Camp Stories: Ohtani gets in swings and a Spanish lesson
by Christian Romo
Shohei Ohtani faced live batting practice on Wednesday for the second time this Spring Training at Camelback Ranch, batting against Dodger pitchers Daniel Hudson and Ryan Yarbrough. He struck out swinging against the right-handed Hudson and hit a ground ball on the first pitch to the second-base side against the left-hander Yarbrough.
The repetitions were valuable for the two-time American League Most Valuable Player, still recovering from elbow surgery and acclimating to live pitching.
“I’m feeling good at the plate and seeing the ball well,” Ohtani said through his translator Ippei Mizuhara.
Ohtani said he needs at least 50 at-bats during Spring Training — whether in a simulated setting or a live game — before he feels ready to hit in the regular season. He sees himself as on schedule to reach that target.
“I feel like I have more than enough time to get to 50 at-bats,” he said. “We can simulate it inside with the pitching machine, we can do it with live at-bats. I’ll have enough time.”
Ohtani also acclimated himself to a new language on Wednesday morning, with him and pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto getting a Spanish lesson from outfielder Teoscar Hernández before taking the field:
The video quickly reached over one million views online, but Dodger manager Dave Roberts was not among the early viewers, learning about the lesson at his morning press conference.
“I love that. Shohei has a chance to be trilingual, that’s good,” Roberts said.
