93RD MLB ALL-STAR GAME

July 11, 2023

Shohei Ohtani

T-Mobile Park

American League

Press Conference

Q. I wonder if you've ever had an experience like those chants, with everybody telling you where you should play next year and what you thought about it.

SHOHEI OHTANI: Never experienced anything like that, but I definitely heard it. But I was trying to focus on my at-bat.

Q. What has this All-Star experience been like for you compared to previous?

SHOHEI OHTANI: It's definitely refreshing every time. Not as nervous as my first time. It gets less nervous every time I make the All-Star team. But it's definitely fun and refreshing.

Q. I had the opportunity to ask a few players who was the player that impressed them the most, and most of them said you. Who is the player that impresses you the most?

SHOHEI OHTANI: American League?

Q. Anywhere.

SHOHEI OHTANI: Not just today but just watching guys overall I feel like Mookie Betts really impresses me. He's so versatile, he can play the outfield, play the middle infield. So I think he's very, very talented.

Q. We saw you joking with Luis Arraez at second base. What did he tell you and how impressed have you been by just watching what he's doing, hitting over .380?

SHOHEI OHTANI: I think he got thrown out the inning before so he told me, "I need your legs to be safe next time."

And every time I watch him on TV he gets base hits, like every single time. So it's very, very impressive.

Q. You mentioned that you never experienced anything like that with the chants. Just curious what did you think of the Seattle crowd and the stadium and the city in general?

SHOHEI OHTANI: Every time I come here the fans are passionate, they're really into the game. So it's very impressive. I actually spent a couple off-seasons in Seattle. So I like the city. It's beautiful.

Q. I'm not going to ask you to say who, but is there any player lobbying you, "come to our team next year"?

SHOHEI OHTANI: I would like to keep that a secret. Even if someone said that, I don't think I would be able to say it right here.

Q. What did you think of your two at-bats in the game today?

SHOHEI OHTANI: I definitely want to be aggressive and swing the bat and both of them, both at-bats went to full count, and I was ready to swing the bat. But the last one was away, so.

Q. What are your plans for the second half of the season? What are you trying to focus on as you move forward? Kind of difficult time for the Angels, what do you do personally?

SHOHEI OHTANI: I'm not really going to change anything personally, just keep it the same. I know we have a lot of injuries right now and we're in a tough spot, but we need to hang in there because we got guys coming back soon.

So try to hang in there and get as many wins until all the guys come back.