Nippon Ham Fighters' slugging ace Shohei Otani announced Saturday he wants to move to the major leagues through the posting system, and would like to continue both hitting and pitching.

"The other day I met with team officials and stated my intentions. My request was met with warm words of support," Otani said. "And yesterday, the team announced its approval."

"I am not yet a complete player, and I want to go to an environment where I can polish my skills. This is not something new for me. I felt the same way when I graduated from high school. And it is my strongest reason for wanting to go now."

The 23-year-old two-way player in 2016 helped the Fighters win the Japan Series and was voted the Pacific League's MVP as well as its top pitcher and designated hitter.

In his five seasons with the Sapporo-based Fighters, Otani has a 42-15 record on the mound with a 2.52 career ERA. He has struck out 624 batters in his 543 innings and holds the record for the fastest pitch recorded in Japan at 165 kilometers per hour (102.5 miles per hour).

At the plate, he is a .286 career hitter with 48 home runs, 150 runs and 166 RBIS in 1,170 career plate appearances, mostly as a designated hitter. In his final game as a starting pitcher this season, Otani batted cleanup, singled and scored a run, while striking out 10 in a complete game shutout.

Five years after he turned down major league offers to join Nippon Ham, Otani said his thoughts about both pitching and hitting in the majors have changed.

"When I was about to graduate from high school, I didn't imagine I would be able to do both," Otani said. "But since then, the fans have encouraged it, the coaches taught me, and manager (Hideki) Kuriyama made it possible. That has left me with a strong desire, to keep doing it, not only for me, but for them."

"I don't know if it will be possible, but I want to hear what teams over there say and what kind of situations might be available. Until that process has started, I can't say how it might play out."

"Now that I've been doing it for five years, I want to keep it up."

Otani had ankle surgery last month to repair a bone spur that was discovered last autumn, and is currently undergoing rehabilitation at the Fighters' minor league complex just outside Tokyo.

Yet, despite an ankle injury that prevented him from playing in March's World Baseball Classic and a thigh-muscle injury suffered in April that cost him more than two months of playing time, Otani said his desire to move to the majors this winter never slackened.

"Certainly, I felt a great sense of remorse that my injuries hindered our team (this year). There's nothing I can say to apologize for that," he said. "But I never thought for one moment of quitting my plan to go (to the majors)."

Currently, there is no posting agreement formally in place between Nippon Professional Baseball and Major League Baseball. The Associated Press on Wednesday reported that the two sides have agreed to carry over the former system -- in place since December 2013 -- over for another year pending the approval of the Major League Baseball Players Association.