Reports say Dodgers manager Dave Roberts won't rush Shohei Ohtani back to the mound this season, and a remark that Ohtani's demeanor changes between good and bad days went viral. Japanese reactions ranged from treating a slump as natural to tiring of the saint-like coverage.
Shohei Ohtani was pulled from the Dodgers' starting lineup for the first time in 31 games amid left-knee and right-arm trouble and a deep batting slump, while a New York Post reporter's 'part-time pitcher' phrasing, made during an NL MVP debate, was clipped and spread in Japan. Reaction split between enjoying the jab and worrying about his health—though the phrase was one remark, not a media consensus or an established insult.
Shohei Ohtani threw six scoreless innings to drop his ERA to 0.74 while hitting his way to a .301 average, and his MVP odds reportedly climbed to 81%. Japanese fans reacting to translated Reddit threads have moved past awe into laughter, joking that he reached base more often than the entire opposing lineup and pitying the Diamondbacks for not even being able to retaliate.
Shohei Ohtani threw six scoreless innings to lower his ERA to 0.74 and reached base five times at the plate, a two-way line that had both Reddit and Korean baseball boards calling him the GOAT. In Japan the reaction split between awe at the statistics, worry over his recurring blister and split-nail injuries, and a familiar Japan-versus-Korea argument over whether he is 'Asia's pride' or 'Japan's pride.'
Shohei Ohtani's hot streak against the Diamondbacks brought a 'June Ohtani' surge that thrilled overseas fans, while a Japanese message board ran a comedy thread imagining Ohtani saying 'your lifetime earnings are about two weeks of mine.' The mood was warm and self-deprecating, built on a shared assumption that Ohtani himself would never actually say something so smug.
On May 20 (May 21 JST) against the Padres, Shohei Ohtani hit a first-pitch leadoff home run in a game he himself started, then threw five scoreless innings to earn the win and drop his ERA to 0.73. Japanese netizens treated it as 'video-game numbers,' while parts of the Japanese-language summary scene pivoted into a familiar Japan-vs-Korea proxy argument over reactions in Korean media.
Japanese MLB fans reacted to Shota Imanaga's fourth win, Shohei Ohtani's ranking, and Michael Conforto's revival with the Cubs. The conversation mixed pride in Japanese stars with a more technical debate about Dodgers coaching, power hitting, and sample size.