Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani Breaks Silence After Conclusion of Ippei Mizuhara Investigation
Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter of Dodgers’ star Shohei Ohtani, was charged with bank fraud on Thursday for stealing more than $16 million from Ohtani. Mizuhara surrendered to authorities and appeared in a Los Angeles court on Friday, where he was released on an unsecured $25,000 appearance bond with an arraignment scheduled for May 9.
On Friday, the Dodgers were back at Dodger Stadium to open a three-game series with the San Diego Padres. The Los Angeles Times received a statement from Ohtani in Japanese.
“I’m very grateful for the Department of Justice’s investigation,” Ohtani said. “For me personally, this marks a break from this, and I’d like to focus on baseball.”
Ohtani was pretty much exonerated on Thursday when the 37-page complaint against Mizuhara was released. The statements he made at the end of March in a 12-minute press conference seemed to line up with the Department of Justice’s words on Thursday.
Ohtani has to feel like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders, as he can finally focus on baseball and only baseball. Of course, this story isn’t quite over yet, but Ohtani’s name has at least been cleared in this messy situation.
If Ohtani had been affected by these off-the-field issues, he definitely wasn’t showing it.
Ohtani is off to one of the best offensive starts to a season in his career, slashing .333/.377/.635 with three home runs, eight RBIs, eight doubles and a 1.012 OPS.
He’ll get a chance to add to those numbers Friday night for the first of three games against San Diego. First pitch on Friday night is 7:10 p.m. PT.
Photo Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
