LA Angels star Shohei Ohtani preparing for huge return after major elbow surgery - "I will work as hard as I can and do my best to come back"
Los Angeles Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani underwent elbow surgery on Tuesday. The surgery was held in Los Angeles and was successful, according to his agent, Naz Balelo.
The surgery was to repair the torn UCL in his pitching arm. Given how late this season that Ohtani had the surgery, he will not be able to pitch next season. However, he can hit and should be ready by opening day next season.
Ohtani, a national icon in Japan, took to social media to give an update to his fans.
"I will work as hard as I can and do my best to come back on the diamond stronger than ever," Ohtani said.
This is not Ohtani's first time under the knife during his MLB career. Tommy John surgery in 2018 limited him to being the Angels' designated hitter in 2019.
The exact type of surgery Ohtani had was not specified, but it does not look to be a second Tommy John surgery. It is being reported that the surgery was a repair, which will speed up the recovery process.
Having a second surgery on the same elbow is something that could be hard to come back from. It will be interesting to see how well Ohtani does next season and the season after that when he returns to the mound.
Tons of questions surround Shohei Ohtani
There are many questions surrounding Shohei Ohtani.
One of the first questions would be, has he done enough to secure the American League MVP Award?
Before his injury, Ohtani was running away with the award. He is still the clear favorite to win the award at -20000 on most books. However, Corey Seager and Julio Rodriguez have been red-hot lately.
The bigger question is, who will Ohtani sign with next season? The two-way phenom will be a free agent when the season ends, and every team plans to make him an offer.
Teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets have been tied to the star as they have no problems throwing big-money contracts at players. Some other teams, like the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs, have thrown their names in the hat.
It will be interesting to see which team is lucky enough to land Ohtani in the offseason.