Angels’ Shohei Otani Wants To Play World Baseball Classic

Shohei Otani will bring his talents back to Japan for a few days next year.

AngelsThe double-sided star announced on Thursday on instagram that he “officially told” Team Japan that he “would like to participate” in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, which will be held March 8-21 in Tokyo, Miami, Phoenix and Taichung, Taiwan.

Japan is in Group B of the tournament, which plays its first round and quarter-final games in the Tokyo Dome.

“Looking forward to meeting the best players from around the world and playing in front of Japanese fans for the first time in over 5 years!!” wrote Otani, who has a contract with the Angels until the 2023 season.

Otani was due to play in the last WBC tournament in 2017 but withdrew due to an ankle injury. Tokyo Dome also hosted first round games at the event.

Last month, Otani told reporters what he would think about leaving the bullpen for the Japanese national team if he decided to enter the WBC.

“If you are going to act as a starting [in the WBC], you would have to build up to 60, 70 ropes. So you have to take that into account,” Otani told reporters on October 1. 18 in Tokyo. “But if they say you don’t have to start, there’s no reason to promote anything.”