Earlier this week, Angels two-way phenom and Rookie of the Year candidate Shohei Ohtani learned that an MRI revealed new damage to the UCL in his right elbow. This means that Ohtani will likely need to undergo Tommy John surgery.
For now, though, Ohtani has settled on some near-term plans ...
Shohei Ohtani said he will finish the season as a hitter. Hasn’t decided yet about TJ.
— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) September 7, 2018
And more from Fletcher:
It sounds like Ohtani is mostly resigned to having TJ surgery, just not 100 percent ready to make that decision. Also, he said abandoning pitching is not a consideration.
— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) September 7, 2018
This season, the 23-year-old Ohtani as a DH has an excellent slash line of .287/.367/.579 with 18 home runs in 82 games. He's also coming off a two-homer game on Wednesday, so the grim diagnosis hasn't yet affected him at the plate.
His pitching, of course, is the unknown. The results have certainly been there, as he's pitched to a 128 ERA+ this season with 63 strikeouts and no unearned runs in 51 2/3 innings. The working assumption is that he'll undergo Tommy John surgery this offseason, and perhaps he'll be able to continue serving as the team's DH while his elbow heals and recuperates next season. Obviously, there's not much of a road map to such an approach to rehab, but given Ohtani's excellence at the plate it's probably a risk worth taking.
For now, we'll get to enjoy Ohtani the hitter for the rest of 2018, despite the worrisome injury and even if his Angels aren't going to the postseason.
