Shohei Ohtani Has Special Praise For Philadelphia Phillies All-Star

The Los Angeles Dodgers superstar praised a Philadelphia Phillies All-Star during his postgame press conference.

Jul 16, 2024; Arlington, Texas, USA; National League designated hitter Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers. / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

The schedule said All-Star Game, but it might as well have been a Philadelphia Phillies regular season game.

That's because the Phillies had a whopping eight All-Star selections this year, six of whom appeared in Tuesday's 5-3 loss to the American League.

For Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani, it was his first time meeting and spending time with many National League All-Stars, including Philadelphia's representatives. After spending his first six seasons in the AL with the Los Angeles Angels, he's still getting the lay of the land in the NL.

While Ohtani got to rub elbows with many of the NL's best, including Pete Alonso, Christian Yelich and Paul Skenes, one Phillies All-Star stood out to him the most.

Shohei Ohtani says of all the players at the MLB All-Star game he was impressed with Phillies star Bryce Harper

"Bryce Harper stood out to me"

▶️ https://t.co/GqivyuPWKL pic.twitter.com/AetUimD38D

— Jeff Skversky (@JeffSkversky) July 17, 2024

In his postgame press conference, Ohtani gave a special shout-out to Bryce Harper.

"I had an opportunity to get a pretty close look at Bryce Harper and the preparation that he does before the game, so really Bryce Harper stood out to me," Ohtani said through his interpreter.

That's high praise coming from Ohtani, who is arguably the best player in baseball right now. The two-time MVP proved that again during the All-Star Game by bashing a three-run homer off Boston Red Sox pitcher Tanner Houck, driving in all three of the NL's runs.

Like Ohtani, Harper is also a two-time MVP and former Rookie of the Year. He's been in the big leagues considerably longer, however, debuting in 2012 -- a full six years before Ohtani arrived from Japan.

As such, Harper carries himself like a grizzled veteran at this point. He's in his 13th MLB season and has been to eight All-Star Games -- twice as many as Ohtani. He's also been to the postseason many times, something that Ohtani's never done.

Predicted for greatness when he was just a teenager, Harper's been working his whole life for this. That intense drive and focus helped him return from Tommy John surgery in record time last year.

Ohtani saw Harper last week when their teams played each other, but this was different. He got to see Harper's routine in person (not to mention his amazing red carpet outfit), and he couldn't help but be impressed.