Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani has addressed the gambling controversy that his former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara has gotten into, and things have quieted down a bit on that front with not much news coming out, but Ohtani's former manager, Joe Maddon, was a bit skeptical regarding Ohtani's agent, Nez Balelo, and the knowledge he could have had regarding this situation.
“The part that's somewhat of a stretch is the fact that it would bet by Nez (Balelo) somehow,” Joe Maddon said on The Windup. “You know, those kind of transactions, the agency would not be aware of that? That's the only part that's incongruent with all of this.
“But easily that Shohei would rely on Ippei to handle daily bill paying, whether it was via Venmo or PayPal, or a check who knows? I don't even know. That to me is not a reach by any means.”
After it surfaced that money had been found going from Shohei Ohtani's count to presumably pay off Ippei Mizuhara's gambling debt, Ohtani prepared and spoke in a press conference at Dodger Stadium a few days later. Ohtani said that he had no knowledge of the gambling debt, and accused Mizuhara of lying and stealing from him.
Maddon was obviously skeptical that Ohtani's agent had no knowledge of what happened between the superstar and his interpreter. However, there is no way of knowing what truly happened until the investigations, federal and by MLB, are completed. Only then will we know the details of what happened.
Since then, the Dodgers have gotten back on the field after their two-game series against the San Diego Padres that took place in Seoul, South Korea. The Dodgers and Padres split those two games, and the story regarding Mizuhara surfaced after the first game there. The Dodgers then took three out of four from the St. Louis Cardinals this weekend at Dodger Stadium.
Ohtani went 4-for-16 with two walks during the weekend against the Cardinals. The Dodgers sit at 4-2 overall after the first weekend on US soil.
Dodgers continue to focus on the on-field play
The Dodgers will host the division rival San Francisco Giants in a three-game series that starts on Monday. The Dodgers are at 4-2, while the Giants are at 2-2 after splitting four games with the Padres.
Despite what could have been a distraction for the Dodgers, they have shown some traits that are usually indicators of a good team. Los Angeles has slugged well throughout their six games so far, scoring five or more runs in every game so far this season, including the two games in Seoul.
It might take a while for new details in regard to the Mizuhara gambling scandal to be revealed as we wait for the investigations to play out. It will be interesting to see how the Dodgers fare against the Giants this week in the meantime.
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