Japanese two-way ace Shohei Ohtani will start for the Los Angeles Angels in their 2023 Major League Baseball (MLB) opener against the Oakland Athletics at Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, California, on March 30. In order to prepare for that, he pitched in a minor league game on Friday.

It has been only three days since Ohtani led Japan to defeat USA 3-2 in the World Baseball Classic (WBC) Championship Game at LoanDepot Park in Miami, Florida. He has made three appearances for Japan in the tournament and pitched 9 2/3 innings with a 1.86 earned run average (ERA). He was named the WBC Most Valuable Player (MVP) for his performance.

Ohtani threw 78 pitches in Friday's game, striking out eight, walking one and allowing four hits, including a home run.

"The game today was to get up to my pitch count, get used to the pitch clock again and using the PitchCom," Ohtani said. "All is well on my end. I felt like with all the pitches and all the intensity of the Classic, I was already ready for Opening Day. Today was just fine-tuning stuff, getting used (to the new rules)."

Ohtani will begin his sixth major league season in the Angels this year. He is a two-time MLB All-Star, a four-time All-MLB Teams selection and was named the American League MVP in 2021. Last season, he made 18 starts for the Angels with a 15-9 record and a 2.33 ERA while hitting 34 homers and driving in 95 runs. Such work enabled him to receive the second-ost votes in the AL MVP race.

"I wasn't worried about him at all," the Angles' manager Phil Nevin said of Ohtani. "We had that planned all along. I just wasn't able to relay that to you guys yet. We knew that was a possibility. I trust him and I trust that he knows his body as well as anybody."

The Angels have not made the playoffs since 2014. Ohtani will become a free agent after the 2023 season.