Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani said Saturday he will try to get results early in the season to be an integral part of his new team.
"I appreciate all the attention," Ohtani said through interpreter Ippei Mizuhara at a press conference on Saturday at Seoul's Gocheok Sky Dome alongside teammates Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. "Obviously, the attention is always great, being a baseball player. Being able to play with these great guys next to me is just exciting."
"I still need to be part of the team. I want to prove to everyone that I'm actually a Dodger now."
The Dodgers and San Diego Padres will play the first two games of Major League Baseball's regular season on Wednesday and Thursday. The teams arrived separately at Incheon International Airport, near Seoul, the previous day.
"I got to walk around a little bit with my wife," Betts said. "Getting to see the culture is super cool, but I know I'm here for work. Super excited to play in front of a new fan base."
The MLB regular-season games will be the first in South Korea.
"It's my first time to play baseball anywhere overseas," Freeman said. "This (the hype surrounding the Dodgers) is because something really special happened in the offseason. It's been fun being in front of a lot more new fans this year."
The Dodgers were seen as the offseason's most active team, signing Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, a three-time MVP pitcher in Japan, as well as outfielder Teoscar Hernandez and pitchers Tyler Glasnow and James Paxton.
Glasnow is scheduled to start the opening game against Yu Darvish of the Padres. Yamamoto and Joe Musgrove will take the mound in Game 2.
Asked to comment on facing Darvish for the first time in his career, Ohtani said, "Darvish is somebody I've always looked up to. Someone I really respect as a pitcher. I had a chance to play with him at the WBC. I had a chance to work out with him past offseasons."
"He is a good friend of mine. I haven't faced him up to this point, so I'm very excited to be able to face him finally."
Freeman said, "Obviously, Mookie and I have faced Yu quite a bit in our careers. He just knows how to pitch. Every time we get to face Yu and Joe and anybody on the Padres outfit, it's going to be a good test for us.
Ohtani, who unanimously won the American League MVP Award twice in the past three seasons, also talked about Japan's rivalry with South Korea.
"Japan and Korea, they've always had a great rivalry when it comes to sports. I've always watched the games between Japan and Korea, and I always respected and looked up to Team Korea and the Korean players," Ohtani said.
"So being accepted like this and welcomed is a very good feeling, and I want to put on a very good show for everyone."
Ohtani will only hit this season after having elbow surgery last September.
Related coverage:
Baseball: Seoul welcomes Padres, Dodgers as goods fly off shelves
Baseball: Shohei Ohtani shares 1st photo with wife before Seoul Series
Baseball: Darvish to start on Opening Day, Yamamoto Game 2 in Seoul
