Updated Post, 9/20/2023
Mets’ medical director Dr. David W. Altchek spoke to Jason Coskrey of the Japan Times about the biggest baseball star in the world, Shohei Ohtani. Altchek, also the co-chief emeritus of the HSS Sports Medicine Institute, touched on the recent news that Ohtani underwent an unspecified elbow surgery on Tuesday. Ohtani played with the below injury until the Angels fell out of the playoff hunt. Ohtani’s agent didn’t specify what type of elbow surgery, “the final decision and type of procedure was made with a heavy emphasis on the big picture,” Nez Balelo said.
Altchek has been the Mets medical director since 2005 and is a world-renowned knee, shoulder, and below surgeon. “There’s a more elaborate way of repairing certain UCL tears using synthetic sort of ligaments rather than biologic ligaments, that reinforces the repair,” Altchek said. “Some people who do that think it allows for an earlier return to play.”
Ohtani’s agent said the superstar should be able to start the 2024 season without any restrictions hitting-wise and that Shohei should be ready to pitch in 2025.
“He’s been hitting,” Altchek said. “You don’t need a functioning UCL to hit home runs.”
The 29-year-old Ohtani is still fourth in Major League Baseball with 44 home runs despite missing a chunk of time recently with an oblique injury and dealing with a torn UCL.
“Presuming that the surgery was well done, which I’m sure his was, it is exactly the same factors, which is velocity,” Altchek said. “I mean, maybe there are other factors, but the only one that we can substantively correlate is velocity.”
Updated Post, 9/19/2023
Shohei Ohtani had elbow surgery on Tuesday, according to his agent.
While the press release didn’t specify what kind of surgery, one can assume it was Tommy John given the nature of his previously announced surgery: a torn UCL.
Neal ElAttrache performed the surgery, and he said Ohtani should be able to hit with no restrictions on Opening Day in 2024. He should be able to both hit and pitch in 2025.
Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Original Post, 9/4/2023
Shohei Ohtani’s agent, Nez Balelo, said on Monday that some kind of surgery is “inevitable” for the two-way superstar. He later clarified that a “procedure” is inevitable and that it could include a non-surgical procedure.
Ohtani was reported to have a torn UCL on August 25, which shut him down on the pitching side of things. He continued to hit, though, and had a strong series against the Mets right after his injury was announced. Torn UCLs often lead to Tommy John surgery, though no official decision on whether Ohtani was going to undergo surgery was decided yet.
Ohtani has already undergone one Tommy John surgery in his career. Balelo said, though, that the tear is “completely different” from last time, and that the portion that was already repaired is in good shape. The potential of a second Tommy John surgery put Ohtani’s future as a pitcher into question, but Balelo said Ohtani has every intention of being a two-way player again.
“Shohei loves to pitch,” Balelo said. “There’s not a question in his mind that he’s going to come back and continue to do both.”
The Angels superstar, who’s now 29, has been able to do both skills at an elite level this season. He owns a career-best and league-leading 1.066 OPS as a hitter, and he performed to a 3.14 ERA in 132 innings as a pitcher. His best season on the mound came last year, when he posted a 2.33 ERA in 166 innings. His career ERA sits at 3.01 in nearly 500 innings.
Despite playing with a torn UCL, Ohtani doesn’t seem to have slowed down on his offensive production. He was set to become one of the most coveted free agents in MLB history after the end of this season, and even with the pitching concerns, he’ll still be easily the most prized target on the market.
“Shohei is going to be in somebody’s lineup next year DHing when the bell rings,” Balelo said. “He’s gonna be good to go.”
Ohtani is wrapping up one of the most memorable seasons of all time, even if his innings on the mound wrapped up sooner than he would have liked. The severity of the procedure that he’ll have to undergo is still on the table, so only time will tell just how long it’s going to be until he can slot into a team’s rotation.
