The Japanese baseball community was celebrating on Wednesday after former Pacific League MVP Shohei Ohtani followed up his first pitching win in the majors with a stellar batting effort in his home debut with the Los Angeles Angels.
His first pro skipper, Hideki Kuriyama, who six years ago lured Ohtani away from a major league deal by concocting a plan to have him both hit and pitch, said his protege's three-hit effort, which included a three-run homer in his first at-bat, on Tuesday in Anaheim, California, was to be expected.
"It's normal for him," Kuriyama said from Sendai, where the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters were playing the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. "That's because I have no concerns about his hitting. I've been saying he'd absolutely be able to hit."