Shohei Ohtani’s $700 million greatness won’t be slowed by betting-scandal distraction

You are the face of Major League Baseball, the $700 Million Man, and your close friend, your interpreter, betrays you, allegedly steals $16M from your bank account to pay off his gambling debts. An MLB investigation into The Scandal Heard ’Round the World, from here to Japan and back, thankfully absolves you. It does not cost you your reputation, or your growing legacy.

The Scandal Heard ’Round the World, from here to Japan and back, no longer costs you sleep.

“Now that I’ve been able to do that, I also came to realize that how I feel off the field mentally shouldn’t affect my abilities,” Shohei Ohtani said through his new interpreter before the Dodgers’ Memorial Day game against the Mets was rained out. “I have every confidence in my own ability that I could be able to still play without being affected by anything that happens off the field.”

His pressing concern these days is a bruised hamstring that he has been playing through after being plunked in the leg May 16 on a pickoff attempt at first base.

“It got worse the next day and started to kind of feel it more and more as I ran more,” he said.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts over the weekend in Cincinnati guesstimated that Ohtani was at around 90 percent.