Shohei Ohtani

Shohei Ohtani is the most valuable baseball player alive, a two-way unicorn who pitches triple digits and hits moonshots, and who just signed the largest contract in North American sports history.

By Alexandre Le Hégarat · datastats · Updated June 15, 2026

Shohei Ohtani (大谷翔平) is a Japanese professional baseball player for the Los Angeles Dodgers who does something no one has done at the elite level since Babe Ruth: he both starts on the mound as a pitcher and hits as a designated hitter, at an All-Star level on both sides. Born on July 5, 1994, in Oshu, Iwate, Japan, he grew up obsessing over baseball from childhood, drafted straight out of high school by the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in Japan’s NPB.

After six dominant seasons in Japan, Ohtani crossed to MLB in 2018 with the Los Angeles Angels, won the 2021 AL MVP unanimously, and won it again in 2023. In December 2023, he signed a jaw-dropping 10-year, $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the richest deal in North American sports history. He won the 2024 NL MVP in his first Dodgers season.

Beyond the stats, Ohtani is famously private, soft-spoken through an interpreter, intensely disciplined, and almost aggressively normal off the field, making him both a global superstar and an enduring mystery to the media. He is the face of baseball in Japan and increasingly the face of baseball worldwide.

People search for Ohtani constantly because he is genuinely unprecedented: every game he plays, every contract update, every personal detail that leaks out becomes news. His marriage announcement in early 2024 sent the Japanese internet into a frenzy, and his interpreter’s gambling scandal briefly dominated headlines before Ohtani was cleared of any involvement.

People also ask

Ohtani lives in the Los Angeles area, consistent with his Dodgers contract. He has not publicly disclosed his specific address or neighborhood, and given his intensely private nature, that's unlikely to change anytime soon.

Ohtani is Japanese. He was born and raised in Oshu, Iwate, Japan, holds Japanese citizenship, and represents Japan internationally, most memorably striking out Mike Trout to clinch Japan's 2023 World Baseball Classic title.

Ohtani was born on July 5, 1994, making him 30 years old as of mid-2025. He is entering what should be a prime athletic window, which makes that $700 million Dodgers deal look even more calculated.

Ohtani is officially listed at 6 feet 4 inches (193 cm) and 210 pounds (95 kg). That size is part of what makes him so physically imposing on the mound while also generating elite bat speed at the plate.

Ohtani is 30 (born July 5, 1994). His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, is a former professional basketball player born in 1997, making her around 27–28 years old. Both are accomplished athletes in their own right.

Ohtani's wife is Mamiko Tanaka (田中真美子), a former professional basketball player who stood out as a 6-foot-tall center for Japan's national team. Ohtani revealed her identity in March 2024 during Dodgers spring training, ending months of intense public speculation about who she was.

Ohtani is represented by Nez Balelo of Creative Artists Agency (CAA Sports). Balelo negotiated Ohtani's record-breaking 10-year, $700 million deal with the Dodgers, widely considered one of the shrewdest sports agency moves in history.

No verified net worth figure exists for Ohtani, any specific number you see online is an estimate, not a confirmed fact. What is documented: his Dodgers contract alone is worth $700 million over 10 years, and he holds major endorsement deals with brands including New Balance, Porsche, and Seiko, making him one of the highest-earning athletes on the planet.

In his 2024 Dodgers debut season, Ohtani hit .310 with 54 home runs and 59 stolen bases, becoming the first player in MLB history with a 50-homer, 50-steal season. His career MLB batting average entering 2025 sits around .274, but that headline number undersells his on-base and slugging dominance.

Ohtani announced his marriage in February 2024 during Dodgers spring training, the timing and delivery (a brief statement to teammates, then confirmed to media) was pure Ohtani: efficient, private, and on his own terms. The exact wedding date has not been publicly disclosed.

The exact details of how Ohtani and Mamiko Tanaka met have not been publicly shared, Ohtani guards his private life like a classified document. Both were prominent Japanese athletes in their respective sports, so circles overlap, but neither has given a 'how we met' interview.

Yes. Ohtani confirmed he was married in February 2024, announcing to his Dodgers teammates that he had wed Mamiko Tanaka, a former Japanese pro basketball player. The couple welcomed a child in 2024 as well, which Ohtani also confirmed publicly.

Ohtani has been open about treating sleep as a core part of his athletic training, reportedly aiming for around 10 hours per night. Sports science backs this up, elite recovery through sleep improves reaction time, injury resistance, and physical output, and Ohtani treats his body like a precision instrument.

As of 2025, Ohtani is not pitching while recovering from elbow surgery (Tommy John surgery performed in late 2023), which means he is exclusively a designated hitter for now. Any offensive 'struggles' in a given stretch are normal variance for even the best hitters, his 2024 season (.310, 54 HR) was historically dominant, so 'struggling' is relative.

Ohtani is in his second season with the LA Dodgers (2025), continuing his post-surgery phase where he focuses entirely on hitting while working toward a return to the mound, widely expected by the 2025 or 2026 season. Off the field, he navigated the fallout of his former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara's gambling scandal in 2024 (Ohtani was investigated and cleared of any wrongdoing), and he became a father.

Yes, 6'4" (193 cm) is his official and widely reported listing, and every in-person account and visual comparison confirms it. He is genuinely large, not just a padded roster listing, which is part of what allows him to generate elite velocity as a pitcher while also driving baseballs 450-plus feet.

No, by all widely reported accounts, Ohtani came from a solidly middle-class background in Oshu, a small city in Iwate Prefecture. His father, Toru, was a salary worker who also played amateur baseball; his mother, Kayoko, was a badminton player. The family was sports-loving and supportive, not affluent.

By virtually every credible account from teammates, coaches, and reporters, Ohtani is quiet, humble, intensely focused, and genuinely warm in small settings, not the flashy superstar his contract and fame might suggest. Former Angels and current Dodgers teammates consistently describe him as low-maintenance, team-first, and almost comically normal for someone of his stature.

Ohtani has publicly stated he aims for around 10 hours of sleep per day, and he has cited sleep as one of his most important recovery tools. Some reports peg it even higher on heavy training days, he treats rest as non-negotiable, not a luxury.

Ohtani himself has hit 101–103 mph on the radar gun during his pitching career, making him one of the rare starters to consistently touch that range. In broader MLB context, fireballers like Jordan Hicks, Jhoan Duran, and Jacob deGrom have also been clocked at or above 103 mph, but Ohtani doing it while also being an MVP-caliber hitter is what makes it surreal.