From childhood hero to competitor, Shohei Ohtani and Yu Darvish are poised to face each other in Game 2 of the National League Division series.
Ohtani, who is making his first MLB postseason debut, will be raring to go against San Diego Padres pitcher Darvish.
Japan has a major imprint on this best-of-five series that features Darvish going against his former team Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday.
Ohtani signed a record $700 million, 10-year deal with the Dodgers last December, coming over from the Los Angeles Angels, where he spent six losing seasons. He was a major factor in luring Yamamoto to the Dodgers. The right-hander signed a $325 million, 12-year deal a few weeks after Ohtani switched teams.
Darvish’s words
“No, it’s not something just specifically talking about facing Shohei. I’m facing all nine Dodgers hitters. My main focus is to get all of them out, not just Shohei. Going into the game, I just want to keep the focus, keep the concentration at a high level and execute my pitches,” said the Japanese of the Padres.
Recall that Shohei Ohtani always said Yu Darvish was his “childhood hero.”
The Dodgers player was only 10 years old when the Padres pitcher made his NPB (Japanese Professional Baseball League) debut at 18.
Read the full article here
