Shohei Ohtani scheduled to undergo Tommy John surgery following end of season

Angels phenom Shohei Ohtani will undergo Tommy John surgery for a damaged UCL in his throwing elbow during the first week of the offseason, the team announced Tuesday.

The surgery will be performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles following the end of the regular season, in which the Angels are currently 76-81. Since damaging his UCL, Ohtani has continued to play for the Angels as a designated hitter.

The Angels had already announced that Ohtani would likely need a UCL reconstruction, but they opted to wait until Ohtani’s season as a hitter was done before putting him under the knife. Following the surgery, Ohtani likely won’t appear as a pitcher until at least the beginning of the 2020 season.

Shohei Ohtani’s injury history

Ohtani’s elbow troubles began in June when he suffered a grade 2 UCL sprain, but it looked like had avoided needing Tommy John surgery at the time. The Angels instead opted to rest Ohtani’s arm and only use him as a hitter for a few months, a course of treatment that would likely have allowed Ohtani to pitch in 2019 if successful.

The Angels eventually felt good enough about Ohtani’s recovery that the decided to bring him back as a starting pitcher, a curious move given the minor reward of contributing to an already lost season and the major risk of re-injury. The move might have been intended as a test to see if Ohtani’s arm would actually hold up, but the news was bad either way.

While Ohtani looked strong in the first few innings of his return against the Astros on Sept. 2, his velocity cratered in the third inning and he had to be removed early. New damage to his UCL was revealed a few days later, and Tommy John was soon expected.

What are the Angels planning for Ohtani in 2019?

Given that Tommy John surgery usually requires at least a year in recovery time, it is extremely unlikely that we’ll be seeing Ohtani on an MLB mound before 2020. However, that doesn’t mean Ohtani will be out for 2019.

Four doctors who regularly treat damaged UCLs told Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan that Ohtani could continue to hit while recovering from the surgery, assuming no medical complications. One said Ohtani could return to full-time batting at the 4½-to-six-month mark, which could mean he’d be ready for Opening Day next year.

Such news is encouraging for the Angels, as Ohtani has shown his bat is not the kind you want to remove from your lineup unless absolutely necessary.

Even with his damaged UCL, Ohtani has continued to hit for the Angels and hit well enough to garner hype as a Rookie of the Year candidate. In 347 plate appearances this season, Ohtani is hitting .280/.361/.564 with 21 homers and a 152 wRC+ that leads all MLB rookies, even Ronald Acuña and Juan Soto.

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