Major League Baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani revealed on Thursday that he is now married.
“The season is approaching, I am pleased to announce to you that I have gotten married,” Ohtani said in a surprise post in Japanese on Instagram.
“We are still young and [there are] many things we don’t know yet, but we hope you will warmly watch over us,” he said, adding “we hope that the two of us (and one dog) will work together to support each other and move forward alongside with our fans.”
He added that his spouse “is a Japanese woman” and stated in English that she is someone “who is very special to me” but shared no other details about her identity.
The 29-year-old said he will be addressing the press on Friday. In the meantime, he urged the media to refrain from reaching out for interviews to him and his family.
Following his post on Instagram, Ohtani and topics related to his marriage became Japan’s top five trending topics on X, formerly known as Twitter, with his announcement stunning fans.
“Ohtani san is getting married! I wonder what the lucky girl is like!” one user posted on X.
Some Instagram followers were less thrilled with the news.
“Taking off work to mourn the loss of Shohei,” one user replied to Ohtani’s post.
In December, Ohtani announced that he was leaving the Los Angeles Angels to sign a historic 10-year, $700 million deal with the Angels’ crosstown rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, after weeks of fevered speculation.
Shortly after signing, he made the unprecedented decision to defer more than 97% of record-setting contract with the Dodgers until after the end of the 10-year term of the agreement
On Tuesday, Ohtani got his Dodgers career off to a blistering start, crushing a huge home run in his Spring Training debut in the team’s 9-6 Cactus League victory over the Chicago White Sox.
It was the first time that the reigning American League MVP had stepped up to the plate since undergoing elbow surgery in September.
Ohtani is known for his two-way abilities but likely won’t return to the mound to pitch until 2025, according to the physician who performed the surgery.
CNN’s Matias Grez contributed to reporting.
