Baseball: Ohtani’s 1st club Nippon Ham bets on another 2-way talent

With a vision of developing the next big thing in the mold of their star alumnus Shohei Ohtani, the Nippon Ham Fighters picked a two-way talent in the first round of last month’s draft. Reo Shibata, an 18-year-old out of Fukuoka’s Ohori High School, bats left-handed and throws right-handed like the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar and is confident at both. “I want to be like Ohtani-san from the bottom of my heart,” Shibata said. “I’m thrilled to be drafted by the team I wanted to join.” Shibata stands 187 centimeters and weighs 87 kilograms. He throws a fastball that touches 149 kilometers (92.6 …

もっと読む