As soon as the news came out Wednesday night that Los Angeles Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, I searched my mind for a comparable, gut-punch injury throughout baseball annals.
I’ve come up empty. You can’t compare a torn ligament to someone’s career ending due to a serious illness or, of course, an untimely death. This isn’t career or life-threatening,
It’s possible Ohtani doesn’t go on the injured list, choosing not to undergo a second Tommy John surgery. Maybe he just gives up pitching altogether– he already won’t pitch for the rest of this season — and concentrates on being the best offensive player he can be. As a designated hitter, he played through a similar situation in 2018.
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Unfortunately, it will alter Ohtani’s baseball dynamic, which is disappointing because his career is nothing like anything we’ve seen before, even going back to Babe Ruth. And that’s the rub here. Maybe we have taken Ohtani’s talents for granted, but not having him both pitch and hit going forward would be a major blow to the sport.
Here are five thoughts about the gut shot that was yesterday’s Shohei Ohtani injury news.
This stinks for Shohei Ohtani, for the Angels, and for baseball
Earlier this year, I asked questions as part of a major league players’ poll and one was, “If you could choose one player to start a team with right now, who would it be?” All but one of the players I asked said Ohtani. Frankly, many big-league players fanboy over Ohtani and his skills.
He’s that special. I have had people who know nothing about baseball ask me about Ohtani. They’re fascinated that one player can have the talent to be elite on the mound and at the plate. Even if Ohtani chooses against having surgery and simply holds serve as one of the best hitters in baseball, losing the allure of his two-way prowess would be a significant bummer for the sport.
We may never again see someone do what Ohtani has done in the past couple of years.
2023 MLB free agency is now completely altered
The eyes of the industry were focused on what Shohei Ohtani could command in free agency: $400 million, $500 million, maybe more? You’d be getting two players in one and a cultural and marketing phenomenon. The sky was the limit.
Ohtani, 29, is still going to be paid handsomely. No doubt about it. He still is the No. 1 free agent on the board even if he is a hitter only or if he is a pitcher out for a year recovering from surgery. But now the landscape has changed. This is a top-heavy pitching class with only a few offensive studs available.
If a team was in on Ohtani as a starting pitcher, they now may focus more on other top pitchers such as Julio Urías, Blake Snell, Aaron Nola, and potentially Max Scherzer, among others.
Everyone needs pitching, and it appears that the best arm available may not pitch much or ever again. So, in one sense, if that domino is gone, there’s going to be more of a frenzy surrounding the next tier of arms.
The Los Angeles Angels star is still the AL MVP
I made this declaration at the All-Star Break and I’m not wavering now, no matter what happens with his elbow: Ohtani is the 2023 AL MVP. And that shouldn’t change in five weeks, even if he shuts down his season completely. What he has done as a pitcher and a hitter is ground-breaking, so even if he ends up not leading the league in homers, it doesn’t matter to me.
Full disclosure: I do not have an AL MVP vote this year (I have Manager of the Year). And I know that some voters stress “Valuable” over best, and Ohtani plays for an under-.500 team and could be shelved soon. So, his “value” would take a double hit. Still, what his guy did in five months puts him far ahead of anyone else in the race.
Critics can finally say, ‘I told you so’
When Ohtani made his MLB debut in 2018, a player whom I really respect told me Ohtani wouldn’t last five seasons as a two-way player. He said the game is too grueling and that Ohtani would wear down to the point where he had to choose one or the other.
He was wrong. This is Ohtani’s sixth season. But that crossroads appears to be in front of us. And all those who didn’t think Ohtani could keep it up – due to performance or health – seem vindicated. It’s a shame. No one should count out Ohtani; he continually exceeds expectations.
The reality, though, is what Ohtani did is extremely difficult and naysayers didn’t think it could be done. He proved that he could succeed at an extraordinary level, but the critics may be right that it can’t be done for an extended period.
Did the Angels make a deal with the devil?
I’m starting to think there was some type of sorcery in 2009 when Mike Trout dropped to the Angels with the 25th pick in the first round. And they are paying for it now.
The Los Angeles Angels have made the playoffs just once since Trout debuted in 2011 and they’ve never been in the postseason with Ohtani on the club. They’ve spent a lot of owner Arte Moreno’s money over the years, and it has yielded consistent mediocrity. This trade deadline, the Angels decided to be buyers, not sellers, and they’ve gone backward.
Now they are dealing with the Ohtani injury while having to place Trout on the IL with a wrist injury after one game back from a seven-week absence. The Angels have made some bad personnel decisions in the past several years, but they also seem to be snakebiting.
There is one potential positive for the Angels in this mess. Unlike other clubs, the Angels know first-hand how much value Ohtani has away from the field. They know what he means to their franchise, their ticket sales, their marketing efforts, and the community. So, it seems like they won’t shy away from attempting to keep him in Anaheim while others may have some reservations. That’s why this injury may make the Angels the likeliest to sign Ohtani in the offseason.