Shohei Ohtani selected to 2023 AL All-Star Team as a pitcher

ANAHEIM – Major League Baseball announced today that Shohei Ohtani has been selected to the 2023 American League All-Star team as a pitcher. On June 22, he was selected via fan voting as the starting designated hitter for the A.L. He is the only player in Major League history to be selected to the All-Star Game as both a position player and a pitcher, and has now been selected at both positions for a third consecutive season.

This season, Ohtani has made 16 pitching starts, going 7-3 with a 3.02 ERA (95.1 IP – 32 ER) and 127 strikeouts. Entering the day, he leads the Majors in opponent batting average (.180), ranks third in strikeouts (127) and is sixth in WHIP (1.04). Additionally, he also leads the A.L. in strikeouts per nine innings (11.99).

Ohtani, who was the starting pitcher for the American League in the 2021 All-Star Game, is the ninth pitcher in Angels history to be selected to at least three All-Star Games, joining Nolan Ryan (5), Chuck Finley (4), Troy Percival (4), Mark Langston (3), Ken McBride (3), Francisco Rodriguez (3), Frank Tanana (3) and Jered Weaver (3). Ohtani is the first Angels pitcher to make the All-Star team in three consecutive seasons since Weaver (2010-12).

As a hitter this season, Ohtani entered the day leading the Majors in home runs (30), total bases (213), XBH (50), slugging percentage (.666) and OPS (1.057) and was tied for the MLB lead in triples (5). In June, he established an Angels record for home runs (15) in any calendar month and tied the A.L. record for home runs in June. Ohtani joined Hall of Famer David Ortiz (2011-13) as the only players to receive three straight fan elections to the All-Star Game as a designated hitter.

On Thursday, Major League Baseball announced that Mike Trout was selected to his 11th career All-Star Game and that Angels Director of Sports Medicine/Head Certified Athletic Trainer Mike Frostad was selected to his first All-Star Game as a member of the A.L. athletic training staff. Trout earned his 10th consecutive selection as a starter via fan voting, becoming the ninth MLB player to be voted in by the fans as a starter in at least 10 straight All-Star Games.

The 2023 Major League Baseball All-Star Game is scheduled to be played Tuesday, July 11 at T-Mobile Park in Seattle.