Pacific League Pitcher Best Nine and ERA leader (2015)

Ohtani with the Fighters in 2015

2015 marked Ohtani's third professional season (and second full season). Though his offensive
production declined somewhat (five home runs), his performance on the mound was among the best
in the league, earning him the starter role in the 2015 All-Star Game and the pitching spot in the end-
of-year Pacific League Best Nine awards. Ohtani started the 2015 NPB All-Star Game 1 for the PL.
He went two innings and fanned two, allowing one run (on a double by Yoshitomo Tsutsugo and a
single by Jose Lopez), relieved by Nishi with a 1–0 deficit. The PL would lose 8–6 but he got a no-
decision. He finished the season 15–5 with a 2.24 ERA, 196 strikeouts, and only 100 hits
in 160+2⁄3 innings. He led the PL in ERA (.14 over Nishi), tied Wakui for the most wins, and was
second in strikeouts (19 behind Norimoto, though he threw 34 fewer innings). He rarely played the
field but did see some action at DH, hitting .202/.252/.376 with five home runs in 109 at-bats. He
made the Best Nine as the PL's top hurler. He finished third in MVP voting again, placing behind
Yanagita and Shogo Akiyama for the 2015 Pacific League MVP. Ohtani placed third in MVP voting
(first among pitchers) and was one of three candidates considered for the 2015 Sawamura Award,
given annually to the top pitcher in either league.[46]
Ohtani led the league in wins and winning percentage with a 15–5 record in just 22 starts, and his
2.24 ERA, five complete games, and three shutouts were also bethe st in the league. All these stats
were career bests, as were his 196 strikeouts, 0.909 WHIP, and 11 strikeouts per nine innings. [47]

Ohtani was dominant for the Japanese national team in the 2015 Premier 12. He hit 100 mph while
blowing away eventual champion South Korea (10 K, 2 H, 2 BB, 0 R in 6 IP) before Norimoto was
relieved. Facing South Korea again in the semifinals, he was even sharper (11 K, 0 BB, 1 HB, 1 H in
7 IP). He did not give up a hit until Keun-woo Jeong singled in the seventh inning and had the most
whiffs in a game for the first Premier 12 ever.[48] Norimoto relieved with a 3–0 lead but he and two
other relievers combined to allow four in the 9th to blow it as Japan fell in a shocking defeat. He tied
for the event lead in ERA and led in strikeouts while allowing the lowest average by a starting
pitcher. He was named the All-Star SP for the event (Sho Nakata was the only other member of
Samurai Japan to be picked for the All-Star team).[citation needed]

Pacific League Most Valuable Player and first Japan Professional Sports Grand Prize (2016)
In 104 games and 382 plate appearances in 2016, Ohtani hit 22 home runs. He also hit 18 doubles,
67 RBI, batted .322 with an OBP of .416, scored 65 runs, and had seven stolen bases. He won the
Best Nine award as the designated hitter.[49] Ohtani was the same dominant pitcher on the mound. In
21 games pitched, he had a career-low ERA of 1.86. He had a 10–4 record, struck out 174 batters in
140 innings with 4 complete games and one shutout. He also won the Best Nine award as a pitcher
and won the Pacific League MVP. He got nearly double as many votes as any other pitcher for the
PL for the 2016 NPB All-Star Game; he had 300,025 while #2 Shota Takeda had 158,008.[50] He
could not pitch in the event due to a blister on his finger but wound up starring as a designated hitter
(DH).[51] In Game 1, he batted for DH Yuya Hasegawa and lined out in the 8th against Scott
Mathieson. Starting at DH and hitting 5th in Game 2, he homered off Shoichi Ino in the 5th to start
the PL comeback from a 3–0 deficit. He singled against Ryo Akiyoshi in the 7th and scored on a hit
by Kenta Imamiya for a 4–3 lead. Coming up with a 5–4 deficit in the 8th, he singled off Shinji
Tajima to bring in Shogo Akiyama with the tying run. He thus produced three of the PL's five runs in
the 5–5 tie, earning him game MVP honors. He hit 165 km/h (102.5 mph) on the radar gun during
the year, setting a new NPB record.[52] The record was broken by Thyago Vieira five years later, but
he still holds the record for a Japanese player.

He finished the year at .322/.416/.588 with 22 home runs in 382 plate appearances on offense and a
10–4 record and a 1.86 ERA on the mound with 174 strikeouts in 140 innings. He tied for 8th in the
PL in wins and was third in strikeouts (behind Norimoto and Kodai Senga).[53]

He led Nippon Ham to the 2016 Japan Series, but lost the opener to the Hiroshima Carp; he fanned
11 in 6 innings but allowed 3 runs, two on a homer by Brad Eldred and one on a steal of home
by Seiya Suzuki. Down 2 games to 0, he came up big as the DH in Game 3, getting three hits, a run,
and an RBI. In the bottom of the 10th, he singled off Daichi Osera score Nishikawa with the winner;
Nippon Ham would take the next three games to win their second Japan Series title.
Teammate Brandon Laird would win the Series MVP. Ohtani hit .375/.412/.625 with four doubles,
doing more on offense than on the mound for the Series.[54]

He made the Best Nine as the top pitcher and top DH in the PL. He became the first player to
receive the awards as both a pitcher and a hitter.[55]He topped four-time Cuban MVP Alfredo
Despaigne easily at DH (190 votes to 47; three others combined for eight votes) but the vote at
pitcher was closer (he had 111 of 245 votes, Ishikawa 69 and Tsuyoshi Wada 61). He was the
runaway winner of the 2016 Pacific League Most Valuable Player Award, getting 253 of 254 first-
place votes (Naoki Miyanishi got the other one) and one second-place vote. He had 1,268 vote
points, to 298 for runner-up Laird.[56]