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How crazed is Dodgers camp with Shohei Ohtani in the fold? | Baseball Bar-B-Cast

Jake Mintz · Jordan Shusterman
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Yahoo Sports senior MLB analysts Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman discuss how new additions, Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, are affecting the atmosphere surrounding Los Angeles’ spring training site. Hear the full conversation on “Baseball Bar-B-Cast” podcast - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen.

Video Transcript

JORDAN SHUSTERMAN: There was this team called the Dodgers, and a certain designated hitter-- I don't know what the big deal is. All this guy does is hit. He can't even-- I mean, I'm not sure why everyone was freaking out. But Shohei Ohtani is on the Dodgers now, and yeah. Yeah. It's kind of a big deal.

JAKE MINTZ: So can you--

JORDAN SHUSTERMAN: Yeah.

JAKE MINTZ: Can you paint this picture for me? What's the media presence there? Because like at Yankees camp, I would say there were 18 writers and then maybe five TV ish people. What are we talking about for Ohtani fest?

JORDAN SHUSTERMAN: Yeah. I mean, double, triple. I mean, it's not that there's that many beat writers. Honestly, I would say the biggest difference, especially when you talk about the Japanese media that's there, it's just so many cameras. That's maybe the best way to put it. It is just so many cameras that are there, and there's no-- forget in the big league ballparks. There's no spring training complex that is really kind of equipped for that amount of people and that amount of equipment on a daily basis.

But I was just fascinated kind of talking to some of the people around the team, like, you know, Yamamoto is there too, having signed the biggest contract any pitcher's ever gotten. But the sentiment is, and I was like, OK. Like, is this amplified because Yamamoto is here too? And generally, the sentiment is like, eh, a little. Like, not really that much. Like, I assume if he had signed with the Yankees, some portion of the contingent, and of course, some of these guys are-- some of the Japanese media is bouncing around to Cubs camp, right? They've got Imanaga and Suzuki, and that's a big deal too. But for the most part, man, like it's all about Ohtani.