Ichiro cracks Shohei Ohtani joke during Mariners return

Now that he is back in Seattle, Ichiro wants to prove (albeit jokingly) who the real two-way Japanese star is in the MLB.

During his return press conference on Wednesday, the former AL MVP, who just signed a one-year deal to return to the Mariners, cracked a joke about newly-minted Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani. Ichiro said that he was looking forward to hitting (and also hopefully pitching) against his fellow countryman, according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports.

At his press conference, Ichiro was his classic self. Said he’s looking forward to hitting against Shohei Ohtani — and is hoping Scott Servais will let him pitch when Ohtani is hitting.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 7, 2018

The 44-year-old also dropped this funny line about the maturity level of the 23-year-old Ohtani, per Greg Johns of MLB.com.

Ichiro on Shohei Ohtani's maturity: "Obviously the age difference, I'm like a father and he's like the son. But mentally, he’s like the father and I’m like the son.”

— Greg Johns (@GregJohnsMLB) March 7, 2018

Ichiro should get plenty of opportunity to face off against Ohtani this season since the Mariners and the Angels are both in the AL West. But if you think that the former is out of his element on the pitching front, well think again.