One stunning upset has sent shockwaves through international baseball, securing Venezuela an Olympic berth while putting Shohei Ohtani and Japan’s LA28 dreams in serious jeopardy.

While Team Venezuela secured its semifinal spot for the first time in the WBC since 2009, the ‘first-time’ for Japan is grim.

Shohei Ohtani’s squad failed to secure a semifinal berth. With that, the 2023 WBC winner is yet to secure their Olympic spot. They need to go through a few equations now to secure that berth.

“To reiterate, unless we achieve the top spot in Asia at the 2027 Premier12, we won’t secure a spot in the LA Olympics (one Asian slot available). Since the previous champions were Taiwan, to claim the top spot in Asia, we absolutely must win the tournament,” NPB_Umpire Scorecard shared via X.

A total of six teams are eligible to compete in the 2028 Olympics.

For the American teams, the ongoing WBC acts as the qualifier. For the other teams, there will be tournaments like the 2027 Premier12 (Asia) and the 2027 Premier12 (Europe/Oceania). 1 team from the Asian region and 1 from the European/Oceanian region would secure LA28 spots.

Lastly, there will be a final event among the top two teams from each regional Premier12 for the final sixth spot.

So, even if Japan had won against Venezuela, their Olympic spot would have dwindled.

For Shohei Ohtani, who dreamt about playing in the Olympics back in 2024, this comes as a shock.

“I’d like to play in the Olympics,” Ohtani admitted in 2024. “Also, knowing the fact that there will be non-baseball fans watching the games as well, I think it would be really good for the baseball industry.”

Here comes the equation to keep Ohtani’s dream alive.

Japan now needs to win the Premier12 event for Asia. But even the second spot would not help because Taiwan is the last winner from the Asian region. So, to secure the single spot from Asia, Japan needs to win the Premier12.

In contrast, the American qualification scenario is sorted.

Team USA is confirmed as the host nation. The Dominican Republic secured its spot after entering the semifinals. Venezuela took away the last spot by winning the quarterfinals. So, American countries are secured for the LA28.

The fight is now among the European and Asian regions to secure the remaining 3 spots.

Since baseball’s entry in the Olympics in 1992, Japan has won a total of four Olympic medals. Most recently, they won Gold in the Tokyo Games in 2020. As baseball was dropped from the 2024 Paris Olympics, Japan is the reigning Olympic baseball gold medalist.

Shohei Ohtani, though, is yet to win an Olympic medal, as back in 2021 (T Games was held in 2021 due to COVID), MLB prohibited players on the 40-man roster (active major leaguers and top prospects) from competing, citing health, safety, and scheduling concerns.

Hence, not securing a spot for LA28 couldn’t be the desired outcome.

Shohei Ohtani highlighted a few positive takeaways for Japan

Despite the loss, the Japanese fans still have a few positive points to take from the WBC.

Japan played a total of 4 games in the pool play round and 1 in the quarterfinals. And in these 5 WBC games, a few Japanese names have already caught the eyes with their performance.

Top Stories

Akshay Bhatia Ready to Take His ‘Shirt Off’ to Silence Cheating Allegations

Amon-Ra St. Brown’s Dad Says Black Heritage Boosts Chances of NBA, NFL Success, Defends Controversial Comments

Charlie Woods Left Biting the Dust as Rival Miles Russell Dominantly Wins Junior ‘Masters’

Bengals Announce New QB Signing After Cutting Ties With Joe Burrow’s Backup

Troy Aikman Reveals How CBA Negotiations’ Domino Effect Is Leading to Early-Season Injuries

Daniil Medvedev Narrowly Avoids Injury From Carlos Alcaraz’s Dangerous Smash at Indian Wells

The first name is Hiromi Itoh.

The right-handed pitcher is the reigning Sawamura Award winner, Japan’s equivalent of the Cy Young Award, and he proved that in the WBC. He allowed two runs with six SOs and no walks over three innings in the 8-6 win against Korea. With his fastballs that touch 96 mph, along with some sleek splitters, wait for the MLB suitors to get behind him.

Even Shohei Ohtani seems impressed with Japan’s pitching staff.

“I have no feelings of dissatisfaction regarding not being able to pitch in the WBC,” Ohtani expressed just before the quarterfinals. “I want to do the job that I can do. Even without me pitching, Team Japan has wonderful pitchers.”

Teruaki Sato is another Japanese name that also caught the limelight for his power-hitting.

This WBC, he went 2-for-6 with two doubles, a walk, and an RBI from 4 appearances. Sato even took out Blake Snell for a homer last year in an exhibition game.

Even though Japan is out of the tournament, we can definitely brace up for a few more Japanese onslaughts in MLB by next offseason.