ARLINGTON -- The Ohtani family has gained a new member.
Shohei Ohtani announced that his wife, Mamiko Tanaka, gave birth to the couple's first child, a baby girl, in an Instagram post on Saturday. The post featured a photo of the newborn's feet, as well as an image of the couple's beloved dog, Decoy.
"I am so grateful to my loving wife who gave birth to our healthy beautiful daughter," Ohtani wrote. "To my daughter, thank you for making us very nervous yet super anxious parents."
The Dodgers' superstar stayed back in Southern California to be with his wife as they awaited the arrival of their child. Ohtani was placed on the paternity list ahead of Friday's 3-0 win over the Rangers. He will be back with the team and in the lineup for Sunday's series finale at Globe Life Field.
Ohtani had appeared in all of the Dodgers' first 20 games before going on the paternity list, hitting .288 with a .930 OPS, six homers and 21 runs scored. He's been working toward returning to being a two-way player, but he'll soon have a third -- and arguably, the most important -- responsibility going forward: fatherhood.
"He is a very good compartmentalizer," Roberts said. "He loves his sleep. So it’ll be interesting to see how the sleep wins out, or it doesn’t win out, when you have a baby."
Ohtani was hardly lacking in the power department before, but perhaps he'll tap into his newfound "Dad strength" for an extra oomph upon his return -- which would really be something to behold.