Shohei Ohtani (LA Angels), who stopped pitching this season due to an elbow injury and ended his season as a hitter due to an oblique muscle injury, eventually underwent elbow surgery.안전놀이터
Ohtani announced the news of the surgery on his personal SNS on the 20th (Korean time), saying, “I had elbow surgery this morning and everything went well. I am grateful for everyone’s prayers and words of comfort.”
Ohtani left the mound in late August after feeling pain in his right elbow while pitching. The diagnosis was medial collateral ligament damage. It was an elbow injury that occurred about five years after receiving Tommy John surgery (elbow ligament joint surgery) during the first season of Major League Baseball (MLB) in 2018.
However, surgery was not performed immediately. Afterwards, he forced himself to play only as a batsman, but even suffered an oblique muscle injury. Finally, on the 17th, it was confirmed that he had taken his load off in the locker room, and it was soon revealed that he had finished this season as a hitter due to an oblique muscle injury.
If the season had ended anyway, he had no reason to postpone the surgery, which was his ‘homework’. Around the same time that Otani personally announced the surgery, his agent Nezu Valero also confirmed the surgery. Valero said Otani underwent surgery at the Kerlan & Jobe Orthopedic Clinic in Los Angeles, California. The details of the surgery were not disclosed.
If he only plays as a hitter, his return may be faster. Even when Ohtani underwent Tommy John surgery in 2018, he immediately returned to batting in 2019. Recently, there is a precedent for Bryce Harper (Philadelphia Phillies) to return to the season immediately after surgery.
Even though he is out for the season, the outlook that Ohtani will win this year’s American League MVP (Best Player) is not expected to change much. As a batter this year, Ohtani recorded a batting average of 0.304, an on-base percentage of 0.412, a slugging percentage of 0.654, 44 home runs, and 95 RBIs in 135 games. Subsequently, as a pitcher, he recorded 10 wins, 5 losses, and an average ERA of 3.14 in 23 games and 132 innings.