For the first time in his Major League Baseball career, Shohei Ohtani faced the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday, allowing him to reunite with some former teammates, including Mike Trout.
The Los Angeles Dodgers star shared a lovely moment with the outfielder before the game, which the Angels won 4-0. Ohtani and Trout hugged and chatted for a bit. The two men have experienced the team's ups and downs together over the past six years.
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When asked by the Major League website about his conversation with the Japanese, Trout explained that he took the opportunity to catch up on the latest news.
“I congratulated him on everything that happened for him over the winter: the marriage, the contract, all those things. We were friends and he was a great teammate. Now we’re part of different teams,” he said of the man who signed a 10-year, $700 million contract in December.
The main victim showed no emotion during this first confrontation. In Arizona, the atmosphere during preseason games is not the same as it could be at Angel Stadium.
“It wasn't too strange or uncomfortable because that's how things are. If I had played at Angels Stadium, maybe it would have been a different story,” Ohtani admitted through an interpreter.
The pitcher won't be on the mound this year to deal with an injury, but he will use his bat as a designated hitter. The game against the Angels was his least successful game of the preseason, as he failed to make it to the end of the season in three appearances.