Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters ace/designated hitter Shohei Otani highlighted the list of players announced to the Samurai Japan roster on Tuesday for World Baseball Classic warmup games against Mexico and the Netherlands.
Japan will face Mexico on Nov. 10-11, and the Netherlands on Nov. 12-13. All four games will be played at Tokyo Dome, the venue for the Japan round of next spring's World Baseball Classic. Japan, which won the title in 2006 and 2009, will be looking to reclaim it after falling in the semifinals in 2013.
Otani is coming off a regular season in which he was 10-4 with 174 strikeouts and a 1.86 ERA on the mound and hit .322 with 22 home runs at the plate. Japan manager Hiroki Kokubo is planning to use the 22-year old as both a pitcher and designated/pinch hitter.