TOKYO – Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani announced on social media Thursday that he is married.
The two-way player, who moved from the Los Angeles Angels to the Dodgers in December on a record contract worth $700 million over 10 years, wrote on Instagram in Japanese: “The season is approaching, but I would like to announce everyone I've ever married.”
He said his new wife is also from Japan, without identifying her. He said she would reveal more in an interview on Friday.
“I started a new chapter in my career with the Dodgers, but I also started a new life with someone from my home country, Japan, who is very special to me,” he wrote.
He asked the media to refrain from “conducting unauthorized interviews.”
The news broke in the middle of the night in North America, but it was already late in Japan, where the story immediately became the top story on local television.
Local television reports on his training in the United States daily, and due to his unprecedented success in North America, he has become the pride of Japan and the Dodgers have become Japan's de facto team.
Ohtani is training in Arizona for the Major League Baseball season, preparing for the Dodgers to open March 20-21 in Seoul, South Korea, in a two-game series against the San Diego Padres.
Ohtani, 29, is Japan's biggest celebrity and there has always been curiosity about his personal life, which he has kept private.
The Instagram post also included a photo of her dog “Dekopin,” also called “Decoy.”
He wrote: “We hope that the two of us, and one animal, will work together.”
Ohtani had surgery on his right elbow and will not pitch this season, although he will be used as a designated hitter.
In his spring training debut this week, he hit a two-run homer against the Chicago White Sox.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
