LOS ANGELES — Kiké Hernández stood in the corner of a jam-packed Dodger Stadium interview room Monday and watched as Shohei Ohtani forcefully denied speculation that he bet on sports or knew that his former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, was accused of stealing $4.5 million from him to pay off debts owed to an allegedly illegal Orange County bookmaker.

During the 12-minute news conference, Ohtani said he had no knowledge of Mizuhara's gambling problem until last week, that he never agreed to pay off Mizuhara's debt or make payments to the bookmaker, and that Mizuhara, who was fired by the Dodgers last week, "has been stealing money from my account and has told lies."

When he was done, Ohtani, speaking through interim interpreter Will Ireton, thanked the crowd of about 75 media members, said he was "glad we [had] this opportunity to talk," and that he is "looking forward to focusing on the season."

Then Ohtani got back to work ahead of an exhibition game against the Angels, his former club. He played catch before the game for the first time since last September, the start of a throwing progression in the two-way star's rehabilitation from Tommy John surgery.

"He's handling this way better than I would," said Hernández, the Dodgers' utility player. "Betrayal is hard. And when you show up to work and you don't show any signs of ... we're human and [stuff] affects us in many different ways. And he's doing a great job of not letting it [distract] him from what he needs to do on the field and his work."

Hernández and reliever Joe Kelly were the only players in attendance for the news conference, which took place while most of the team went through pregame workouts. Club president Stan Kasten, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, general manager Brandon Gomes and manager Dave Roberts were also there.

"For him to be able to collect his thoughts and speak honestly and openly and be very vulnerable was really huge," Roberts said of Ohtani. "I heard everything I needed to hear, and I know the players feel the same way. … I got a lot of questions answered as far as what he knew, what he didn't know, and I'm looking forward to just moving forward and letting the authorities take care of this."

Monday marked the first time that Ohtani, the global superstar who signed a 10-year, $700 million deal with the Dodgers in December, addressed the scandal publicly.

The matter is under investigation by Major League Baseball and the Internal Revenue Service, and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged bookmaker, is the subject of an ongoing investigation by the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles.

Ohtani reiterated several times that he is a victim, not a willing participant, in the scandal, and if his new teammates needed any convincing, they received it during the news conference.

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