The worst-case scenario for Shohei Ohtani (29-LA Angels) is that he will not be able to pitch for up to three years after an elbow injury ended his 2023 season.
MLB.com, the official website of Major League Baseball,카지노사이트 noted Otani’s progress since the elbow injury, saying on Oct. 26, “It was shocking and heartbreaking news not only for him and the Los Angeles Angels, but for baseball fans around the world.”
Ohtani took the mound for the first game of a doubleheader against the Cincinnati Reds on April 24, but was pulled after just 1⅓ innings due to elbow pain. The Angels announced shortly after the conclusion of the second game of the doubleheader that “Ohtani has suffered a torn medial collateral ligament (UCL) in his right elbow and will not pitch for the remainder of the season.”
In fact, this wasn’t the first time Ohtani had struggled on the mound this season. It started when he felt discomfort in his arm after pitching six innings of one-run ball against San Francisco on October 10. He missed a scheduled start against the Texas Rangers on April 17 due to arm fatigue. He then showed two more dips in velocity against Cincinnati and, at worst, suffered an injury that could require his second elbow ligament reconstruction (Tommy John surgery) since 2018.
With a decision yet to be made, Ohtani has three options. First, he could postpone the surgery until after the season and finish the rest of the season as the designated hitter. Second, depending on the extent of the ligament damage, he could return to the field this season after a simple procedure such as a plasma injection (PRP) or stem cell treatment.
MLB.com, which profiled both options, noted that “elbow surgery with an internal brace has a quick recovery time of six to nine months,” but that “Ohtani tried both PRP injections and stem cell therapy when he was diagnosed with a UCL sprain in the 2018 season, but ultimately had to undergo a Tommy John surgery,” which was met with skepticism.
Shohei Ohtani, second from right, helps himself off the mound after failing to pitch for two more innings during the first game of a doubleheader against Cincinnati on Thursday. /AFPBBNews=News1
Shohei Ohtani watches the field during the first inning of a doubleheader against Cincinnati on Thursday./AFPBBNews=News1
His current team, the Los Angeles Angels, is 61-67, fourth in the American League West and 10.5 games out of the third wild-card spot, the Houston Astros, with no chance of fall baseball. And even if he finishes the season as he is, Ohtani is a lock to win his second MVP award after batting .304 with 44 homers, 91 RBIs, 97 runs scored, 17 doubles, a .405 on-base percentage, a .664 slugging percentage and a 1.069 OPS in 126 games as a hitter, and going 10-5 with a 3.14 ERA and 167 strikeouts in 132 innings with 66 walks in 23 games as a pitcher. He’s not likely to play more for his team the rest of the season.
That leaves Tommy John surgery as the favorite. Tommy John surgery, a common procedure for torn UCLs, typically takes 12 to 18 months to recover from. However, players who have received it a second time have taken longer than that to recover from their first Tommy John surgery.
“Players who have undergone Tommy John surgery twice have a lower success rate, and even if he recovers quickly, he won’t be pitching in 2024,” MLB.com explains, “The first time he had Tommy John surgery on Oct. 2, 2018, he was lost for the season again in 2020 after pitching just 1⅔ innings, so it’s possible he won’t be back on the mound until 2026.”
This will have a significant impact on Ohtani’s price tag when he becomes a free agent after this season. Prior to his injury, he was expected to start at least $500 million, but according to a recent MLB.com interview with an anonymous source, several major league executives have already begun to view “Pitcher Ohtani” with skepticism.
However, expectations are still high, as Ohtani has successfully pulled off a two-hitter that was once considered impossible in modern baseball. “Given the unpredictable nature of a second Tommy John surgery, there’s no guarantee that Ohtani will be the same player,” MLB.com wrote, “but he’s a player who has a history of proving people wrong. That’s why I don’t think anyone will be surprised if he comes back and throws the ball like an ace.”
Shohei Ohtani./AFPBBNews=News1
Shohei Ohtani./AFPBBNews=News1