-
AFP, LOS ANGELES, California
-
-
The Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani on Saturday announced that he and his wife, Mamiko, have welcomed their first child.
“I am so grateful to my loving wife who gave birth to our healthy and beautiful daughter,” Ohtani wrote on Instagram. “To my daughter, thank you for making us very nervous yet super anxious parents.”
The Dodgers had placed the three-time most valuable player (MVP) on MLB’s paternity list on Friday, and Ohtani had stayed behind when the team traveled to Texas for a three-game series against the Rangers.
Shohei Ohtani, left, and his wife, Mamiko Tanaka, pose for a photograph at the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation’s Blue Diamond Gala at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California, on May 2 last year.
Photo: AFP
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts on Friday said he was not sure when Ohtani, who can remain on paternity leave for three days, would rejoin the team. If not in Texas, it could be when the Dodgers play the Cubs in Chicago on Tuesday.
Ohtani also thanked the Dodgers organization and teammates, as well as his legion of fans, “for their constant support and kind words of encouragement.”
Ohtani had announced on Instagram in January that he and Mamiko were expecting their first child, posting a picture of their dog, Decoy, posing along with a pink onesie infant’s outfit.
The reigning National League MVP has six home runs through the Dodgers’ first 20 games of the season.
He is also continuing his rehabilitation in the wake of a second elbow surgery as he eyes a return to the pitcher’s mound.
Roberts said that he and Ohtani had not discussed the 30-year-old’s impending fatherhood.
“He’s a very good compartmentalizer, but he loves his sleep,” Roberts said.
“It’ll be interesting to see how the sleep wins out or doesn’t win out when you have a baby,” he said.
