With Japan WBC exit, Shohei Ohtani experiences a rare sensation: Failure

MIAMI — They started to trudge of the clubhouse at 1:23 a.m. Sunday, their heads down, eyes glazed, mostly staring straight ahead.

The large contingent of reporters, perhaps 100 in all, waited behind a rope in the mixed zone in the corridor of loanDepot Park, and at 1:31 a.m., Shohei Ohtani came out of the door and stopped to talk.

Advertisement

It was a strange sensation for Ohtani, a feeling he knew that was inevitable, but he wasn’t prepared for it right now.

The pain was raw.

For the first time in years, after winning two World Series titles and two MVPs with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Ohtani finally lost.

Japan, the three-time and defending WBC champion, who had won 11 consecutive games since 2017, was eliminated.

The Japanese were stunned by Venezuela, 8-5, and for the first time in the tournament’s 20-year history, they will not be in the semifinals.

Ohtani, the game’s biggest global star, was left answering questions while he could hear Venezuela still celebrating down the hall.

“All I can say is that it’s really frustrating,” Ohtani said. “It was the kind of game where we had chances to win. It wasn’t like we were completely overwhelmed from start to finish. I think there were definitely moments where we had opportunities to win. …

Advertisement

“We showed what we do well, but in the end, they overpowered us.”

Ohtani once again had a phenomenal showing, hitting .462 with three homers and seven RBI in 13 at-bats, producing a .611 on-base percentage and 1.231 slugging percentage, with his only two strikeouts coming Saturday.

He was the one who responded immediately to Ronald Acuńa Jr.’s leadoff homer off Yoshinobu Yamamoto with a homer of his own in the first inning. Yet, unlike the 2023 WBC when he clinched Japan’s title by striking out Angels teammate Mike Trout, he ended this game by hitting a lazy pop-up to shortstop Ezequiel Tovar.

Japan’s WBC reign expired and there will be a new champion, with the USA, Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Italy still alive in the tournament.

Advertisement

Ohtani, wearing a gray suit with headphones around his neck, clutching a baseball glove behind his back, talked about that empty feeling.

“Of course it was a wonderful experience,” he said, “but if you don’t win it all, then in a sense it’s a failure. That’s probably what the result comes down to.

“Everyone was working only toward winning the championship: the manager, the staff, the people behind the scenes. Everyone was aiming for that. So, it’s very disappointing for it to end like this.”

Maybe it would have been different if he could have pitched in the WBC. Japan’s bullpen couldn’t stop Venezuela, turning a 5-2 lead in the fifth inning into an 7-5 deficit one inning later.

Advertisement

“We didn’t have an option for Ohtani to pitch from the middle of the game,” Japan manager Hirokazu Ibata said, “so I don’t think I would have known what would have happened. But, of course, I would have wanted him to play.

“But I didn’t have a choice.’’

The Dodgers and Ohtani decided before the WBC that he would be strictly used as a DH and not pitch. It wasn’t worth the risk while preparing for his first full season as a pitcher since undergoing elbow surgery in 2023.

So Ibata was left uncomfortably answering questions about why he pulled Yoshinobu Yamamto before 80 pitches, Japan’s bullpen struggles, its inability to score in 6 ⅓ innings against Venezuela’s bullpen, and how it was possible to cough up a 5-2 lead.

Advertisement

“After we scored five,’’ Ohtani said, “I thought they showed a lot of grit on the mound. They were excellent.”

The victory not only vaulted Venezuela into the WBC semifinals for the first time, but allowed them to qualify for the 2028 Olympics.

“My country right now is celebrating,’’ Venezuela manager Omar Lopez said. “It’s extremely happy. It’s on the streets. They’re drinking right now, and that makes me happier than anybody else in this world, because this is the only thing that I can do. This is the only thing that I can do for my country.

“That’s the only thing that I’m going to take back home. And 20 years from now, I’ll remember I made my country happy at least for one or two days. That’s all I need.”

Advertisement

Who knows, maybe the two teams will meet again at the 2028 Olympics at Dodger Stadium, where Japan can have a little payback.

“In international competition, of course you want another chance,’’ Ohtani said, “whether you call it revenge or a new challenge. I don’t know in what form I myself will be able to play next time, but when that opportunity comes, I want to focus on it again.”

Ohtani knows there are plenty of great players still on their way from Japan, and by the time the Olympics rolls around, they could return to being that super power.

“Even with many young players on the roster,” he said, “I got the sense that the overall level – both pitching and hitting – is continuing to rise. I feel that every year.

Advertisement

“There are a lot of players I’m excited about for the future. And with new players coming in as well, I’d be happy if the overall level of baseball continues to improve.”

Japanese officials cut off further questions. It was time to leave. The bus was waiting to take the team back to the hotel, where they had planned to stay until after the championship game Tuesday night, and not be packing their bags to leave town Sunday.

Ohtani will head back to Arizona to rejoin his Dodgers teammates, likely start in at least one spring training game, and then be ready for the 2026 season. There’s the World Series flag ceremony on Opening Day March 26 at Dodger Stadium, a ring ceremony March 27, and he could be making his season debut that weekend against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

He says he’ll look ahead, knowing there’s nothing he can do about the past.

Advertisement

He’s got another World Series championship to win, and a long grueling season ahead to erase the sting of the WBC.

Follow Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Shohei Ohtani, Japan fail in World Baseball Classic vs Venezuela