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    Shohei Ohtani Records Save, Earns MVP Honors as Team Japan Wins 2023 World Baseball Classic

    Aaron AhlesBy Updated:No Comments11 Mins Read
    USATSI 20287903
    Mar 21, 2023; Miami, Florida, USA; Japan designated hitter and closing pitcher Shohei Ohtani and Japan catcher Yuhei Nakamura and Team Japan celebrate defeating the USA in the World Baseball Classic at LoanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Rhona Wise-USA TODAY Sports

    On Tuesday, March 21st, the entire world tuned in to the culmination of one of the most exciting entries into the tournament’s history. Fans were not disappointed as Team Japan beat Team USA by a score of 3-2 in an all-time classic of a gritty, dramatic game that will not soon be forgotten.

    Entering the game, media buzz was centered around two focal questions: would Team USA defend its title from 2017 in the last WBC, and what would it look like for Los Angeles Angels teammates Mike Trout (USA) and Shohei Ohtani (Japan) to play in a game against one another (and possibly, with Ohtani pitching to Trout). By the end of the night, the world got answers to both of those.

    Team USA’s offense was shut down from finding offensive success with runners in scoring position, going 0-7 with RISP and stranded 9 total baserunners. While Japan didn’t fare much better (0-5 w/ RISP, 8 LOB), both teams had two solo home runs, with Japan adding an RBI groundout between their solo shots throughout the game. The US had their chances, but never got that one timely hit to capitalize.

    The game ended 3-2 with Team Japan victorious and reclaiming their first WBC gold since 2009, and their third title in the tournament’s five iterations. Equally, the tournament ended with Ohtani pitching to his teammate and fellow face of baseball Mike Trout, resulting in a strikeout and glory for the nation of Japan in an incredibly tense game. Ohtani was awarded MVP honors for the 2023 WBC, recording an incredible .435/.606/.739 slash line as a hitter. Furthermore, Ohtani went 2-0 as a starter and logged the WBC gold save with a 1.86 ERA across 9.2 IP, logged 11 Ks and allowed just a .152 batting average against in the tournament.

    Capture
    (Shohei Ohtani received 2023 WBC MVP honors from MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred. Image courtesy FS1)

    Below is an inning-by-inning breakdown of the dramatic moments for both sides for those who missed the action, or want to relive it.

    First Inning

    With the defending champs designated as the away team at loanDepot Park in Miami, FL, Team USA took to offense in the top of the first against Japan’s starter, Shota Imanaga. Mike Trout hit a blooper double that most anyone not named Mike Trout would log a single on, but Trout’s hustle right out of the box allowed him to sneak in safe at second. It was all for naught though, as Trout was left stranded after St. Louis Cardinals teammates Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado recorded outs to end the top half of the inning.

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    (Mar 21, 2023; Miami, Florida, USA; USA center fielder Mike Trout reacts from second base after hitting a double during the first inning against Japan at LoanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports)

    Arizona Diamondbacks starter Merrill Kelly got the starting nod for Team USA. Kelly had a good first inning, recording three outs on four batters, featuring a work-around walk to Ohtani and a strikeout on Masataka Yoshida to end the inning.

    Second Inning

    Trea Turner, perhaps the hottest hitter on the planet right now, was moved up in the batting order from the 9th to the 6th spot after a massive grand slam to beat Team Venezuela in the quarterfinals and another against Team Cuba in the semifinals. Turner proved the magic wasn’t exclusive to the 9-hole, launching a solo home run to left field to give the US the early 1-0 lead. Baltimore Orioles OF Cedric Mullins and Chicago White Sox SS Tim Anderson logged back to back singles later in the inning, but were left stranded after Los Angeles Dodgers OF/2B Mookie Betts flew out to left to end the frame.

    Team Japan wasted no time at all responding, as Munetaka Murakami (the hero for Team Japan who hit the walk-off double vs. Team Mexico in the semifinals Monday night) DEMOLISHED a ball into the upper levels of right field to tie the game.

    Team Japan continued pressuring Merrill Kelly, getting the bases loaded before forcing a pitching change for Team USA manager Mark DeRosa, who brought in Angels RP Aaron Loup. Lars Nootbaar grounded out to first for the second out of the inning, but brought in a run for a 2-1 Japan lead. Loup got out of the inning afterwards, limiting the damage to just a one run deficit.

    Third Inning

    Team Japan made a pitching change, bringing in Shosei Togo. Togo struck out Mike Trout and recorded a fly out on Paul Goldschmidt before back-to-back walks of Nolan Arenado and Kyle Schwarber. This set the table for Trea Turner once again but, unfortunately for Team USA, Turner struck out to end the inning, remaining a run behind Team Japan.

    SP Kyle Freeland of the Colorado Rockies came in to start the third inning and struck out Ohtani looking. Freeland walked Yoshida, but recorded a double play on Murakami to end the inning facing the minimum.

    Fourth Inning

    Togo kept Team USA’s bats quiet in the fourth, only allowing soft contact into the field of play: Realmuto hit a soft liner to short, Mullins to left, and Anderson flew out to right to end Team USA’s fourth frame.

    Freeland stayed in the game, and Kazuma Okamoto took him deep to left-center to extend Japan’s lead to 3-1. Freeland worked through the next three batters without any baserunners and logged a strikeout along the way, holding the deficit to two runs heading to the fifth.

    Fifth Inning

    Japan made their second pitching change of the night, bringing in Hiroto Takahashi. Mookie Betts hit a high bouncing grounder to third. Initially called out, DeRosa and Team USA quickly challenged the call at first, resulting in a successful overturn, landing Betts at first for Mike Trout. Trout battled with Takahashi, seeing 7 pitches before he struck out swinging on a breaking ball below the zone. Takahashi struck out Goldschmidt after freezing him on a fastball at the knees. Arenado moved Betts to second with a hard hit single to left, but Schwarber stranded two more runners flying out to center on a 3-0 count, leaving Trea Turner on deck.

    Freeland returned for a third inning of relief, working around a one-out walk of Kensuke Kondoh to blank Team Japan, holding their lead to two runs entering the sixth. Between innings, Ohtani went down to the bullpen to join Yu Darvish, with probable entrances for both at some point looming over the Team USA offense that had outhit Team Japan 6-4 through five innings, but found themselves down a pair of runs.

    Sixth Inning

    Japan’s third pitching change of the night brought Hiromi Itoh in to relieve Takahashi. Team USA found no such fortunes, going 3 up, 3 down to end the inning between Turner, Realmuto, and Mullins in rather quick fashion.

    After Freeland’s 3 IP of relief, Tampa Bay Rays RP Jason Adam came in as DeRosa’s third pitching change, equaling that of Japan’s up to that point. Adam recorded back-to-back strikeouts before walking Tetsuto Yamada on 6 pitches. Yamada stole second on the following pitch. Adam’s command looked to wane, as he proceeded to walk Sosuke Genda and Yuhei Nakamura, resulting in the bases loaded with two out for Japan. A conference on the mound was used to settle down Adam and get White Sox RP Kendall Graveman warming in the USA bullpen. Adam rallied to get a fly out to right to end the inning and get out of the jam with no damage.

    Seventh Inning

    A fourth pitching change for Team Japan brought in Taisei Ota, leading the belief that Darvish and Ohtani were assured to cover the final two innings for Team Japan. Ota proceeded to walk New York Mets OF/UTIL Jeff McNeil, pinch hitting for Tim Anderson, on four pitches. Mookie Betts atop the order hit a hard single past the shortstop, putting runners at first and second with nobody out for Mike Trout. Trout flew out to right with no runners advancing. Goldschmidt chased and whiffed on two pitches below the zone before grounding into a double play on an even lower pitch to end the inning and the best threat of the night thus far for Team USA.

    Pittsburgh Pirates CP David Bednar came in to start the inning, with Team USA ill-capable of falling down further. Yu Darvish was pictured warming up in Japan’s bullpen for the eighth inning, with Ohtani due up second in the inning and likely slated for the ninth inning. After a Kondoh pop fly to Arenado at 3B, Ohtani reached on an infield single, just beating out the throw by Trea Turner. Team USA challenged the ruling, but the call stood, and likely would have stood had the call on the field been out instead. Bednar wiped it out on the next batter, inducing a ground ball off Yoshida, turning a double play to end the inning like Team USA in the prior half inning.

    Eighth Inning

    Yu Darvish was indeed the man for Team Japan in the 8th inning, the sixth total arm on the mound but the first currently in the big leagues. Arenado loudly flew out to center, but Kyle Schwarber followed up with an even louder at-bat: in a grueling 10 pitch at-bat with many hard hit foul balls, Schwarber finally connected with a massive home run to right-center to cut Japan’s lead in half. Trea Turner carried the momentum forward, hitting a single into the right-center gap, but that momentum stalled for Team USA, with a pop up and fly out by Realmuto and Mullins respectively, ending the inning.

    Milwaukee Brewers CP Devin Williams entered the game looking to keep the Japan lead to just one run, with batters 9-1-2 due up for Team USA in the top of the ninth. Williams made quick work of Murakami, striking him out swinging on three straight airbenders. Williams then struck out Okamoto on a 3-2 airbender, but walked Yamada in the following at-bat. Yamada stole second in the following at-bat, but Williams induced Genda into a ground ball to end the inning, bringing the US up with their last chance to comeback in the evening.

    Ninth Inning

    Ohtani, the 2021 AL MVP and 2022 AL MVP runner-up, entered the game representing the seventh different pitcher for Team Japan, needing three outs to record a save and a WBC Championship for his native Japan. Even more storybook, the “what-if” on everyone’s mind entering the game was becoming reality, with Mike Trout due up third in the inning to face off against his teammate and equal representative of the game of baseball. Fitting for it to culminate as such in this iteration of the World Baseball Classic, with a matchup of the world’s two best players, with a world championship on the line.

    But before the world could see Ohtani vs. Trout, two other batters had to come first. Jeff McNeil saw 7 pitches in a battle, culminating in a walk. McNeil was substituted for Kansas City Royals young star Bobby Witt Jr., but was quickly wiped out on a Mookie Betts groundball that resulted in a double play.

    Mike Trout was Captain America for much of the tournament, but Ohtani was no less important for Team Japan en route to their meeting for WBC gold. In this particular matchup, Ohtani was the superior, blowing two fastballs by Trout at 100 MPH before reaching a full count on a fastball in the dirt.

    Then, Ohtani broke out a dart of a slider away. Trout swung and missed, and Team Japan stormed the field to celebrate with their captain and MVP, leaving the defending champs desperately close to repeating while capping off a perfect 7-0 tournament to claim gold and a world title for Samurai Japan.

    The next iteration of the WBC is set to take place in 2026, where Team Japan will look to defend their title and repeat, as Japan did successfully in 2009 after winning the inaugural WBC in 2006.

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    Aaron is an engineer and human-centered designer with an esteemed passion for sports, especially baseball. Aaron is a Brewers SSH and umpires for K-12 baseball and softball. Outside of sports, Aaron enjoys Star Wars, gaming, nature photography, and cooking.

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