Shohei Ohtani is now widely regarded as one of the greatest baseball players in the world.
His extraordinary talent was recognized from a very young age.
When Yu Darvish was mentioned as a comparison for a young pitcher in Iwate Prefecture, Hiroshi Sasaki, the manager of Hanamaki Higashi High School, initially dismissed it, thinking, “There’s no way.”
But after watching video footage of the middle-school-aged Ohtani, he was stunned, calling him “an unbelievable talent.”
Keiichi Kojima, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Japan-area scout who followed Ohtani closely from an early stage, was equally convinced of his potential. Kojima believed that if Ohtani had gone directly to the United States after high school and spent several years developing in the minor leagues, he might have won multiple Cy Young Awards.
In many ways, Ohtani seemed like pure natural talent.
Yet when Ohtani himself was asked what his true talent was, he gave a different answer:
“My capacity to grow.”
During his early years with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, Ohtani could already overpower hitters with electric pitches, but there were also moments when his control suddenly disappeared and his mechanics became unstable.
At some point, however, his pitching began to stabilize dramatically.
One example came during his second professional season.
After earning his 10th win against the SoftBank Hawks, Ohtani revealed that he had watched opposing pitcher Jason Standridge and thought, “Maybe that approach is better,” so he immediately tried to imitate aspects of his delivery.
Most players would hesitate to make such sudden adjustments.
Ohtani did not.
Whenever he thinks, “Maybe this works better,” he is willing to experiment immediately, without fear of change.
Whether pitching or hitting, he embraces adjustment instead of resisting it.
That curiosity, sharp observational ability, and willingness to evolve continue to drive Ohtani’s extraordinary growth.
Source
This quote comes from a Japanese book published in Japan and is not currently available in English.
Number 963, p.20