If reports from ESPN are accurate, the Los Angeles Angels just got smacked in the face and kicked in the stomach.
LA’s pitching staff and lineup will be far weaker if Shohei Ohtani, who hit the disabled list with a Grade 2 UCL sprain last week, is forced to undergo Tommy John surgery, as is being reported.
Losing the two-way star, who has four wins and a 3.10 ERA as a pitcher and a .289 batting average with six home runs as a hitter, would be a crippling blow to an Angels team looking to contend in this year’s playoffs.
Unfortunately for the Angels, if Tommy John is needed for Ohtani, that blow would still smart next year as he would probably miss all of the 2019 season as well while recovering.
Last week, Angels general manager Billy Eppler was optimistic a platelet-rich plasma and stem cell injection would be enough to heal Ohtani and there’s a slim chance that could still work.
“We’re hopeful that he can, that it is completely treatable with the biologic prescription the doctors recommended,” Eppler said. “I’m just going to take every day as it comes and put him on this course of recovery and strengthening for the next three weeks and then deal with what we’ve got to deal with in three weeks’ time.”
If Ohtani does have Tommy John, it’s possible he could return as a hitter before he returns to the mound.
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