Considered early on as an elite two-way player, SHOHEI OHTANI was the first pick of the Fighters in the 2012 draft. He played in NPB for the Fighters from 2013 through 2017 as a pitcher and an outfielder, and won the 2016 Japan Series with them. The Fighters posted Ohtani to MLB after the 2017 season, and he signed with the Angels. When Ohtani finished his debut MLB spring training in 2018 with minor-league quality pitching and batting statistics, including an earned run average of 27.0 in two starts against major leaguers, the majority of American news sources were extremely disappointed and concluded he could not accomplish even one of his two-way abilities. However, he recovered from spring training and won the 2018 American League (AL) Rookie of the Year Award.