Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Mookie Betts has advice for Shohei Ohtani: Get some sleep now before the 'baby comes'

Shohei Ohtani and his wife Mamiko Tanaka are expecting their first child

Stephen Wade
Tuesday 21 January 2025 02:22 EST

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Shohei Ohtani and his wife Mamiko Tanaka are expecting their first child. Ohtani's Los Angeles Dodgers teammate Mookie Betts has some advice.

“He should get his sleep now,” Betts said, speaking Tuesday in Tokyo. “Because when the baby comes he won't get any.”

Betts has two children and knows from experience.

Betts, on a promotional tour for a Japanese tea brand, took only a few questions in a very brief interview session at a local hotel.

As expected, the questions were about Ohtani and rookie pitcher Roki Sasaki, who just signed with the World Series-champion Dodgers.

Both will be on display when the Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs open the Major League Baseball season on March 18 and 19 in two games at the Tokyo Dome.

Betts said he'd already met with the 23-year-old Sasaki, who is being described as a “phenom” before he's even thrown a pitch in MLB. He'll join Ohtani and pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the Dodgers.

“Roki is really, really soft spoken,” Betts said. “You can tell that he’ll love being around Yoshi (Yamamoto) and Shohei. I think that will really help him a lot.”

Betts described Sasaki as being very reserved, which must be partly attributed to a language barrier.

“I’m going to get him out of his shell,” Betts said. “I’m going to laugh and joke and get him to really embrace the American culture. I think that will really help him to be the best pitcher on the planet. Because I think that everyone believes he can definitely be the best pitcher on the planet.”

Betts repeated what many have said about Ohtani, and gave Japanese media what they wanted to hear.

“He’s like a god,” Betts said. “His presence in the clubhouse — it's so important.”

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in