A Korean reporter directly asked the Japanese director. Can Ohtani, Yamamoto and Sasaki participate in WBC

Nov 14, 2025

A Korean reporter directly asked the Japanese director. Can Ohtani, Yamamoto and Sasaki participate in WBC
Japanese national baseball team manager Hirokazu Ibata speaks at an official press conference ahead of the Korea-Japan warm-up match against the World Baseball Classic (WBC) at Tokyo Dome, Japan on the 14th. Yonhap News



A Korean reporter directly asked the Japanese director. Can Ohtani, Yamamoto and Sasaki participate in WBC
Japanese national baseball team coach Hirokazu Ibata and Korean national baseball team coach Ryu Ji-hyun shake hands at an official press conference ahead of the Korea-Japan warm-up match against the World Baseball Classic (WBC) at Tokyo Dome, Japan on the 14th. Yonhap News
"I can't say it because there are Japanese reporters."

It's a bolt out of the blue for the Japanese baseball team, and it's good news for other countries.

Three Japanese players, Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki, who are the main players of the LA Dodgers' World Series victory, may not be able to participate in next year's WBC. This is because his team, the LA Dodgers, is showing a passive appearance.




While a general manager's meeting is being held in the U.S., Japanese media reported the possibility of their inability to play in an interview with Dodgers general manager Gomes. Asked whether they would play or not, General Manager Gomes said, `I haven't talked about it yet. We'll have a discussion in the near future." As the club did not show an active willingness to send them to WBC, I felt that the club was not willing to allow them to play.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts also publicly said he hopes Ohtani and Yamamoto will not play in the WBC.

For the Japanese national team, which is aiming to win its second consecutive WBC title, it is a huge loss if they are absent. As we saw in the regular league and postseason this season, these three players are also in the top class in the major leagues.




A Korean reporter directly asked the Japanese director. Can Ohtani, Yamamoto and Sasaki participate in WBC
World Baseball Classic 2023 Japan and the Czech Republic were held at Tokyo Dome in Japan on the 11th. In the bottom of the third inning, Japan's Ohtani is striking out swinging with one out and second base. Tokyo (Japan) = Reporter's book@sportschosun.com/2023.03.11/
A Korean reporter directly asked the Japanese director. Can Ohtani, Yamamoto and Sasaki participate in WBC
The 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) match between the Japanese national team and Hanshin was held at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan, on the 6th. Japanese national team starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto is pitching hard. Osaka= Reporter Huh Sang-wook's wook@sportschosun.com/2023.03.06/
A Korean reporter directly asked the Japanese director. Can Ohtani, Yamamoto and Sasaki participate in WBC
World Baseball Classic 2023 Japan and the Czech Republic were held at Tokyo Dome in Japan on the 11th. Japanese starter Rocky Sasaki is pitching hard. Tokyo (Japan) = Reporter's book@sportschosun.com/2023.03.11/
It is true that their performance is absolutely necessary to beat powerhouses such as the United States and the Dominican Republic in the WBC.

There is an opportunity to directly ask Japanese national team coach Hirokazu Ibata about their chances of playing. The press conference for the "2025 NAVER K-BASEBALL SERIES" warm-up match against South Korea was held at Tokyo Dome on the 14th.

The press conference allowed a Japanese reporter to ask questions to Korean national team coach Ryu Ji-hyun and captain Park Hae-min, and a Korean reporter to ask questions to Japanese national team coach Inaba and captain Maki, but the Korean reporters directly asked Inaba about their consultations with them because the three Dodgers are closely related to Korea.




However, Ibata cleverly avoided answering. Ibata said, `I can be honest with the Korean side, but I'll just do my best because I'll get upset if I tell the Japanese side about this" he replied.

Although he did not affirm, it was an answer that showed that the discussions with them were not smooth.

Japan's chances of winning the championship are likely to vary depending on whether these three players will be on the Japanese national team of WBC next year.





This article was translated by Naver AI translator.