\n”,”providerName”:”Twitter”,”providerUrl”:”https://twitter.com”,”type”:”oembed”,”width”:550,”contentType”:”rich”},{ “__typename”:”Markdown”,”content”:”The injury comes at the worst possible time for Ohtani, who is set to become a free agent after the season and appears headed for the largest contract in major league history. But if he has to undergo a second Tommy John surgery, which has a much lower success rate than the first, he could miss the 2024 season on the mound and much longer, which would hurt his value. \n\nHe struggled in two starts during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, returning to the mound after his first UCL tear, and didn’t fully recover until his AL MVP season in 2021. Minesian said it’s too early. Here’s what to expect from Ohtani moving forward and what he believes it will take for him to fully recover from his injury.\n\n”I wouldn’t put any limits on players in general, but him in particular,” Minassian said. “He’s shown he can do it and excel at it. I expect him to step up and do whatever it takes to get back to where he was.””,”type”:”text”},{“__typename”:”Video”, “contentDate”:”2023-08 -24T05:27:04.207Z”,”preferredPlaybackScenarioURL({\”preferredPlaybacks\”:\”mp4AvcPlayback\”})”:”https://mlb-cuts-diamond.mlb.com /FORGE/2023/2023 /23/9c01516f-c2118629-314f4a94-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4″,”type”:”video”,”description”:”Bill Nevin discusses Redhead’s pitching loss in Game 2. ,”displayAsVideoGif”:false,”duration”:”00:00:43″,”slug”:”phil-nevin-on-doubleheader-loss”,”tags”:[{“__typename”:”GameTag”},{“__typename”:”TeamTag”,”slug”:”teamid-108″,”title”:”Los Angeles Angels”,”team”:{“__ref”:”Team:108″},”type”:”team”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”manager-postgame”,”title”:”manager postgame”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”send-to-news-mlb-feed”,”title”:”Send To News MLB feed”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”press-conference”,”title”:”press conference”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”tune-in-daily”,”title”:”TuneIn daily”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”apple-news”,”title”:”Apple News”,”type”:”taxonomy”}],”thumbnail”:{“__typename”:”Thumbnail”,”templateUrl”:”https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-images/image/upload/{formatInstructions}/mlb/cuv7ame1jndn1fj5jee4″},”title : “Phil Nevin on doubleheader loss”,”relativeSiteUrl”:”/video/phil-nevin-on-doubleheader-loss”},{“__typename”:”Markdown”,”content”:”Ohtani, 29, has 23 starts this season. He went 10-5 with a 3.14 ERA and 167 strikeouts in 132 innings. He missed his last scheduled start because of arm fatigue, which was the diagnosis the Angels gave him when he first left on Wednesday.\n\nBut Minassian said Ohtani hadn’t complained of any elbow problems until Wednesday, previously only dealing with a blister and cramp on his right middle finger. \n\n”He didn’t complain about anything; he had cramps and was dehydrated,” Minassian said. “But today he came out of the game and said he had pain in the elbow area. Today is the first day we’ve heard that.””,”type”:” text”} ,{“__typename”:”video”,”contentDate”:”2023-08-23T21:04:08.759Z”,”preferredPlaybackScenarioURL({\”preferredPlaybacks\”:\”mp4AvcPlayback\”})/”: ” /mlb-cuts-diamond.mlb.com/FORGE/2023/2023-08/23/a94cd94b-6d8aa2ed-4fb7eab5-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_4000K. Measures the projected distance and exit velocity of Shohei Ohtani’s 442-foot homer, his 44th of the season. 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About.\n\n”It’s obviously unfortunate, but I think the fact that he’s playing the second game says a lot about the guy,” Minasian said. “How he loves playing so much. How much his teammates mean to him and this place to him. The fact that he played wasn’t impressive to me.””,”type”:”text”}],”contentType”:”news”,”subHeadline”:null,”summary”:”ANAHEIM — Two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani is coming off his start. 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6:20AM UTC
ANAHEIM — The Angels suffered a major blow Wednesday when two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani was diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow after leaving his start in a 9-4 loss after 1 1/3 innings. Game 1 of a doubleheader against the Reds.
This is the second time Ohtani has suffered a torn UCL. He had the same injury in 2018 that forced him to undergo Tommy John surgery and did not pitch in 2019. However, the Angels are seeking a second opinion on Ohtani before deciding whether he should undergo surgery.
But Ohtani, the favorite to win the American League MVP award for the second time in three seasons, will not pitch again this season after undergoing an MRI exam that revealed a tear between games of a doubleheader.
“We did imaging between games and he has a tear and he won’t pitch all year,” general manager Perry Minasian said. “We’re going to get a second opinion and go from there. It’s basically day-to-day. Obviously, he’s hit. But that’s where we’re at.
Despite his diagnosis, Ohtani asked to remain in the lineup as the designated hitter in Game 2’s 7-3 loss and went 1-for-5 with a buzzer-beating double in the fifth. The Angels still don’t know if Ohtani will be able to hit through the rest of the season or if he will need surgery. In 2018, he suffered a sprained UCL on September 2nd and continued the rest of the way until undergoing Tommy John surgery on October 1st.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” Minassian said. “We’re going to go day by day and see how it goes. See how he feels. As far as recovery time and that kind of thing, I think as we get more information. We’ll get more information down the road.”
The injury comes at a particularly bad time for Ohtani, who is set to become a free agent after the season and looks set to land the largest contract in major league history. But if he has to undergo a second Tommy John surgery, which has a much lower success rate than the first, he could miss the 2024 season on the mound and much longer, which would hurt his value.
In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, when he returned to the mound after his first UCL tear, he struggled in two starts and didn’t fully recover until his AL MVP season in 2021. Minesian said it’s too early to know what to expect. Ohtani is moving forward and he believes he has what it takes to make a full recovery from injury.
“I never put any limits on players in general, but him in particular,” Minassian said. “He’s shown he can do it and excel at it. I expect him to bounce back and do what he needs to do to get back to where he was.
Ohtani, 29, made 23 starts this season, going 10-5 with a 3.14 ERA and 167 strikeouts in 132 innings. He missed his last scheduled start because of arm fatigue, and that was the diagnosis the Angels gave him when he left his outing on Wednesday.
But Minasian said Ohtani hadn’t complained of any elbow issues until Wednesday, as he had previously dealt with only a blister and sprain on his right middle finger.
“He never complained about anything; He had cramps and was dehydrated,” Minasian said. “But today he came out of the game and said he had pain in the elbow area. Today is the first day we’ve heard about it.”
Ohtani hit his MLB-leading 44th homer in the first inning of Game 1 and is batting .304/.405/.664 with 22 doubles, seven triples, 91 RBIs and 17 stolen bases in 126 games. Minasian added that it says a lot about Ohtani’s character that he wanted to play in Game 2 despite knowing the severity of the elbow injury.
“It’s obviously unfortunate, but I think the fact that he’s playing in the second game says a lot about the guy,” Minassian said. “How much he loves to play. How much his teammates mean to him, how much this place means to him. The way he played was nothing short of impressive to me.
