Ohtani’s Agent Says Procedure is ‘Inevitable’

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.

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