Shohei Otani was selected as the best player for Groove B in the first round of the WBC = World Baseball Classic.
This was announced on the official Twitter of the tournament on the 15th.
In the first round, Ohtani recorded a batting average of 50% with 6 hits in 12 at bats, 1 home run, and 8 RBIs. He was the winning pitcher with only one hit and five strikeouts.
Masanao Yoshida scored eight RBIs in Japan, which won all four games in the first round, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who started in the match against Australia, pitched four innings without allowing a run and struck out eight. There were a lot of them, but Otani's performance in both throwing and hitting was highly evaluated.
In response to Otani's MVP, the official Twitter account of the major league posted a video of the first round and congratulated him on winning the award, saying, "We are sweeping the world."
Japan will face Italy in the quarterfinals at the Tokyo Dome on the 16th, and if they win, they will advance to the semifinals in the United States.