Even though playing in games is fun, when I can’t pitch, something is missing. It really makes me realize that the mound is something special.

For Shohei Ohtani, being a two-way player is not just a challenge—it is a source of joy.

“When I’m pitching and hitting, there are so many moments that feel enjoyable. Every time I experience those moments, I’m glad that I’m doing both.”

However, that balance was disrupted after the 2018 season.

Following Tommy John surgery, Ohtani was able to return as a hitter after several months of rehabilitation, but he was unable to pitch during the 2019 season.

For the first time in his career, he had to experience a season that was not “normal” for him.

Even though he understood that it was a “hitter-only” season, something felt incomplete.

He reflected on that feeling:

“Even though playing in games is fun, when I can’t pitch, something is missing. It really makes me realize that the mound is something special.”

According to Ohtani, pitching requires an entirely different level of preparation and carries a unique intensity compared to hitting.

Standing on the mound is not just another role—it is a defining part of what it means for him to truly compete.

Without it, he felt that the sense of fully being “in the season” was diminished.

Through absence, he came to understand the deeper significance of pitching.

It was not just something he did—it was something essential to who he is as a player.

Source

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

Shohei Ohtani Feature, Number 980, p.21

Shohei Ohtani Quotes

Even though playing in games is fun, when I can’t pitch, something is missing. It really makes me realize that the mound is something special.

Source

More Quotes

I want to be used more. I want to play in more games.

I just focus on each and every game. I don’t think about proving people who doubt me wrong.

I need to keep pitching. Every time I take the mound, I learn something new, and I feel myself getting better. I’ll keep pitching next year and beyond.

I hadn’t experienced something like this before, so it’s become a great memory. But more than anything, if I can make it to the postseason—the World Series—I think this will be replaced. That’s what I want to aim for.

I’m really happy to have reached the level of the players I admired since I was young. I want to keep building, step by step.

Nothing really changes in just one game. I want to keep doing my job pitch by pitch and at-bat by at-bat, so people feel that when Shohei is in the game, we’re more likely to win.

I think that feeling of frustration is what’s motivating me this year.

I won’t know what my total numbers look like until everything is over, and I don’t think I need to think about that right now. Until I retire, I just want to give everything I have each year.

It’s not about simply putting in the numbers. It’s that by going through more repetitions, you increase the number of good and bad outcomes, and that leads to refinement.