Baseball star Shohei Ohtani has surprisingly revealed that he is married.
Ohtani wrote in Japanese on Instagram on Thursday: “The season is coming to a close but I would like to let everyone know that I got married.”
He said, without revealing her identity, that his new wife is a “Japanese lady”. He said he would reveal more in an interview. Possibly at the Los Angeles Dodgers’ spring training location.
Ohtani, 29, is Japan’s biggest celebrity and has always been the subject of curiosity about his personal life, which he has always kept very private. His focus, and his image, have always been 100% baseball – free of scandals or tabloid news.
Shohei Ohtani moved from the Los Angeles Angels to the Dodgers in December in a record-breaking $700 million contract over 10 years.
“I started a new chapter in my career with the Dodgers, but I also started a new life with someone from my native Japan who is very special to me,” he wrote.
He asked the media to refrain from doing “unauthorized interviews”.
The post on Instagram included a photo of her dog “Decopan,” also known as “Decoy.”
He wrote: “We hope that the two of us – and an animal – will work together.”
The news broke at midnight in North America, and late afternoon in Japan where it was the immediate top story on local television.
Local television reports daily on his training in the United States and, due to his unprecedented success in North America, he has become the pride of Japan, and the Dodgers have become Japan’s de facto team.
Ohtani is training in Arizona for the Major League Baseball season, preparing for the Dodgers to open a two-game series against the San Diego Padres on March 20-21 in Seoul, South Korea.
Ohtani just had surgery on his right elbow and will not pitch this season. He will be used as a designated hitter, and there is a possibility that he could play in the field.
In his spring training start this week, he hit a two-run home run against the Chicago White Sox.
Ohtani has hit 171 home runs – 44 last season – and has a career batting average of .274. His record as a pitcher is 38-19 in five seasons. He missed the 2019 season due to elbow surgery and has a career ERA of 3.01.
He was the American League Rookie of the Year in 2018 and the American League MVP in 2021 and 2023, and has often been compared to Babe Ruth for his skills as a two-way player.