On a night that was as much a celebration of Japan as a festive start to the 2025 MLB season, Shohei Ohtani, a player so gifted he has bent the sport to his otherworldly will, noticed something strange.
He was nervous.
“I don’t usually feel nervous about hitting,” the Los Angeles Dodgers star said after the team’s 4-1 win over the Chicago Cubs in the MLB season opener at Tokyo Dome on Tuesday night. “I felt like I didn’t want to walk in my first at-bat and maybe I tried too hard. But I think I was able to deal with it and stay calm in my at-bats after that.”
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