Angels News: What’s Next for Shohei Ohtani Following Torn UCL?

Suddenly there are many questions surrounding the superstar.

In some devastating news on Wednesday night, the Angels received a double whammy in awful injury updates for their two brightest stars. 

Furthering a theory that the franchise might very well be cursed since winning it all in 2002, both Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani received some grim news concerning both the present and future. 

Just a game after coming off the IL with a wrist injury, Mike Trout was sent back to the injured list following the doubleheader against the Reds, but the veteran had the better news of the night from the Halos. 

Undergoing further testing after exiting the first game of said doubleheader against Cincinnati with arm fatigue, it was determined that Shohei Ohtani's UCL had been torn once again and surgery might be necessary. 

Already having an operation for a torn UCL in 2018 through Tommy John Surgery, Ohtani's injury plagued campaigns in both 2019 and 2020 made many skeptics question whether or not the two-way ability was sustainable. 

Though Ohtani quelled such doubts starting in 2021, his massive workload for a losing franchise has finally caught up to him once again. 

You will recall the Angels had pretty tight control over Shohei Ohtani's workload in 2018-20, and he still got hurt.

So going into 2021, they allowed Ohtani to be in charge.

Here's a look back to how that happened, which seems particularly relevant now... pic.twitter.com/BXCDut4aVO

— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) August 25, 2023

Even as the major league leader in home runs and being the huge competitor he is, Ohtani's intentions to keep hitting this season after being shut down on the mound may be detrimental. 

Further testing to determine the severity of the tear in his elbow is still needed, but the unicorn has finally shown cracks in his seemingly untouchable foundation. 

• Related: Did The Angels Mess Up By Not Trading Shohei Ohtani?

The signs were clear as fatigue and a skipped start to begin this month were clear indications that the Japanese superstar's triple digit stuff had taken its toll. 

A PRP injection to aid his elbow would be the best case short-term solution, but continuing to hit may perpetuate a second Tommy John surgery which could spell a death sentence to his pitching prowess and a lower contract in the offseason for any suitor who wishes to pursue him. 

Ohtani has gone the PRP route before and it bought him only a few more outings before ultimately succumbing to the surgery.

The Athletic's Evan Drellich spoke with an orthopedic surgeon about a second Tommy John and what all that would entail in terms of timing for the free-agent-to-be. 

“Especially in a revision second-time Tommy John, you want the rehab to go perfectly. And the rehab, by design, that throwing progression, it’s designed to have very strategic incremental building loads on the ligament"— Dr. Chris Ahmad, orthopedic surgeon https://t.co/K6euwQ3SuQ

— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) August 25, 2023

First, the big question Shohei will need to answer is what does he want his 2024 season to look like? He could avoid surgery and remain a DH... but that may be about it. If he were to undergo the knife sooner, he could potentially return in time to DH by the All-Star break next season and possibly look to pitch again in 2025.

“There will be some compromise to his rehab process if he becomes a position player, depending on what his workload is, if he comes back next year,” Dr. Chris Ahmad said. “Especially in a revision second-time Tommy John, you want the rehab to go perfectly. ... “For a second-time surgery — especially for a hard thrower who is effective, who has a lot of career left — you would like to see that rehab process go through smoothly with a dedication to the progression. Having said that, it’s not impossible to do (rehab differently). It just means that you have to build in the strategy to have a throwing progression, and that certainly would take place in the offseason and during the following spring.”

Per The Athletic

There are a lot of factors for Ohtani to weigh over the next few days and weeks.