Oct. 1: Ohtani’s surgery was performed today, tweets Maria Guardado of MLB.com.
Sept. 25: Angels starter and DH Shohei Ohtani will undergo Tommy John surgery next week, the club announced to reporters including Jeff Fletcher of the Southern California News Group (via Twitter). While the outcome was expected, it’s nevertheless significant for a player who has emerged this year as an unprecedented dual threat.
Renowned surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache will perform the procedure. Ohtani will almost certainly not return to the mound until the 2020 season. Of course, the expectation is that he will continue to function as a hitter for the Angels in 2019.
It’s extremely disappointing to see Ohtani’s first season in the majors draw to a close with surgery awaiting. That said, his continued excellence as a hitter since being shut down as a pitcher certainly leaves plenty of cause for continued excitement, even during his TJ rehab.
Ohtani will be ready to hit far before he’s ready to pitch, of course, so he and the Halos anticipate that he’ll be a full part of the roster next season. (Whether he’ll be ready by Opening Day is, however, not yet certain.) Once he’s ready to do both, Angels GM Billy Eppler recently made clear, he’ll go right back to functioning as a hybrid weapon unlike any other in baseball.
Of course, it’s also worth remembering that damage to Ohtani’s ulnar collateral ligament was evident before he joined the Angels over the winter. When new damage arose in the middle of the 2018 season, Ohtani tried a surgical alternative. But he went down again after ramping back up, making TJS an all-but-foregone outcome.
Ohtani is still putting the finishing touches on his season at the plate, but currently sports an eye-popping .280/.361/.564 slash with 21 home runs in 347 plate appearances. While he only has ten MLB starts under his belt, the 24-year-old has shown ample ability in that area as well. Through 51 2/3 innings, he posted a 3.31 ERA with 63 strikeouts against 22 walks.
With Ohtani on the shelf, and Garrett Richards slated for free agency after another Tommy John surgery of his own the Angels’ rotation is now officially on the look for significant help. The top rotation options heading out of the 2018 season appear to be Andrew Heaney, Tyler Skaggs, Matt Shoemaker, and Jaime Barria.
Of course, the expectation is that he will continue to function as a hitter for the Angels in 2019. (Ohtani)
How is this possible, Matt Wieters could not do anything until he was fully healed.
Gleyber Torres was asked about it, and he said he felt there was no way he could have hit until the rehab was done
Maybe Ohtani is a physical freak though like the rest of him
Well I don’t care who you are, you gotta be able to extend your elbow and swing pain free. I doubt there is anything Ohtani can do
Maybe hit one-handed?
The elbow in question is the leading elbow in his swing, since he his LH. Surgeons has already stated the swing isn’t stressful to the leading elbow.
I don’t think anyone believes he’ll be at ST or ready on Opening Day, but functioning in the lineup by May seems reasonable to the *medical professionals* involved with his case. Maybe AAA assignments to get timing back after the layoff in lieu of real Spring Training.
I always consult Internet commenters for my medical advice.
The rehab time for a position player is much shorter than a pitcher. Ohtani will have the surgery about 5 months from Opening Day 2019. Might miss some time early, but even with a full (non-pitcher) rehab schedule he should be available for much of the season, barring a major setback.
The difference being, Ohtani will only be hitting. Not playing a position, which would require it to 100% healed.
Benefits of the al having a dh
Hahaha, well the O’s have several DH’s and Wieters could have DH’d, but he did not.
Wieters isn’t really a good enough hitter to be a DH
Yesterday, 1-for-1 with a homer, and 3 walks. Game before that, another homer. Don’t be surprised if Wieters ends the year on a tear, looking to get paid lol.
Wieters stinks. He was supposed to be Mauer with power but he never panned out. Very mediocre and just your regular average run of the mill hittin catcher
I dont know what their roster looked like at the time, but they probably already had someone at dh
When I hear Wieters name, I think of Travis D’arnaud. Lots of hoopla but little results.
2009 Wieters: 95 WRC+
2009 avg C: 88 WRC+
2010 Wieters: 84 WRC+
2010 avg C: 89 WRC+
2011 Wieters: 110 WRC+
2011 avg C: 92 WRC+
2012 Wieters: 107 WRC+
2012 avg C: 95 WRC+
2013 Wieters: 86 WRC+
2013 avg C: 92 WRC+
2016 Wieters: 89 WRC+
2016 avg C: 87 WRC+. He’s been average or better at hitting for a catcher. Now, he’s back to average for a catcher. 85 WRC+ vs 84 WRC+ C average this year.
If not then what?
“Mauer with power”. That would look great on a T-shirt.
He turned in to Mauer without the OBP
maybe just DH, no throwing for 2019.
Weiters still had a lot of throws to make as a catcher
Wieters plays catcher. You have to be able to throw the ball to play catcher.
And because Ohtani is getting TJS on his right arm but bats left-handed, I imagine it would take less long for him to be able to swing the bat than if he batted right-handed.
Regardless which side of the plate you bat from, your dominant arm is still your dominant arm. Long ago, I was a switch hitter. When I batted from the left side, it was more a backhand lead. Its actually a smoother swing.
Catching requires a strong throwing arm. Wieters also switch hits while Ohtani only bats left and throws right. 4 different surgeons said shouldn’t be a problem.
Because he was a catcher and dh. They didn’t have room for a dh only player. Also, Wieters is no Ohtani.
Matt Wieters isn’t a baseball god that’s why.
Should have just had it 3 months ago instead of sitting around and delaying the inevitable.
What I was thinking
Why? The timetable is the same for the baseball calendar. This is a tired take.
Not at all. If he had it 3 months ago he could have possibly got back on the mound at the end of 2019 and been a hitter early in the season. Now its just coming back to hit mid season at best
No he will still be ready before May
I don’t get why a team wouldn’t much prefer a pitcher potentially coming back end of 2019, getting a good idea of how the arm feels and responding to throwing all pitches in game situations and having a good idea of where they stand heading into 2020, instead of waiting until 2020 and not having any idea how the arm will respond.
Dude, this has been asked and answered so many times…the medical doctors advised non-surgical protocol first, to see if the ligament would respond. The time spent wouldn’t get him on the mound one game sooner. Nobody would opt for painful, career-threatening surgery if the MDs are advising non-surgical approach initially.
Six months regardless
Wrong. Three months or more doesn’t matter. He still wouldn’t be able to pitch in 2020. Instead he’ll just pickup his ROY award and have a great year next year.
The Angels always make bizarre decisions. Still don’t know why they didn’t do this two months ago.
So he could hit
I honestly dont know why people just dont understand the reason. It’s getting tired as well hearing people asking why didnt he get it 2 or 3 months ago.
If you dont understand the schedule by now ….. that’s a YOU problem
If there are any set backs, he stands to miss more time during the regular season by not doing it 2-3 months ago. If everything goes well, there still a chance he misses some of the early season and will also likely miss at least some of spring training, giving him a late start on getting ready next year.
Unless he plans to be back 100% by the start of spring training then it is a legitimate question to ask.
Honestly, I’m just glad he hit 20+ home runs lol
280/.361/.564 with 21 homers and 56 RBI from an Ace.
These are types of slash-lines from SP, you thought you’d never see in your lifetime.
He’s thrown 51 innings in the bigs. You can’t call him an “ace” just because of the hype. He might never pitch again. To be a true ace in the bigs you at least have to prove it for multiple years.
Fair enough, but still rooting for him 2 become one
Sadly, injury may have diminished chance of ROY, but to me, doesnt make what he did any less special
Oh, I think if he isn’t ROY it’s a travesty. He was the best rookie hitter in the AL, then he threw 50 amazing innings too….
I don’t know tommy john isn’t the career killer it once was. I feel like almost every pitcher has it and it seems it’s almost always before they even make it to the bigs
He’s not an ace yet, but saying he may never pitch again is just completely wrong. I can’t think of the last time TJ was a career ender for a pitcher, and the Angels have never wavered from the stance that he is a pitcher and a hitter.
These kings of the small sample size need to stop with this stuff.
Agreed. But it’s unusual when ANY sample matches the hype. Plus he’s still young enough for him to become an ace – we shall see in 2020 and beyond
I could be way off here, but maybe the reason he will be able to hit is that he throws right and bats left. Could the strain be less on the arm because of that?
Actually, that’s worse than better. I am a hitting instructor, and I can confirm that his right arm needs to extend and “lock” to create power. His left arm stays tucked and bent as he drives through the ball, and if he wanted to protect the left arm, he could let the bat go with the left hand quickly after contact.
I have a severe strain of the UCL right now, and I can still hit. I can’t speak to post-surgery, but I would imagine that he’ll be able to hit, just not throw.
All that said, if he DH’s full time next year, what do you do with Pujols? He’s barely passable at first anymore. Unless the Halos can improve the team enough to be a playoff contender in 2019, they might almost be better just letting Otani sit out the year.
Pujols was actually positive defensively at 1B this year, and they had like 45 injuries this year. By default, if they have less injuries, they’re going to be *way* better.
Pujols has always been vastly underrated defensively at first, even in the later stages of his career. He isn’t elite, but he’s not a bumbling DH-only player at first, either.
How do Angel fans feel about Ohtani going forward? Should he continue to be a dual pitcher/hitter or just focus on one aspect and if so, which one? Is he more valuable for the pitcher he might be post-TJ or is his bat for 600 AB as a DH more important? He can probably play a corner OF spot I assume.
He’ll probably never be an OF, at least on the Angels. I don’t see why they would try to make him play one or the other for at least another 4-5 years.
347 plate appearances and he still has way more home runs than anyone on the Giants. So glad Evans got canned and Sabean isn’t going to be involved in personnel decisions anymore.
Didn’t those guys build 3 champion rosters recently?
The Giants play in a huge ballpark and a division where almost all ballparks are larger than normal. That plays a huge factor.
AL ROY 2018
No, sorry.
That will and should be Andujar. 3 reasons: 1. Available to play all year with no DL time, 2. Better offensive numbers (HRs, RBIs, Avg. etc.) w/less strikeouts and 3. He is a legit rookie.
I find the hypocrisy of the media and fans interesting. In 2003, Hideki Matusi should’ve won the A.L. ROY over Angel Berroa but didn’t because a larger group of the media claimed he wasn’t a rookie due to his years in Japan’s top-level of pro-baseball. Ohtani did the same thing.
I don’t why people are changing their stance now. Is it cause Ohtani also pitched 50 innings? He was a good #2 quality but not an Ace. Plus, he only pitched once a week unlike the rest of the league who grinded through a once every 5-day schedule.
It was cool to see a player pitch once a week and DH in-between starts but he should not be Rookie of the Year.
People can Andujar is below average defensively, but as a Yankee fan who watches him everyday I can’t remember too many times year when it cost them a game. Add in that he had the best all-around year of any rookie, it would be a joke if Andujar doesn’t win A.L. Rookie of the Year. If he wasn’t a Yankee, this wouldn’t even be argued by the media or fans.
fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&…
He literally cost a game when he couldn’t field a throw from Hicks in the outfield and 2 runs came in.
LOL
What the heck is WRC+??
Andujar >>>>>> Ohtani
Oh my god. Why do you yankees fans have this victim complex? The media drools over your team. Andujar has -27 DRS, and is the worst fielding third basemen in baseball. The truth is that ohtani should win this by a landslide, and the only reason andujar could win is BECAUSE he’s on the Yankees
Andujar 2.5 fWAR
Ohtani 2.6 fWAR hitter +1 fWAR pitching. There’s an argument for him having a better all around year.
As every math teacher I’ve had during my life has said “show your work”.
The problems with the sabermetric crowd are A. You guys pull these random numbers out w/o showing how you got to that number and B. Act like the game is played with robots instead of humans with a heartbeat. The Angels would have a losing record with or without Ohtani. That’s why I look at WAR and say it’s a bunch of crap.
Plus, you can’t add together WARs for offense & pitching. Especially when the player in question only DH’d, made just 10 starts, spent about 2 months on the DL and was only making 1 start a week when active.
A: On “showing your work”: if you want to find out how Ohtani’s (or any other player’s) WAR was calculated, plug in the numbers to the WAR formula!
B: The Angels’ record has nothing to do with whether or not Ohtani should be the rookie of the year. Rookie of the year is an individual award.
“Especially when the player in question only DH’d, made just 10 starts, spent about 2 months on the DL and was only making 1 start a week when active.”
All of this is factored into WAR. Ohtani’s WAR is lowered because he DH’s. On the other hand, Andujar’s WAR is raised because he plays third. This is supposed to cancel out, since third base is [obviously] a tougher position to play than DH. Ohtani lost a ton of plate appearances to the DL, and that lowers his WAR (more accurately, it doesn’t raise it). Since Ohtani only made one start a week as a pitcher, he accrued fewer innings than a pitcher on normal rest would. Therefore, his WAR is lowered (or, like the previous situation, isn’t raised).
This makes Ohtani’s WAR all the more impressive. Despite having about 230 fewer PA than Andujar, Ohtani’s fWAR is 0.1 and bWAR is 1.8 higher. And despite pitching only 51 2/3 innings, he has 1.0 fWAR and 1.2 bWAR.
I don’t understand how people continue to use “I don’t understand sabremetrics, so I don’t believe it works” as a defense anymore. There’s so much evidence to it working, as well as several playoff teams who have built teams solely on sabremetrics as a barometer for building a team and player evaluation.
His offensive number aren’t more impressive for one reason: all he did was DH. Andujar had to bat and play the field. Ohtani didn’t have to deal with the same wear and tear grind.
Just because he did something “unprecedented” doesn’t mean he should be A.L. RoY. If he had started once every 5 days and batted each day in between, than maybe you all have argument. But the facts are the facts, they picked their spots with each role and he couldn’t stay healthy even with the babing. Missing time due to injury should matter when comes deciding an award.
I’ll asked this again because no one gave a legitimate answer: How is that every player, not just Matsui, that came over from Japan wasn’t considered a real rookie but now all of sudden people are changing there standards for Ohtani?
m3rozansky……”How is that every player, not just Matsui, that came over from Japan wasn’t considered a real rookie but now all of sudden people are changing there standards for Ohtani?” You may want to rethink that considering a 27 year old Japanese rookie won just 2 years before Matsui,
Also your claim that “a larger group of the media claimed he wasn’t a rookie due to his years in Japan’s top-level of pro-baseball.” regarding Matsui losing seems a bit out there considering how close the voting was and how close their stats were.
baseball-reference.com/awards/awards_2003.shtml#al…
Delusional yankees fans salty ohtani said no to them. Ohtani is worth two andujars lol. Ohtani 4 war versus andujar and his horrible defense 2.1. Ohtani obp and ops+ are considerablely higher than andujar with 200 less abs. Stop kidding yourself with andujar even being close lmao. Ohtani is once in a century player and has delivered as advertised sorry to burst your bubble.
Well you’re entitled to your opinion regardless of how “mindless” it is.
Andujar plays defense, Ohtani did only in the 10 starts he had this year…..hardly a significant defensive contribution.
They both should garnish serious consideration in their own ways!
By the way, this is from a Yankees fan and the team you will be watching in the playoffs.
Andujar is one of the very worst defensive players in baseball. I’m not sure that’s a point in his favor.
I don’t think you want to lead with “Andujar plays defense”.
He is in way over his head at 3B—not blaming him, since that’s where he is assigned to play—but he negates literally half his statistical value as a player with truly horrific defense.
While Ohtani’s pitching this season was truncated, he made a positive statistical contribution to his team; this would be in sharp contrast to Andujar in the field.
None of this takes into account the amount of work a pitcher goes through in bullpen sessions on off days, studying video of himsel and hitters on the other team. This is tantamount to working two jobs, much more than a position player would go through. In addition, he’s not just learning the language, he’s learning a different strike zone, different rules. Much different adjustments than someone coming up from the minors.
Its not but he plays every day and must take his hitting out on to the field, and his defense to the plate each and every game….a bit different when you pitch every 5th day.
Did I miss something or did Ohtani get the pitching Gold Glove?
No, you’re missing plenty. When Ohtani wasn’t taking BP or playing in the game, he was doing bullpen sessions 4x a week, studying video of the *hitters* he was going to face that Sunday, while learning to adjust to a new strike zone and language.
Yeah, Andujar was doing none of that.
Ohtani was effectively doing two jobs…unless you think all Severino does between starts is put his feet up in the dugout and relax. The pitcher works 7 days a week, whether it is a day he pitches or not. Ohtani was doing that, AND producing offensively on the field with numbers superior to Andujar’s.
Would it kill you to learn a little about the game before you post your opinions?
Ohtani has better numbers as a hitter than any rookie though….
And you can’t argue he’s not eligible, he’s two years younger than Judge who won it last year.
I beg to differ about his numbers being better than any other rookie….Andujar, regardless of what you think of his defense has better numbers over the course of an entire season period.
He’s played under pressure the entire year, while Ohtani’s team has been bringing up the rear with little to no chance for Oct baseball for most of it.
Being on a playoff team doesn’t gain one single extra vote for a player, and Ohtani has easily been the best hitter. There’s not really an argument especially when you add in the pitching side
Don’t see how you still insist he’s “the best hitter” when you look at the everyday statistics.
You can’t add in his pitching into the argument automatically as you do. And, he pitched 10 games! Come on man!
He doesn’t have the name power, but Joey Wendle of the Rays would be my vote for ROY. He’s played great defense at multiple positions while also hitting above league average. He is a full point higher on WAR than any other AL rookie.
fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&…
Do you know who else had an amazing rookie year pitching and ended up a hitter only? Rick Ankiel. Their rookie stats are very similar except that Ankiel threw more innings
You have to go way back but the great Red Sox pitcher Smoky Joe Wood, 34-5 in 1912, played his last 5 years, 1918-1922, with Cleveland as an outfielder and hit .283 over his career.
Best I have seen in the last 50 years as a pitcher and hitter was Ken Brett, George’s older brother. His best years hitting were 69-75 when he could get the PA’s – 350 PA – .269/.299/.423 – 10 HR – 29 XBH – 87 H compared to only 64 K’s. Some teams wanted to draft him as a hitter. His lone AS year he had a pitching line of 27 GS – 191.0 IP – 3.30 ERA and a slash of .310/.337/.448 as a hitter.
Ken Brett could drive the ball 500 miles.
What a terrible comparison. Ankiel was never effective as a hitter and a pitcher at the same season. Ankiel threw more innings but he had way less ABs in that season.
What I’m saying is that just because Ohtani was effective in 59 innings doesn’t mean anything. He is set up to be a Rick Ankiel with more power.
I don’t understand what planet you guys are living on. Ohtani’s has over 500 innings pitched in the two toughest baseball leagues in the world, to a 2.74 overall ERA.
If you think that doesn’t mean anything, then why did the Yankees give Masahiro Tanaka a $160M contract based on NPB numbers? Why did the Rangers pay an $80M posting fee for Darvish, based on NPB numbers?
Here’s why: NPB pitching numbers are extremely meaningful. NPB parks are actually smaller than MLB parks, and their ball is juiced to fly out easier. They translate pretty much evenly to the National League, and at a half an ERA point penalty, at most, to the AL.
Ohtani put up better hitting numbers in every category this year than Ankiel did in any season in his career. You just see oooooh both hit and pitched and are forcing a comparison that isn’t really there
This may be the dumbest internet comment I’ll read today. Congrats.
Guess that’s why as a group Japanese players come to the Majors and absolutely dominate right?
And when was Japanese baseball ever considered the overall equivalent of US baseball and I stress overall. There are good players there but they simply play the game a bit differently and the translation usually is more difficult than easy.
We’re talking about his contributions this year in our major league. His numbers and performance in Japan should have nothing to do with anything pertinent to whether he should be “rookie” of the year!
Yeah, but Ankiel has 94 total at bats in four years as a pitcher, and hit around .200 in those plate appearances. He had to quit pitching and concentrate on hitting to become a passable MLB’er with the stick. Ohtani is already an impact hitter, while being a top of the rotation starter. The only guy to compare him to is the Babe. Not suggesting that he is or will ever be that good, but Ruth is the only other player that excelled at both at the same time. In his first five seasons in the MLB, which are the years that Ruth was predominantly a pitcher (1914-1918), he had a .299 Average and 20 HR’s in 678 plate appearances.
Who will the Angels add in free agency?
For pitchers mostly, maybe a catcher hopefully.
emerged this year as an unprecedented dual threat
———
Huh? He’s been a dual threat for the past five years.
Unprecedented in the MLB. I mean, that’s obviously what he meant.
Angels need to get Michael Lorenzen. Also a double threat hybrid. But I would leave him in the bullpen.
this should of been done months ago.
The angels still have 4 pretty good rotation options for next season. The only thing is they need about 15 with the way their guys break.
So now that Ohtani will be an everyday hitter for most of next season, how will the Angels deal with having two hitters who they’d prefer to DH most of the time (Ohtani and Pujols)?
After reading time and time again how Ohtani can still bat while rehabbing from TJ surgery, it amazes me that the Angels would actually risk injury to what they consider a “star” player that together with Trout, they wish to build around.
Still don’t know how he can bat, but what happens when he reaches base….is he never going to attempt to steal a base, go in hard to break up a double play, go hard into third on a base hit when he’s on first?
Good comment about how he doesn’t play defense, only to be considered as a DH, and how that may affect Pujols.
Can’t wait to hear the backpedaling from Angels posters next year regarding how the Angels can’t risk new or further injury with this guy.
He can bat because opening day is about 6-7 months away and most rehabs are right around that time for hitters. What’s sliding matter anyways? I don’t watch a ton of Yankees games but I’m willing to bet Gleybar Torres slid in the minors
He can bunt
Actually, that tweet says the surgery was done today (Oct. 1), not yesterday – thought at first he might have had it between innings or something.
Why wait so long? Should have been done a few days after they were eliminated.
Never mind, my questions was answered in the comment section. Tanaka pulled it off, now I see how waiting was I viable decision. It didn’t work but it was worth a shot…
Never mind, my question was answered in the comments. It worked for Tanaka and didn’t for Ohtani. I can see why they waited now.