Japan Dugouthttps://japandugout.com/Japan Dugout reports what Japanese newspapers, wire services and TV are saying about Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the other Japanese players in MLB. Summaries with source links, in English.en Japanese outlets call it a loss for Ohtani. The line he lost to explains why.https://japandugout.com/a/a20261104d.htmlhttps://japandugout.com/a/a20261104d.htmlWed, 04 Nov 2026 10:40:00 GMTDaily Sports headlined the Players Choice Awards as a defeat for Shohei Ohtani. Pete Crow-Armstrong's 40-40 season beat him in both categories. Japan's press is bracing for Seiya Suzuki to leave the Cubshttps://japandugout.com/a/a20261104c.htmlhttps://japandugout.com/a/a20261104c.htmlWed, 04 Nov 2026 10:30:00 GMTThree Japanese reports in three weeks point the same way: Chicago wants pitching, and Suzuki's five-year contract is up. Murakami went from rookie favorite to finalist, and Japan is still counting the home runshttps://japandugout.com/a/a20261104b.htmlhttps://japandugout.com/a/a20261104b.htmlWed, 04 Nov 2026 10:20:00 GMTIn May, an MLB.com panel ranked Munetaka Murakami the AL's top rookie. By October, Detroit's Kevin McGonigle had the players' award. Hanshin's Triple Crown winner wants to go to the majors, and the club has not said yeshttps://japandugout.com/a/a20261104a.htmlhttps://japandugout.com/a/a20261104a.htmlWed, 04 Nov 2026 10:10:00 GMTTeruaki Sato's season ended in the Climax Series on Oct. 17. A club official says no decision has been made on his request. At 15, Ohtani wrote his target in the middle of a sheet: first-round pick of eight teamshttps://japandugout.com/a/o20261104a.htmlhttps://japandugout.com/a/o20261104a.htmlTue, 03 Nov 2026 21:50:00 GMTEvery Hanamaki Higashi player fills in a goal-setting chart on arrival. Japanese reporting shows how Ohtani's was set against Yusei Kikuchi's, and how the 2012 draft answered it. Why Ohtani picks up trash: American outlets say luck, Japanese writers point to his high school coachhttps://japandugout.com/a/o20261104b.htmlhttps://japandugout.com/a/o20261104b.htmlTue, 03 Nov 2026 21:45:00 GMTThe habit has two explanations depending on which press you read. Both trace back to Hanamaki Higashi. He threw 160 km/h in the semifinal, then lost the final on a home run he thought was foulhttps://japandugout.com/a/o20261104c.htmlhttps://japandugout.com/a/o20261104c.htmlTue, 03 Nov 2026 21:40:00 GMTOhtani's last summer in high school ended one game short of Koshien. Japanese accounts still argue about the third inning of the Iwate final. Ohtani said he was going to the majors. Nippon-Ham drafted him anyway, and Japan called it recklesshttps://japandugout.com/a/o20261104d.htmlhttps://japandugout.com/a/o20261104d.htmlTue, 03 Nov 2026 21:35:00 GMTFour days before the 2012 draft, Ohtani said he would skip Japanese pro baseball. Eleven clubs passed. One did not. The document that changed Ohtani's mind: 26 pages or 30, written in 10 days or 3, depending on who tells ithttps://japandugout.com/a/o20261104e.htmlhttps://japandugout.com/a/o20261104e.htmlTue, 03 Nov 2026 21:30:00 GMTNippon-Ham's scouting director made a case against going straight to the majors. Japanese accounts of it agree on the argument and disagree on the details. Kuriyama first saw Ohtani on a high school field in 2011. His promise was to let him pitch and hithttps://japandugout.com/a/o20261104f.htmlhttps://japandugout.com/a/o20261104f.htmlTue, 03 Nov 2026 21:25:00 GMTThe two-way career began as a recruiting argument. Its first season in Japan was modest on both sides of the ball. In 2014 Ohtani did something no one in Japanese pro baseball had done. In 2015 the bat went quiethttps://japandugout.com/a/o20261104g.htmlhttps://japandugout.com/a/o20261104g.htmlTue, 03 Nov 2026 21:20:00 GMTDouble-digit wins and home runs in the same season, then a pitching breakthrough. The two years showed both sides of the plan. Ohtani's 2016: a leadoff home run as the starting pitcher, a one-hitter to clinch, and 165 km/h in reliefhttps://japandugout.com/a/o20261104h.htmlhttps://japandugout.com/a/o20261104h.htmlTue, 03 Nov 2026 21:15:00 GMTHis last full season in Japan produced an MVP with 253 first-place votes. It also produced a Best Nine selection that some Japanese writers questioned. Before the 2016 Japan Series, a Number columnist told Hiroshima to give up the games Ohtani pitchedhttps://japandugout.com/a/o20261104i.htmlhttps://japandugout.com/a/o20261104i.htmlTue, 03 Nov 2026 21:10:00 GMTThe 2016 Japan Series was Ohtani's only one in Japan. The pre-series coverage shows how the press saw him. 2017: an injured final season, a posting to the majors, and a decision Ohtani said he agonized overhttps://japandugout.com/a/o20261104j.htmlhttps://japandugout.com/a/o20261104j.htmlTue, 03 Nov 2026 21:05:00 GMTJapanese reporting shows that the move was agreed a year in advance. Here is how his five Japanese seasons add up.