Not even Shohei Ohtani might be able to save Japan's WBC hopes from a fatal flaw

In a World Baseball Classic with unprecedented star power, Shohei Ohtani is here to remind everyone that he — not Aaron Judge, not Juan Soto, not Tarik Skubal or Paul Skenes or Ronald Acuña Jr. — is the face of the sport right now. Ohtani won't be taking the mound for Japan during this year's WBC, but if he keeps swinging the bat like this, no one will complain: After going 3-for-4 with a homer in a dominant opening win over Chinese Taipei on Friday, the Los Angeles Dodgers star was back at it on Saturday morning, reaching base four times while adding another dinger against Korea.

For those keeping score at home, Ohtani is now 5-for-6 with 6 RBI in the tournament so far, and he's reached base seven times in eight total plate appearances. It's been nearly impossible to get him out, and Japan is great position to advance out of Pool C as a result.

And yet, there's an argument to be made that you should feel less confident about Japan's odds of a repeat title now than you did before the WBC began. Wait, what?

Behind Shohei Ohtani, Team Japan might have the WBC's best lineup

Team USA and the Dominican Republic boast All-Star lineups of their own, and neither of those powerhouses disappointed in big opening wins against Brazil and Nicaragua, respectively. But Japan has reminded everyone over the last couple of days that they've got plenty of offensive firepower of their own.

It starts, of course, with Ohtani, batting leadoff and virtually guaranteeing that the heart of Japan's order will come up with at least one runner on base. But that's just the tip of the spear: Seiya Suzuki is one of the most slept-on hitters in the entier world (at least outside of Chicago), and Masataka Yoshida is reminding everyone that despite the current dysfunction in Boston, he's still a very good hitter when given the opportunity.

Add in fellow big-leaguers like Kazuma Okamoto and Munetaka Murakami, plus elite NPB talent like Teruaki Sato and Shota Morishita, and there are precious few places for opposing pitching staffs to hide. There's a reason why Japan has racked up a combined 21 runs across its two opening wins, against some pretty respectable pitching staffs in Chinese Taipei and Korea to boot.

Of course, hitting is only half the battle, and while Japan's first two opponents are hardly pushovers, the competition will get tougher from here. And it's on the mound, rather than at the plate, where the reigning champs have engendered some cause for concern — especially when it comes time to battle the Americans, Dominicans and others in this loaded field.

Japan's pitching staff could derail their hopes for a WBC repeat

Japan needed every bit of Ohtani's heroics on Saturday morning, using a three-run rally in the seventh to break a tie and escape with an eventual 8-6 win over Korea. MLB veteran Yusei Kikuchi put the Japanese in an early hole, allowing a three-spot in the top of the first and allowing six hits over his three innings of work. And Japan's bullpen wasn't all that much better, allowing three runs over the final six innings to a Korean lineup that ranks somewhere in the middle of the pack in this year's WBC.

And the struggle to get outs could become a theme for Japan if they're not careful. Yoshinobu Yamamoto is one of the best arms on planet Earth, and his big-game bona fides need no introduction after last year's World Series. But Yamamoto is only one man, and Japan won't be able to lean on him too hard given that he still has a full MLB regular season to get through. Behind him, though, it's hard to have a ton of confidence: There's Kikuchi, who's carved out a very nice Major League career for himself but is closer to average than elite, and Tomoyuki Sugano, who struggled so badly in his first year Stateside in 2025 that he was promptly shipped off to the Colorado Rockies this offseason.

It's hard to feel great about either one of those pitchers going up against the best lineups in this competition. The cupboard isn't bare behind them, of course; Hiromi Itoh won the Japanese equivalent of the Cy Young this past season, and he struck out six batters in his three innings of work in Saturday's win. Generally, though, the depth here struggles to rival that of the U.S. (who will start every game of the tournament with one of Skubal, Skenes, Logan Webb or Nolan McLean, plus Mason Miller and David Bednar out of the bullpen) or even the D.R. (Cristopher Sanchez, Sandy Alcantara, Brayan Bello, Luis Severino, Abner Uribe, Camilo Doval, Dennis Santana, Seranthony Dominguez).

Eventually, Japan is going to go up against lineups that can at least come close to matching the exploits of Ohtani and Co. And when they do, they're going to need their pitching staff to at least keep them in the game. Right now, they don't look particularly well-suited to do that, at least compared to the teams they'll have to beat to hoist the trophy again.