It has been 12 days since the Los Angeles Angels announced that Shohei Ohtani had a UCL tear in his pitching elbow that would end his season on the mound.
The two-way star has declined to address his injury or his future.
On Monday afternoon, Ohtani’s agent, Nez Balelo, spoke with local reporters and Japanese media about Ohtani’s injury and future for about 25 minutes, filling in some of the gaps while at the same time creating new questions.
Balelo spoke before Ohtani got scratched from the lineup due to what the Angels announced was right oblique tightness.
Shohei Ohtani’s agent, Nez Balelo, said he anticipates Shohei Ohtani needing a procedure.
He said Ohtani plans to DH throughout next season and doesn’t believe a procedure would prohibit him from DHing.
First of all, I know we probably all have recordings. I wanted to go off-record a little bit. But it’s OK.
I wanted to do this to try and clear a little bit of the air. There’s been a kind of a negative narrative out there when the Angels made the announcement. I understood why they needed to do it.
That Shohei had a tear and that he would miss the rest of the season pitching. Since then, the club hit the road. And this was our first opportunity.
I told him that I was going to address the media. But I wanted to keep it more localized, and I wanted people here who follow him daily.
Shohei’s in a good place, and his spirits are high. He’s playing, everything’s good. I don’t want anybody to think that he’s not.
The other thing that I feel is important is that people understand that the situation that we’re in, he’s going to be fine.
I think it’s inevitable that there is going to be some type of procedure. OK? What that procedure looks like, when, and the type of procedure is what we’re gathering right now.
I’m just going to get it out and tell you. Perry (Minasian) went on record and said that we had a tear. And we do. But it’s completely different than last time.
Last time was way up top, the farthest area that you can get on top. And this one is about as low as you can get. So, it’s completely different.
When you take the lowest extremity that you can on a ligament that’s close to the bone, that’s where this problem lies.
The ligament itself that Shohei had, the graft that he was put in with the native ligament back in 2018, is altogether, intact. No problem, everything looks good. That’s a real positive to take away from this.
Angels’ manager Phil Nevin wouldn’t speculate whether Ohtani’s oblique issue could keep him out of the final 24 games of the regular season.
“We’re gonna run some tests on him in the morning and see where he’s at,” Nevin said after the Angels’ 6-3 loss Monday. “He’s pretty sore today.”
Video captured by Yuki Yamada of Sankei Sports showed Ohtani swinging awkwardly, then walking to the dugout with his head down as he made his way to the clubhouse.
Ohtani, set to become a free agent after the World Series, will not pitch again this season after he tore his ulnar collateral ligament during the first game of a doubleheader on Aug. 23.
Ohtani has not spoken to the media since his pitching start against the San Francisco Giants on Aug. 9.
Amid criticism over the Angels’ handling of Ohtani’s health, general manager Perry Minasian told reporters Aug. 26 that the team offered to conduct imaging after Ohtani experienced a finger cramp earlier in the month, but the two-way star declined.
Minasian suggested the Angels were proactive, offering imaging exams after Ohtani reported a finger cramp on Aug. 3 against the Seattle Mariners.
Ohtani and Balelo were not worried the cramp was a symptom of a deeper problem and declined imaging, Minasian said.
“I consulted with Shohei after we talked through it,” said Belelo, who emphasized the relationship between Ohtani and the team remains the same.
“If you noticed in the sixth or seventh inning, the cramp went away, he hit a home run to tie the game, and he stole a base. He was fine. There wasn’t any issue with the elbow, no issue with the shoulder. He was good to go.”
Heading into Monday, Ohtani led the majors in on-base-plus-slugging rate (1.066) and shared the lead in home runs (44) and triples (8).
He led the American League in walks (91) and on-base percentage (.412) and was tied atop the AL in runs scored (102).
He’s also batting .304 with a .654 slugging rate.
“We all feel extremely positive on information that we’re getting, that he’s going to be fine,” Belelo said.
“The outpouring of love and well wishes, all of that, have been overwhelming, and we appreciate it.”
