Shohei Ohtani surprised much of the baseball industry—and the SI baseball staff—by choosing the Angels over the other six finalists on Friday. The team's initial plan is to use him as a starting pitcher as well as an occasional designated hitter, possibly with some outfield play as well. Given his ability to reach triple digits with his fastball and hit tape-measure home runs, he should be a sight to behold.
Ohtani is following in the footsteps of several Japanese players who came over from Nippon Professional Baseball to the majors at some point. Though pitcher Masanori Murakami was the first, back in 1964-1965, it took another three decades for the second, Hideo Nomo, to come along.