For any Major League player, one of the greatest achievements is winning a World Series ring.

Among Japanese players, stars such as Daisuke Matsuzaka, Koji Uehara, and Hideki Matsui have earned championship rings, while legends like Hideo Nomo and Ichiro Suzuki never even reached the World Series.

Naturally, Shohei Ohtani’s goal was to reach and win the World Series as a two-way player.
However, during his years with the Angels, the team often struggled even to finish above .500 in the American League West.

As a result, postseason hopes frequently disappeared long before the season ended. By August and September, the team was often already looking ahead to the following year, making it difficult for players to maintain motivation.

Even in those circumstances, Ohtani never stopped giving maximum effort.

When asked how he stayed motivated to take the mound despite having little hope of reaching the postseason, he answered:

“If I don’t pitch, I can’t grow.”

Speaking from a hitter’s perspective as well, Ohtani explained that “the feel for facing pitchers can only be developed in real games.”

What Ohtani pursued was steady growth from one game to the next.

That kind of development cannot come from practice alone. It is sharpened through real competition — pitching to actual hitters and stepping into the batter’s box against elite pitchers.

Even if the ultimate goal feels far away, Ohtani believes that continuing to play and improve will eventually bring him closer to it.

Source

This quote comes from a Japanese book published in Japan and is not currently available in English.

Shohei Ohtani Report, p.117