“They didn’t really give me a hard time,” Shohei Ohtani opens up about reuniting with Mike Trout and former teammates during Spring training game

Shohei Ohtani faced off against the Los Angeles Angels for the first time since his move to Los Angeles Dodgers in December 2023.

“They didn’t really give me a hard time,” Shohei Ohtani opens up about reuniting with Mike Trout and former teammates during Spring training game

Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani (Image via X)

On Tuesday, Shohei Ohtani meet some of his old friends. The Los Angeles Dodgers superstar reunited with some of his former teammates including Mike Trout as the Los Angeles Angels meet their LA rivals in the Spring training game.

Ohtani joined the Angels in 2018 and spend six seasons with them while winning the American League MVP twice. He would join the Dodgers from free agency in December 2023 on a mega $700 million deal.

YouTube video

So this marked the first time when Ohtani went up against his former team. Prior to it though, he would catch with some of his ex-teammates. He was later spotted hanging out with Trout and having some conversation with him. The two superstars also shared a warm hug before the game.

FS Video

Speaking on his meet-up with them, Ohtani hilariously claimed, “they didn’t really give me a hard time” and how they were happy for him.

They didn’t really give me a hard time. It was more a lot of congratulations. They’re happy for me. It didn’t really feel too weird or uncomfortable because it kind of is what it is. If I was playing at the Angels’ home, it might have been a little different story.
Shohei Ohtani on facing his former teammates.

Shohei Ohtani’s performance against LA Angels

As the LA Dodgers lined up to face the LA Angels, the eyes of the baseball world was fixated on one man, Shohei Ohtani. In this much anticipated showdown, the Japanese International failed to land a hit and went hitless.

Shohei Ohtani
Shohei Ohtani (Image via San Diego Union-Tribune)

That’s right. To everyone’s surprise, the 29-year-old failed to register a single hit in the game against his former team. Ohtani would go down swinging twice in his three-at bats. This saw him snap a streak of seven consecutive plate appearances reaching base.

A bad day at the office perhaps. The two-way star would have wanted to have a much better performance than this against his ex-team but he will have many more chances to do that in the next encounter between them in March.

As for the Dodgers they would end up losing the game 4-0 while being restricted to just seven hits throughout the game. The South California side will now look to bounce back from this when they face the Chicago White Sox in the next game on Wednesday.

In case you missed it: