Shohei Ohtani News: Surgery ‘Inevitable’ for Angels Superstar, Says His Agent

It's not all bad for the star though...

You probably know by now that things changed significantly for Shohei Ohtani late last month. 

The Los Angeles Angels two-way superstar tore his UCL on August 23, making a second elbow surgery "inevitable" according to his agent Nez Balelo. 

Ohtani previously tore his UCL and underwent Tommy John surgery in 2018. 

However, it's not all bad for the baseball icon.

In what seems to be encouraging news, Ohtani's Tommy John repair is still "intact," Balelo said.

It is likely Ohtani will need some kind of procedure done, but they are still weighing what needs to be done.

“The ligament itself that Shohei has, the graf that he was shown, that he had repaired in 2018, is still intact,” Balelo clarified.

— Sarah Valenzuela (@Sarah_IsabelVee) September 4, 2023

How can that be true?

Ohtani's tear this time around is in a different spot than his previous injury.

Agent Nez Balelo said Ohtani’s original Tommy John repair is intact and this tear is in a different place. Balelo calls this “best case scenario.”

— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) September 4, 2023

This seems like extremely encouraging news in what has been a wave of bad news since the MVP candidate was injured in late August. 

I have to begin this by saying that I am not a doctor, but at least the hope exists now that he may not need a second traditional Tommy John surgery.

Of course, more testing will be done over the coming days and weeks, but if Ohtani's able to somehow avoid a year plus long rehabilitation process -- something that seemed a certainty less than two full weeks ago -- that could change his prognosis dramatically.

The odds of him pitching in 2024 are slim, but he may actually be able to eventually resume his full two-way status. 

There's sure to be a lot more developments on this soon, but while surgery will at some point happen, Ohtani may have dodged a sizable bullet as he's set to enter free agency this offseason. 

Even without pitching, he should still be the MVP frontrunner as he's hit .304/.412/.654 with an MLB-leading 44 home runs, eight triples, and 95 RBI this season.