runs.

To put his ascent into perspective, no player has ever made 30 home runs and start as a pitcher 10 times in one year. Ohtani did so in 81 games. Only he and Ruth have made multiple starts on the mound while leading in homers, but the Yankees great had never reached such accomplishments in pitching.

“You have to go back to Mr Ruth to draw any comparisons,” Maddon told MLB. “We all romanticise what it would have been like to watch Babe Ruth play. He pitched, really? I mean, you hear this stuff and it’s a larger-than-life thought or concept. Now we’re living it. So don’t underestimate what we’re seeing.”

Net worth and endorsements

Four years into his US stint and Ohtani is earning around US$6 million in annual endorsements, the highest of all league players, according to Forbes. In fact, his reported US$10 million in Japanese endorsements means he is also widening the lead for the most marketable.

However, it is of note that Ohtani’s Angels salary of around US$12.3 million is less than the US$20 million posting fee that the team paid the Nippon-Ham Fighters to secure the deal.

If he had waited until he was 25 before moving to the US, Ohtani would have forgone the league’s international player signing restrictions. Forbes reported that the Boston Red Sox asked Ohtani to hold off so they could secure a more financially attractive deal but he was adamant on moving at the time.