Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani says composure will be key when he makes his long anticipated Major League Baseball postseason pitching debut on Saturday in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ series opener against the Philadelphia Phillies.

The 31-year-old played a key role in the Dodgers’ run to the World Series title last season, but his contribution was limited to the offensive side as he continued to recover from 2023 elbow ligament surgery.

Now Ohtani is poised to make MLB history just by taking the mound, becoming the first player to start at least one game as a pitcher and one as a non-pitcher in a single postseason.

“I’m just really looking forward to it,” Ohtani told reporters on Friday in Philadelphia, where the best-of-five National League division series gets underway on Saturday.

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