Shohei Ohtani Biography: Age, MLB Career, Contract & Net Worth

Shohei Ohtani is a Japanese baseball player doing something the sport had not seen in a century: starring at the highest level as both a pitcher and a hitter. Comparisons to Babe Ruth follow him everywhere, but his unanimous MVP awards, a World Series title with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the largest contract in sports history have made the two-way phenomenon entirely his own story.

Full Name	Shohei Ohtani
Born	5 July 1994, Oshu, Iwate, Japan
Age	32 (as of 2026)
Nationality	Japanese
Occupation	Baseball player (Los Angeles Dodgers) — pitcher and designated hitter
Height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Known For	Two-way stardom, three MVP awards, record $700 million Dodgers contract
Net Worth (est.)	Around $150 million (estimates vary)

Table of Contents

Early Life in Iwate

Ohtani grew up in Oshu, in Japan’s northern Iwate prefecture, the youngest of three children. His father, Toru, played semi-professional baseball for a local corporate team; his mother, Kayoko, was a competitive badminton player. Coached by his father on a Little League team, Shohei threw a 99 mph fastball as a high-schooler — a Japanese record at the time — and Japanese clubs drafted him even though he openly planned to go straight to Major League Baseball; the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters persuaded him to stay, promising to let him pitch and hit.

Career Breakthrough: Japan and the Angels

With the Fighters, Ohtani won a Japan Series title in 2016 and became NPB’s most exciting player before signing with the Los Angeles Angels for the 2018 season. He was immediately the American League Rookie of the Year as a two-way player, but injuries — including two major elbow surgeries across his career — repeatedly interrupted the experiment. In 2021 everything aligned: 46 home runs, 100 RBIs and a 3.18 ERA as a pitcher earned him the AL MVP award by unanimous vote, and in 2023 he repeated the unanimous MVP feat while also leading Japan to the World Baseball Classic title, famously striking out his Angels team-mate Mike Trout to end the final.

Career Highlights: The Dodgers Era

In December 2023 Ohtani signed a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers — the largest guaranteed contract in professional sports history — with an unprecedented structure: $680 million deferred, paying him just $2 million per year in salary during the deal so the Dodgers could keep building around him. In 2024, restricted to hitting while recovering from elbow surgery, he founded baseball’s 50–50 club with 54 home runs and 59 stolen bases, won his third MVP award unanimously, and lifted the World Series as the Dodgers beat the Yankees. He returned to the pitching mound during the 2025 season, resuming the full two-way role that makes him unique.

Shohei Ohtani Net Worth and Contract

Ohtani’s net worth is commonly estimated at around $150 million, though the deferred structure of his Dodgers deal means his fortune will keep growing for decades — he will collect $68 million a year from 2034 to 2043. Remarkably, his playing salary is the smaller part of his income: Forbes has estimated his endorsement earnings at up to $100 million in a single year, the most of any baseball player by a vast margin, fuelled by his status as a national icon in Japan and deals spanning both sides of the Pacific. All figures are estimates based on public reporting.

Personal Life

Ohtani announced his marriage in early 2024; his wife, Mamiko Tanaka, is a former professional basketball player in Japan, and the couple welcomed a daughter in 2025. Famously private and single-minded, he is known for sleeping long hours as part of his training routine, picking up litter in dugouts and stadiums, and a childhood ‘dream chart’ in which the teenage Ohtani mapped out, year by year, almost exactly the career he has since lived.

Frequently Asked Questions

How old is Shohei Ohtani?

He was born on 5 July 1994, making him 32 years old in 2026.

How much is Shohei Ohtani’s Dodgers contract worth?

$700 million over 10 years — but $680 million is deferred, so he receives $2 million per year during the contract and $68 million annually from 2034 to 2043.