Angels Star Shohei Ohtani to Undergo Season-Ending Knee Surgery
By Jerry Trotta
Major League's Baseball's best two-way star will unfortunately see his sophomore campaign end prematurely due to injury.
The Los Angeles Angels announced on Wednesday that Shohei Ohtani will undergo a procedure on Friday to "address a bipartite patella" in his left knee, effectively ending his season.
— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) September 12, 2019
To make this decision now, with the Angels out of the postseason hunt, makes complete sense. The 8-12 week recovery timetable indicates that the 2018 Rookie of the Year will be good to go for Spring Training.
The injury news should come as a surprise to Angels fans considering Ohtani played the entire game against the Indians on Wednesday night, going 1-for-5 with a solo home run.
As far as Ohtani's pitching is concerned, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic understands that the 25-year-old star can resume his Tommy John rehab a little less than a month after his surgery and will return to the mound around the 10-week post-op mark.
Shohei Ohtani can resume “arm activation” in his Tommy John rehab approximately 2-3 weeks after surgery, per Billy Eppler. Plan is then to have him back on the mound potentially as soon as 10 weeks after his surgery.
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) September 12, 2019
Because of the Tommy John surgery he underwent last fall, Ohtani served this season exclusively as a hitter for the Angels, batting .286 to go with 18 home runs and 62 RBI in 384 plate appearances.
It's now the second year in a row in which Ohtani's had his season cut short due to injury, and the Angels are hopeful that addressing these issues now can enable the 25-year-old to have a long and durable career.