Shohei Ohtani Leaves Start Early Again with Injury

It what has become a concerning trend over the last few starts, Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani left his start against the Houston Astros early because of injury.

In what has become an increasingly growing and concerning trend over his last three starts, Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani left his start on Friday early because of injury.

The following update comes from the Rotowire fantasy baseball portal:

Ohtani left Friday's game against the Astros with a trainer in the top of the sixth inning, Sam Blum of The Athletic reports.

ANALYSIS
While manager Phil Nevin said pregame that he did not expect any more problems with Ohtani's troublesome right middle finger, it was seemingly the culprit behind the megastar's early exit Friday. He's been dealing with a blister and a cracked nail on the finger. Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register notes that Ohtani's velocity was down and his command was off prior to exiting. Ohtani allowed four runs (three earned) on five hits and three walks while striking out seven over five innings.

That's troublesome for several reasons:

1) The Angels need Ohtani to be healthy. If they want to climb back into the playoff race, they need Ohtani at his best. With Mike Trout, Jo Adell and Anthony Rendon all on the injured list, Ohtani is the only hope for the Angels. They can't afford to lose when he pitches, and they can't afford to have him leave when he pitches.

2) The Angels are faced with unenviable position of maybe having to trade Ohtani at the trade deadline. If Ohtani's ability to pitch in any is compromised, the Angels can't get maximum return for the most unique player we've ever seen.

3) It's just a loss for baseball. This guy has put so many eye balls on the sport, and if he's hurt, it just hurts the sport.

At the time of this posting, the Angels are trailing the Astros, 7-5, in the eighth inning.

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