Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki and more Dodgers stars steal spotlight at chicken wing eating contest

The LA Dodgers' Japanese stars, Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, had stellar 2024 seasons. The pair endeared themselves to the Dodgers faithful in the perfect way, playing key roles as their team won the World Series in their first season in the iconic Dodger blue.

Another exciting talent, 23-year-old starting pitcher Roki Sasaki, has joined that contingent this season. As one would expect, the compatriots are quite close to each other, having also played together in the past for Team Japan when they won gold in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

With the Dodgers' spring training routine now in full swing, the trio and their teammates are currently hard at work in order to prepare themselves well for opening day. While spending plenty of time on their craft, the team is also trying to make time for plenty of fun,

The players took part in the 'annual Dodgers chicken wing eating contest' on Monday. In a clip posted to X (formerly Twitter) by the Dodgers' official account, shortstop Miguel Rojas introduces the teammates who were at the event alongside him.

"It’s time for the annual chicken wing eating competition! 🍗"

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Shohei Ohtani pranks Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts

Following the theme of fun in the Dodgers' spring training camp, it appears the running joke between Shohei Ohtani and Dave Roberts is not going to end anytime soon. Having pulled a similar prank back in 2024, when he gave Roberts, who had been expecting a real car as a gift, a toy car, the Japanese International repeated the trick during spring training in 2025.

The Dodgers shared a video on Saturday via their X where the manager was in the parking lot, looking for his car. In the beginning, he noticed a kid-sized car and took a selfie, not realizing that it was his 'car.'

As he couldn't find his real car, Roberts quickly realized that this was all a setup by Ohtani. He burst into laughter, vowing to get back at Shohei Ohtani soon.

"Oh my god, I bet you guys got good footage of me," Roberts said. "Oh my god. I was like, what is going on? Shohei got me. Shohei's behind this? Are you freaking kidding me?

"I said I wanted a car, so he came through. All right, Shohei, you're next. You're in trouble. Yeah. That's so good."

Heading into the new season, Dodgers fans will be pleased to see their team having such great chemistry with each other and hope that this can translate into yet more success in 2025. Shohei Ohtani and his teammates will look to repeat the exploits of last year.