Injury ahead of the FA invitational. It can’t be a powerful issue that will shake the FA market that will be held this winter.
Was Shohei Ohtani (29, LA Angels), the “superstar” of the major leagues, also a human after all? Ohtani, who was doing well, met the ordeal of injury.
On the 24th (Korean time), Ohtani took the mound as a starting pitcher in the first game of the double header against the 2023 Major League Cincinnati Reds at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California, USA. At the same time, he was also named as the number 2 hitter. In a word, it was a ‘double sword’ competition.
It was also Ohtani. On the mound as a starting pitcher, Ohtani, who finished the inning lightly with a triple strike while striking out “genius hitter” Ellie Dela Cruz with a swinging miss in the first inning as a starting pitcher, Ohtani, who finished the inning lightly with a three-way strikeout, hit Cincinnati for the first time at bat in a situation with no first base at the end of the first inning. Starting pitcher Andrew Abbott’s 93 mile (150 km) four-seam fastball was attacked, and he hit a two-run home run in Woo Jung-Wol, showing off the dignity of a’baseball genius’. It was Ohtani’s 44th home run of the season. Currently, the player who has hit the most home runs in all major leagues is Ohtani.
Ohtani, however, sent an autograph to the bench while dealing with Christian Encarnacion-Strand in the first base situation in the top of the second inning. He felt that something was wrong with his body. In response, Angels manager Phil Nevin and Angels head trainer Mike Prostad came out to the mound to check Ohtani’s physical condition, and Ohtani eventually left the mound and moved to the dugout. The Angels immediately replaced Tyler Anderson.
Ohtani switched to designated hitter, but as the second base chance with no run approached in the bottom of the third inning, the Angels put in a surprised Chanuel as a pinch hitter. The Angels club said, “Ohtani was replaced due to arm fatigue.”
Ohtani’s injuries were pretty serious. He underwent a thorough examination, which revealed that the ligaments in his right elbow had been damaged. As such, he opted not to pitch as a pitcher for the remainder of the season. “Ohtani has been confirmed to have damaged ligaments in his right elbow, so he will not pitch for the remainder of this season,” Angels general manager Peri Minassian said.
Ohtani had already pitched 4 innings before being replaced due to finger cramps in the game against the Seattle Mariners on the 4th. Was it a sign that his body was starting to fail? The Angels let Ohtani play only as a hitter for two weeks after pitching against the San Francisco Giants on the 10th, considering that he had accumulated fatigue, but all was in vain.
In this situation, he may have to climb on the operating table. Director Minassian said, “There is no word yet on whether or not to undergo surgery,” but the embers still remain.
The ‘double sword’ is the very symbol of Ohtani. As a pitcher this year, Ohtani appeared in 23 games and pitched 132 innings, recording a 10-5 record with an ERA of 3.14. It was the league’s best shot with 44 homers, 91 RBIs and 17 stolen bases. The reason he won the American League MVP in 2021 is because he caused a huge sensation by winning 9 wins as a pitcher and 47 homers as a hitter.
So, local media also predicted that “a $600 million contract would be possible” with Ohtani ahead of free agency. The largest contract ever in the major leagues was a 12-year, $426.5 million (approximately 565.1 billion won) contract signed by Mike Trout, a teammate of Ohtani, with the Angels. The prevailing expectation was that if Ohtani was capable of ‘two swords’, Trout’s contract size would be sufficiently exceeded.
However, as Ohtani encounters the rock of injury, his free agency value fluctuates. If he undergoes elbow surgery and it becomes difficult for him to pitch as a pitcher for the time being, his ransom will inevitably decline.
In response, the American media is also busy bouncing abacus eggs. American sports media ‘CBS Sports’ said on the 25th, “Gerrit Cole signed a contract with the New York Yankees for 9 years and 324 million dollars (approximately 429.3 billion won) ahead of his 29-year-old season. “I signed for $360 million a year (about 477 billion won),” he predicted, “Ohtani will jump over the contracts of the two players.”
The media predicted that Ohtani would receive equal treatment with the minimum judge even if it was difficult to run as a pitcher in the future. “Looking at Ohtani’s offensive numbers alone, he deserves similar treatment to Judge,” predicts CBS Sports. Judge hit 62 home runs last year, setting the American League record for most home runs in a single season.
On this day, the MLB.com official website predicted that the competition to catch Ohtani would intensify as the ransom of Ohtani was lowered.
‘MLB.com’ predicted, “Ohtani will continue to play as a designated hitter for the rest of the season. Even if he undergoes Tommy John surgery, it will not affect his swing.” Even if Ohtani gets on the operating table, it is expected that he will not have any trouble continuing to hit.
In fact, Bryce Harper of the Philadelphia Phillies, who returned from elbow surgery last year, had a batting average of .349 in the postseason with 6 home runs and 13 RBIs, and Ohtani also topped the list as the designated hitter twice in the second game of the double header against Cincinnati on the 24th. Judging from the participation, it is not an unreasonable expectation.
“MLB.com” continued, “Most fans saw that the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, Yankees, San Francisco, and Angels could sign a contract with Ohtani. Clubs that can sign an astronomical contract with him, who doubles as a pitcher, are essentially “Not every team can pay $500 million over 10 years.”
Rather, he added the prospect that there is a possibility that Ohtani will remain with the Angels. ‘MLB.com’ said, “Even if Ohtani undergoes surgery, at some point he will want to continue pitching, and Anaheim is a stable, familiar, and predictable place for him to rehabilitate from surgery.” did.
Meanwhile, ‘CBS Sports’ predicted that the teams that could sign Ohtani would be limited to 11 clubs. ‘CBS Sports’ predicted that “the Dodgers are the most likely candidate,” but that one of the Yankees, Mets, Chicago Cubs, San Francisco, Seattle, San Diego Padres, Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia, and Angels would embrace Ohtani. . “One of these 11 clubs will sign Ohtani,” the media predicts. Is there really any team that will work with Ohtani?메이저사이트
How will Ohtani’s injury change his future? It could be a really interesting story. It’s interesting to see if he’ll be treated the same as Judge as the best hitter in the league, even if he gets surgery. And, as the possibility of Ohtani’s ransom rises, attention is focused on whether other teams, not just some rich clubs, will have a chance to sign a contract with Ohtani.