ANAHEIM, California (Kyodo) -- Shohei Ohtani will make one preseason Cactus League start for the Los Angeles Angels before heading to Japan on March 1 for the World Baseball Classic, Angels general manager Perry Minasian said Saturday. Ohtani will therefore not join the Japanese national team in Miyazaki for its Feb. 17-27 training camp in preparation for its WBC campaign starting March 9 against China at Tokyo Dome.
Angels pitchers and catchers are scheduled for their first workout of the spring on Feb. 15, with a smattering of other players who are on World Baseball Classic Rosters also in attendance. The infield told much of the story of what went wrong for the Angels in 2022. Jared Walsh started 106 games at first base, but none of the other projected starters were in the starting lineup for more than 46 games (Anthony Rendon, at third). Velazquez came into the season with a career OPS of .525, so the Angels certainly didn't plan for him to play so much.
The New York Post's Jon Heyman reports the Los Angeles Angels have “been in touch on Gary Sanchez, Zack Britton, Andrew Chafin, Elvis Andrus and Michael Wacha, among others.” The Yankees traded Sanchez and third baseman Gio Urshela to the Twins before the 2022 season in exchange for third baseman Josh Donaldson, shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa and catcher Ben Rortvedt.
No | Player | Pos |
---|---|---|
31 | P | |
51 | P | |
47 | P | |
78 | P | |
32 | P | |
48 | P | |
53 | P | |
63 | P | |
46 | P | |
P | ||
28 | P | |
68 | P | |
17 | P | |
65 | P | |
73 | P | |
43 | P | |
63 | P | |
P | ||
54 | P | |
52 | P | |
60 | P | |
57 | P |
No | Player | Pos |
---|---|---|
14 | C | |
33 | C | |
21 | C |
No | Player | Pos |
---|---|---|
23 | 3B | |
22 | SS | |
6 | 3B | |
2 | 2B | |
13 | SS | |
38 | 2B | |
10 | 3B | |
4 | SS | |
20 | 1B |
No | Player | Pos |
---|---|---|
7 | LF | |
16 | LF | |
8 | RF | |
12 | RF | |
27 | CF | |
3 | RF | |
44 | CF |