Has Shohei Ohtani played in Japan Series? All you need to know ahead of Dodgers superstar's World Series debut

Despite the fact that Shohei Ohtani won two MVP Awards, a pair of Silver Sluggers, and four All-Star nods, the Japanese superstar was a playoff amateur until less than a month ago. Now, Ohtani and his club have qualified for the World Series.

Though the Dodgers won the Fall Classic as recently as 2020, Ohtani never qualified for the postseason during his seven seasons with the LA Angels. However, while Ohtani may not have seen World Series action before, he is far from new to hot-ticket baseball finales.

"SHOHEI OHTANI IS HEADED TO HIS FIRST WORLD SERIES @BRWalkoff" - Bleacher Report

Prior to the 2017 deal that brought him to the LA Angels, Ohtani played for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters of Japan's NPB. Starting in 2014, Ohtani became a two-way player, which helped him gain attention and notoriety in North America.

In 2016, the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters finished with 87 wins, enough to win NPB's Pacific League. Ohtani's Ham Fighters did away with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks before beating the Hiroshima Toyo Carp 4-2 in the Japan Series to win it all. The title was the Ham Fighters' third and most recent win in the Japan Series.

"nippon-ham fighters vs. seibu lions (sept. 2016) shohei pitched a 1-hit CGSO to clinch the pacific league pennant. final line: 9IP, 1H, 1BB, 15Ks. shohei also became the pacific league mvp that year and the fighters ultimately won the 2016 japan series vs. toyo carp." - Rai

In 2023, Shohei Ohtani got his first taste of success at the international level. It was the two-way star who was responsible for striking out his Angels teammate Mike Trout to win the 2023 World Baseball Classic, with millions of Japanese fans watching the live feed.

Shohei Ohtani's club looks to him to provide spark in World Series

With the first game of the World Series between the Dodgers and New York Yankees set for next Friday, the baseball world is already buzzing. As Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy recently told The Athletic about Ohtani's duel with Aaron Judge:

"You're talking about the actual biggest stars in the game, and now they're going to be playing on the biggest stage. As a fan, how special is this, man? Unbelievable."

Shohei Ohtani has tasted glory before. Although the magnitude of the challenges have not yet come close to what can be expected in the 2024 World Series.