Shohei Ohtani would make a great addition to All-Star festivities

Major League Baseball has tweaked the All-Star selection, but what it needs to do is make sure players like Shohei Ohtani, who fans want to see, are included.

Shohei Ohtani has stated that he would like to be part of the Home Run Derby during the All-Star Game festivities.  If the league is smart they will find a way to make this happen.  Ohtani is one of the biggest rising stars in the game and he needs to be part of the game that showcases the best baseball has to offer.

Ohtani has been known to put on a show during batting practice hitting a barrage of tape-measure home runs.  If not for missing the first month of the season while recovering from Tommy John surgery Ohtani could probably have had good enough numbers to garner enough votes to be a finalist for the DH spot on the roster (Ohtani finished 4th).

If Ohtani can’t make it to the game as a player, at the very least the league should ensure that Ohtani should be in the Home Run Derby. Imagine all the media attention this would receive especially from the Japanese media.  Even more importantly it would be just a fun thing to watch, and the fact that Ohtani actually wants to take part in it unlike some other big stars should make it a slam dunk.

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We will see what happens over the next couple of weeks before the game on July 9th.  Ohtani unfortunately was not able to take part much in the Made for TV movie that was Albert Pujols’ return to St. Louis as he was relegated to only pinch-hitting duties with there being no DH in National League parks.

Ohtani will be back in the line-up Tuesday when the Angels return from their season-high 11-game road trip.  The Angels held their own against two good teams in Tampa Bay and St. Louis going 6-5 overall on the road trip.

Now the Angels come home and play Cincinnati and Oakland for six games before heading to Texas and Houston for seven games going into the All-Star Break.

So Comissioner Manfred please listen up and get Shohei Ohtani into the Home Run Derby.