Throughout his baseball career, Shohei Ohtani has had two MVPs supporting him: his parents, Kayoko and Toru Ohtani.

The MLB pitcher was born on July 5, 1994, in Oshu, Japan, where his parents still reside. He inked a $700 million contract with the organization in December 2023. Shohei’s father, who was both a baseball instructor and player, taught him the craft.

Even though Shohei’s parents are thousands of miles away, they have continued to attend some of their son’s games, including his Major League Baseball debut in 2018.

Here is all the information you need to know about Kayoko and Toru Ohtani, the parents of Shohei Ohtani, from their baseball career to raising their star athlete son.

Toru was an amateur baseball player.

It’s possible that Shohei’s father, an industrial league baseball player, passed down the baseball gene to him. According to the Japanese newspaper Mainichi, Toru was an outfield player for a corporate-sponsored baseball team even though he never turned pro.

But according to Sports Illustrated, Toru started working full-time at a Mitsubishi factory following a shoulder ιnjury he sustained at the age of 25.

Kayoko played badminton.

Shohei’s parents were also athletes. Kayoko played badminton at an amateur level, comparable to Toru’s baseball skills. She might have been the stronger athlete, Shohei joked.

In a 2017 interview with the MLB, he stated, “I can’t beаt her in badminton to this day.” “She’s tall and has a lot of badminton experience.”

Shohei showed promise at a young age. When he was younger, Kayoko would take him to the badminton courts so they could play with the equipment while she practiced.

“In 2022, I would allow Shohei to experiment with the equipment,” she stated to the Japanese magazine Nippon. “It could be that badminton and baseball share similar motions, but he could swing the racquet like a pro without my having to show him.”

They are parents of three kids.

Son Ryuta and daughter Yuka were Kayoko and Toru’s other children before they welcomed Shohei in 1994.

When Ryuta was younger, Toru said Mainichi, he wasn’t able to give his eldest kid as much attention as he would have liked since he was too busy working day and night shifts at the automobile assembly and raising two small children.

In addition to coaching a corporate baseball team and playing baseball himself, Ryuta was frustrated with his high school team’s lack of growth.

Toru claimed that after witnessing his son’s distress, he was resolved to devote more time to baseball and assist his youngest child, Shohei, in becoming a better player.

Toru recalled thinking to Mainichi at the time, “If only I had worked together with him more… I’ve got to give to Shohei what I couldn’t give to his older brother.”

Shohei was trained by Toru.

From the time his son was in elementary school until junior high school, Toru took up the role of coaching Shohei himself. However, this did not imply that he showed partiality.

“I think we spent more time together on the field than anywhere else until I started high school,” Shohei said to Nippon. “There was no preferential handling. I didn’t consider him to be my father during practice or games. He was my coach first and foremost.

Shohei continued, saying that having his father teach him had only made him more modest and taught him that he had to keep working hard to avoid getting called out by his teammates.

He remarked, “I knew my relationship with my dad wouldn’t guarantee me playing time, even though I was still young.” “My teammates would call me out if I didn’t earn a spot like everyone else. It taught me to work for what I want instead of expecting anything in return.

Toru wrote guidance for Shohei in a notebook.

Through a collaborative journal in which Toru would jot down guidance for his son, Toru was able to help Shohei stay grounded and concentrated on his sport. The father-son team would trade notebooks, recording their thoughts and observations on his games and performances.

Toru told Nippon, “It covered both good and bad points.” “Standard entries included phrases like ‘Excellent control until the third inning’ or ‘Excessive chase of high pitches.'” We continued doing that for a few years, up until Shohei was about the fifth grade. All told, we filled two or three notebooks.

According to Toru, he wаnted Shohei to be more “mindful” of his plays and have a greater understanding of his decisions on the field. In the diary, the father of three also jotted down three important lessons he wаnted Shohei to learn: being boisterous and enthusiastic, giving practicing your all, and constantly giving it your all.

“I intended for Shōhei to possess these three fundamental ideas throughout every stage of the game,” stated Toru.

The star hitter told the outlet that he still keeps the three concepts in mind while he plays, proving that the instruction resonated with him.

Shohei remarked, “His advice was simple, but it has stuck with me.” “I’ve heard those things at every turn. Like hustling. While it’s necessary to do, how you go about doing it matters as well.

They have encouraged Shohei during his games.

Shohei’s parents live across a continent and an ocean, but that hasn’t stopped them from traveling to see and cheer on their son at his biggest games.

In March 2018, the excited parents attended Shohei’s Los Angeles Angels debut game against the Oakland Athletics.