A photo of Japanese baseball star Shohei Ohtani that has been digitally changed is circulating following his MLB free agency, with the idea that he is travelling to Los Angeles on the Dodgers team jet.
Several users on social media, including sky (“@GonsolinRBW“) tweeted the picture with the caption “Shohei Ohtani is currently flying to LA on the Dodgers team plane”. It has received an about 405.8k views and was further reshared by more than 350 users, contributing to the spread of the information.
Shohei Ohtani is currently flying to LA on the Dodgers team plane 👀 👀 pic.twitter.com/N0RNFfkNH5
— sky (@GonsolinRBW) November 13, 2023
Is the Claim made about the image that went viral true? : Fact
The truth is that this is an old photo from March, when Ohtani flew in on a chartered plane for WBC and arrived in Japan. In actuality, Ohtani hasn’t made up his mind about his free agency destination.
An article related to this incident was published on March 2,2023. It shared the same image with the caption “‘Baseball Genius’ Ohtani arrives in Japan on chartered plane… Preparing for WBC”. This shows that the picture is old and not from recent.
D-Intent’s Fact-Checking Results:
1332
— D-Intent Data (@dintentdata) November 14, 2023
ANALYSIS: Fake
FACT: Upon #MLB free agency, a digitally altered image of Japanese baseball superstar Shohei #Ohtani is being spread, claiming he is flying to LA on the Dodgers team plane. The fact is this is an old image from March when Ohtani arrived in Japan, (1/2) pic.twitter.com/AXdzXQ3udL
Intent:
In an attempt to get attention and recognition on social media, fan accounts are disseminating fake photos with misleading claims.
Conclusion:
Claim : Following the MLB free agency, a digitally manipulated image of Japanese baseball phenom Shohei Ohtani was circulated, saying he was heading to Los Angeles on the Dodgers team plane.
Fact : The photograph is actually from March, when Ohtani came in Japan on a chartered plane for WBC. Ohtani is still not sure about his free agency destination.
