By Frank Pingue
(Reuters) – Japan’s Shohei Ohtani does not know when Major League Baseball’s lockout will end but the reigning American League’s Most Valuable Player said the longer the labour dispute drags on the more it risks impacting him mentally.
Ohtani, who was revealed on Monday as the cover athlete for Sony’s MLB The Show 22 video game, and fellow players have been locked out since early December and the labour dispute has put the mid-February reporting date for Spring Training in jeopardy.
“Physically I’ll be fine no matter how long the delay will be. If there’s any issues I would have it’s probably mentally,” Ohtani, the Los Angeles Angels’ hitting and pitching sensation, told Reuters through an interpreter.
“If it’s going to prolong too long and we have no idea when the season is going start then that might lead to some lack of motivation in my workouts.”
Officials from MLB and the players’ union met in mid-January for the first time since the lockout began but there has been little evidence that any meaningful progress has been made regarding a new collective bargaining agreement.
Barring a significant interruption to Spring Training, MLB’s 162-game regular season is supposed to begin on March 31. And while players cannot enter club facilities during the lockout Ohtani is not treating this close season any different.
“I’m preparing as if Spring Training is going to get started on time,” said Ohtani. “If it were to get delayed a little bit there won’t be a problem, I can adjust my workload accordingly.”
Ohtani had one of the most awe-inspiring seasons in baseball history last year as both a hitter and pitcher and went on to be named the unanimous winner of the 2021 AL MVP award.
Last year was Ohtani’s first full MLB season as a hitter and pitcher, a feat that has drawn comparisons to Hall of Famer Babe Ruth, and the Angels standout excelled in both roles as he went 9-2 as a pitcher while hitting 46 home runs.
Ohtani, who will be the first Japanese player to grace the cover of MLB The Show, said he is eager to get back on the field and believes his best is yet to come.
“There’s still a lot of room to grow both physically and skill-set wise,” said Ohtani. “I just need to keep my body strong and healthy to be able to play out my career without missing as many games as I can.
“So in that case I feel like I haven’t peaked out yet.”
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
