The Los Angeles Dodgers scheduled Shohei Ohtani’s introductory press conference at Dodger Stadium for 3 p.m. PT on Thursday afternoon. When taking into account time zone changes, Ohtani’s first appearance as a member of the Dodgers is taking place at 8 a.m. in Japan.
Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman is going to accompany Ohtani in the center field plaza. It’s going to be at least Ohtani’s third trip to Dodger Stadium in December.
The first known visit was at the beginning of the month, which Dodgers manager Dave Roberts revealed during the Winter Meetings in Nashville. That caused a media firestorm due to Ohtani’s free agency process up to that point being shrouded in secrecy and no team official going on the record to discuss meeting the two-way superstar.
“I would like to be honest, and so we met with Shohei and we talked and I think it went well,” Roberts said. “I think it went well. But at the end of the day he’s his own man and he’s going to do what’s best for himself, where he feels most comfortable.
“I don’t feel like lying is something that I do. I was asked a question, and yeah, I think to be forthright in this situation, we kept it quiet, but I think that it’s going to come out at some point that we met, and it obviously already has. So, I don’t think myself or anyone in our organization would want to lie about it.”
Ohtani has since been reported as being among the players involved in the Dodgers’ free agency pitch to Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Will Smith reportedly attended Tuesday’s meeting at Dodger Stadium as well.
How to watch Dodgers’ Ohtani press conference
The Shohei Ohtani press conference is going to be televised live by SportsNet LA, and MLB Network is hosting a live show of “MLB Tonight” from Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers may announce plans to live stream it as well.
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