Shohei Otani

Shohei Otani
Otani with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters – No. 11
Pitcher / Designated hitter / Outfielder
Born: (1994-07-05) July 5, 1994 (age 22) Ōshū, Iwate, Japan
Bats: Left Throws: Right
NPB debut
March 29, 2013, for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
NPB statistics (through 2016)
Win–loss record	39-13
Earned run average	2.49
Strikeouts	595
Batting average	.275
Home runs	40
Hits	229
Runs batted in	135
Teams
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (2013–present)
Career highlights and awards
NPB Japan Series champion (2016) 3× NPB All-Star (2013–2016) Pacific League MVP (2016) 2× Pacific League Best Nine (2015–2016) Designated hitter Best Nine (2016)* The first double ever won in history Pacific League ERA leader (2015) Pacific League Battery Award, with Shota Ono (2015)

Medal record
Men's baseball
Representing  Japan
2015 WBSC Premier12
	2015 Tokyo	Team

NPB

Shohei Otani (大谷 翔平, Ōtani Shōhei^?, born July 5, 1994) is a Japanese baseball pitcher, outfielder, and designated hitter who plays for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball's (NPB) Pacific League. He was the first pick of the Fighters in the 2012 draft. He officially recorded the fastest pitch by a Japanese pitcher and in NPB history at 165 kilometres per hour (102.5 mph).

Otani recorded the fastest pitch by a Japanese high school pitcher at 160 km/h (99 mph). He set the record in the Prefecture Tournament of Summer Koshien, even though his team lost in the semi-final. He mainly threw a solid slider in addition to the fastball as an amateur.

Otani has received interest from numerous teams including the Texas Rangers, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers. On October 21, 2012 Otani announced that he would pursue a career in Major League Baseball rather than turn professional in Japan. The Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters decided to draft him anyway, knowing that there was a high likelihood he would turn down the draft. After a month-long negotiation between him and the Fighters, Otani announced that he will accept the draft and spend his early career in Japan before a possible MLB move. He was assigned the jersey number 11, previously worn by Yu Darvish. The official press conference was held on December 25.

He is often rivaled with Shintaro Fujinami, a fellow pitching prodigy currently playing for the Hanshin Tigers. The two once locked horns in the second leg of the 2012 Spring Koshien, but Fujinami (from Osaka Tōin High School) took away the win.