Shohei Ohtani

Miami, March 22 (PL) - Shohei Ohtani added another award to his award sheet and celebrated the designation of Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the V World Baseball Classic, which lowered its curtains with the victory of undefeated Japan.

At 28 years of age, Ohtani, of the Los Angeles Angels, exhibited his skills in the most prestigious tournament among nations and was a key player in the seven victories achieved by the Samurai.

The Japanese entered this tournament as the best player on the planet almost by consensus and ratified this superlative essentially inscribed in an individual trophy, with the addition of closing with a strikeout over Mike Trout to decree the definitive farewell of the fair.

At home plate with the bat in his hands and in the box as pitcher, the stellar athlete delighted the public in Tokyo, Japan, and Miami, United States, on his way to a new campaign in the Major Leagues.

The Asian finished the Classic with a solid offensive line of .435AVE/.606OBP/.739SLU, drove in eight runs and scored another nine with a home run, four doubles and 10 tickets received.

In addition, he made two starts, the first against China in the elimination round and the second against Italy in the quarterfinals. He had an ERA of 1.86 in 9.2 innings, with 11 strikeouts, only two wins, the same number of runs allowed and one save.

Japan won its third WBC 2023 crown, after its triumphs in 2006 and 2009, while the United States could not repeat the prize won in the previous edition (2017).

The podium of the fifth version was completed by Mexico, third place, and Cuba, fourth, while the remaining quarterfinalists were Italy, Venezuela, Puerto Rico and Australia.