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According to a report by the Mainichi Shimbun, it has emerged that Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) is considering suspending the professional regular season during the Los Angeles Olympics in July 2028, on the assumption that Samurai Japan will take part. The plan is expected to be discussed at an owners’ meeting on the 16th. Japan has not yet secured a berth in Olympic baseball, but an NPB official reportedly explained, “We can’t change the schedule depending on whether we’re in or out — we just have to commit.” The report set off wide-ranging discussion on 5ch, from surprise at NPB’s eagerness to adjust the schedule before a berth is even secured, to how to handle the backlog of regular-season games, to whether Japan’s Olympic roster should be built around amateurs or top-tier pros.

Distributed 9/16 (Wed) 5:00 AM — Mainichi Shimbun

It was learned on the 15th that Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) is considering suspending regular-season games during the Los Angeles Olympics in July 2028, when baseball will be held, on the assumption that Japan’s national team, “Samurai Japan,” will take part. The matter will be discussed at an owners’ meeting on the 16th. Japan has not yet secured a berth, but an NPB official explained, “We can’t change the schedule based on whether we’re going [to the Olympics] or not. We have to commit either way.”

(The rest is omitted — please check the source for the full article)

Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here

57AnonymousSep 16, 2026 07:54

I want LA Olympic baseball to be played at the opening ceremony venue

*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “[NPB] Considering Suspending Professional Regular-Season Games During LA Olympics, Premised on Japan’s Participation.”

The digital edition of Sports Illustrated (US) has published a pointed commentary on pitcher Shohei Ohtani, arguing that “the time has come to end his career as a pitcher.” Ohtani hasn’t taken the mound since July 3, sidelined by soreness in his left knee and right biceps. This season he posted a sharp 8-2 record with a 1.79 ERA over 14 starts, but in the 49 games since going down he has hit just .259 with an .860 OPS — a steep drop from the 1.000-plus OPS he sustained in each of the previous three seasons. On the 5ch [Japan’s largest anonymous forum, successor to 2channel] thread on the “Geinou Sports Sokuho+” board, posters split between those conceding “the limits of the two-way player” and those reluctant to give up watching him pitch, with the debate spreading to gripes about him not playing the field and whether his production still justifies his salary.

Is it worth sacrificing his hitting power just to keep pitching? On the 15th (the 16th in Japan), the venerable US outlet Sports Illustrated’s digital platform “ON SI” ran a scathing commentary on pitcher Shohei Ohtani (32), declaring flatly that “the time has come to definitively end his career as a pitcher.” Writer Ryan Phillips argued that “it’s time for him to retire from pitching and focus on hitting,” going so far as to say, “I never want to see him on a mound again.”

Ohtani went on the injured list (IL) with a sore left knee and right biceps and hasn’t pitched since July 3 (July 4 in Japan). This season he’s gone 8-2 with a 1.79 ERA and 95 strikeouts over 85 2/3 innings across 14 starts. Even so, the magazine takes issue with the physical toll of the process of working his way back onto the mound.

Since that date, as a hitter he has batted .259 with 12 home runs, 30 RBIs and an .860 OPS over 49 games. Given that his OPS topped 1.000 in each of the previous three seasons, the magazine argues that “now that he’s 32, the cost of the two-way experiment has started spilling over into his hitting as well.”

Source: tokyo-sports.co.jp / Original article here

*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Geinou Sports Sokuho+) thread “[Dodgers] Ohtani Advised to “Retire from Pitching” as Two-Way Role Risks “Mutual Collapse,” Time to Focus on Hitting = US Report.”