Shohei Ohtani Reveals He and Mamiko Tanaka Are Expecting a Baby: ‘Can’t Wait for the Little Rookie to Join Our Family’
The Los Angeles Dodgers star married the former pro basketball player in February
The Los Angeles Dodgers player, 30, revealed on Instagram that his family roster with wife Mamiko Tanaka, 28, will soon be expanding — with a “little rookie” joining their lineup sometime in 2025.
On Saturday, Dec. 28, he shared that he and Tanaka are expecting their first child alongside a photo of a pink onesie, white shoes and a photo of a sonogram, which he covered with a baby head emoji. Their dog Dekopin (a.k.a. “Decoy”) was also featured in the picture with the baby items.
“Can’t wait for the little rookie to join our family soon,” he captioned the post, which attracted a million likes and 18,000 comments within hours.
The post comes after Ohtani announced that he tied the knot in February on Instagram, though he did not name his wife at the time. He eventually shared a photo with the former pro Japanese basketball player two weeks after the announcement, confirming the rumors that she was his wife.
“Not only have I began a new chapter in my career with the Dodgers but I also have began a new life with someone from my Native country of Japan who is very special to me and I wanted everyone to know I am now married,” Ohtani wrote.
In Japanese, he added, per CNN, “We are still young and [there are] many things we don’t know yet, but we hope you will warmly watch over us,” he continued. “We hope that the two of us (and one dog) will work together to support each other and move forward alongside with our fans.”
Just two weeks after he announced they had married, Ohtani posed with Tanaka and their translators as they boarded a plane to Seoul, South Korea, where the Dodgers were set to play.
The team posted a photo of the two of them on X (formerly Twitter) alongside another photo of Ohtani’s teammate Mookie Betts and his wife, Brianna Hammonds.
“Wheels up to Seoul,” they captioned the post, labeling Tanaka as Ohtani’s wife in the alt text of the photo.
Tanaka has also been spotted in the stands of several of Ohtani’s Dodgers games. In one video shared by Dodgers Nation on X in September, she could be seen celebrating with Ohtani and their dog on the field after the team won the NL West.
They have occasionally attended events together outside of the baseball diamond and even made a rare appearance together at the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation Blue Diamond Gala in May 2024, where they posed for a photo with Ed Sheeran.