Shohei Ohtani and wife Mamiko Tanaka announced last month that they are expecting their first child together, capping off an eventful 2024 for the Los Angeles Dodgers MVP.
Ohtani revealed the news through an Instagram post, which featured a picture of a baby outfit and shoes, ultrasound image with an emoji covering it, and the couple’s dog, Decoy/Decopin (Dekopin).
Ohtani is set to become the newest Dodgers father, joining Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy and Will Smith, among others.
Betts has two kids and joked that Ohtani should take advantage of sleeping in before his first child arrives, via Stephen Wade of the Associated Press:
“He should get his sleep now,” Betts said, speaking Tuesday in Tokyo. “Because when the baby comes he won’t get any.”
As any parent would attest, it is difficult to sleep when a new child is brought into the family. Betts is giving Ohtani some friendly advice as he prepares for fatherhood.
After a historic 2024 season, the upcoming campaign could potentially be even more special for Ohtani. In addition to expecting his first child, the two-way star is on track to return to the mound this year.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts recently indicated that Ohtani could potentially make his 2025 debut as a pitcher in May. This should allow the 30-year-old to get through the full season and playoffs without the team needing to shut him down.
Ohtani is also looking to help the Dodgers become the first team since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees to repeat as World Series champions.
Dodgers feel ‘responsibility’ to fulfill promise to Shohei Ohtani
When Ohtani signed with the Dodgers, he accepted unprecedented deferrals in his contract with the understanding that the team would put the savings to good use.
L.A. lived up to their end of the bargain by adding Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Teoscar Hernández, Tyler Glasnow before the 2024 season, all of whom were instrumental to the team winning the World Series that year.
“It’s a difficult question to answer because before we signed Shohei, we had the commitment from ownership and drive to do what we can to be aggressive and be great,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman answered when asked how much of an impact Ohtani’s deferrals have on the Dodgers’ ability to add talent in free agency.
“Obviously, adding a player of Shohei’s talent helps in that quite a bit and also the pledge that we made when we met with him about how aggressive we were going to be in trying to win. We feel some responsibility and obligation to fulfill that. But I think no matter what, our mindset was to be aggressive to add to the core that we have.
“Fortunately we don’t have to spend much time thinking about that alternate reality of not having Shohei. Again, that pledge and commitment we made to him, we take it seriously.”
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