Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani said Saturday he will try to get results early in the season to be an integral part of his new team.
"I appreciate all the attention," Ohtani said at a press conference on Saturday at Seoul's Gocheok Sky Dome alongside teammates Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. "Obviously, the attention is always great, being a baseball player. Being able to play with these great guys next to me is just exciting."
"I still need to be part of the team. I want to prove to everyone that I'm actually a Dodger now."
The Dodgers and San Diego Padres will play the first two games of Major League Baseball's regular season on Wednesday and Thursday. The teams arrived separately at Incheon International Airport, near Seoul, the previous day.
"I got to walk around a little bit with my wife," Betts said. "Getting to see the culture is super cool, but I know I'm here for work. Super excited to play in front of a new fan base."
The MLB regular-season games will be the first in South Korea.
"It's my first time to play baseball anywhere overseas," Freeman said. "This (the hype surrounding the Dodgers) is because something really special happened in the offseason. It's been fun being in front of a lot more new fans this year."
The Dodgers were seen as the offseason's most active team, signing Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, a three-time MVP pitcher in Japan, as well as outfielder Teoscar Hernandez and pitchers Tyler Grasnow and James Paxton.
