Going to LAAA in 2018 - Shohei Ohtani

Margo McCready

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Dec 23, 2008
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I can not believe what I'm seeing right now. Going right after hitters with 99 mph gas on the black and a Koji-esque splitter. Mixing in a slider that nails the bottom corner every time, too. Just wow.
 

Margo McCready

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Dec 23, 2008
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He's got a looong season ahead of him but his stuff looks like a legit Cy Young candidate. AND he takes Cy Young winners deep? Unbelievable.
 

Sad Sam Jones

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7 innings: 12 K's, 2 base runners, and by my count only 4 balls in play made it beyond the infield.

*
 

Sam Ray Not

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So glad the Sox didn’t wind up with this guy. Save Ichiro, none of these guys have worked out even close to their hype.
Three weeks later... :)

On the bright side, he didn't end up on the MFY, and this season has gone okay so far for us without him. I'd happily take him in EdRo or Porcello's rotation spot, though...
 
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sean1562

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I am 100% rooting for the guy. Just imagine what kind of a player he will be if he lives up to the hype on both sides of the game. The Angels could sign someone like Pomeranz next year and immediately be a contender. Trout and Ohtani playing to his max potential would be a great team to see. Just a really great storyline

Can't wait for Ohtani to throw a gem against the Yanks in the WC game
 

Mugsy's Jock

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Three weeks later... :)

On the bright side, he didn't end up on the MFY, and this season has gone okay so far for us without him. I'd happily take him in EdRo or Porcello's rotation spot, though...
And what about JD Martinez’s spot? <ducks>
 

joyofsox

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Ohtani retired 14 of his last 15 batters in his debut. Then he retired the first 19 In his second start. That's a stretch of retiring 33 out of 34 batters (including 27 in a row). 28 of those 34 batters did not hit the ball out of the infield.

Only 6 of his 45 batters have reached base in his two starts
 

Sad Sam Jones

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Over 48% of the batters who have faced him found themselves in an 0-2 count. That's more than twice the league average.

*
 

sean1562

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With the bases loaded, Ohtani turns on an inside 97 MPH fastball for a bases clearing triple. kid is great to watch, and am really glad he is playing well. Trout and Ohtani makes the team easy to root for
 

simplicio

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With the bases loaded, Ohtani turns on an inside 97 MPH fastball for a bases clearing triple. kid is great to watch, and am really glad he is playing well. Trout and Ohtani makes the team easy to root for
That may be significant, cause inside heat was supposed to be his kryptonite.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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The Angels-Royals game today was postponed due to weather, which pushes Ohtani's start back to Tuesday against the Red Sox.
 

jon abbey

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Uh oh, out for at least three weeks and likely longer :

"In an alarming announcement, the Angels revealed today that right-hander Shohei Ohtani has been placed on the 10-day DL with a Grade 2 sprain of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. He’s already received a platelet-rich plasma injection, per the Angels, and will be re-evaluated in three weeks."
 

BigSoxFan

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Uh oh, out for at least three weeks and likely longer :

"In an alarming announcement, the Angels revealed today that right-hander Shohei Ohtani has been placed on the 10-day DL with a Grade 2 sprain of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. He’s already received a platelet-rich plasma injection, per the Angels, and will be re-evaluated in three weeks."
Ugh. This absolutely blows. Losing Simmons and Ohtani in same week is brutal for Halos.
 

simplicio

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Is there a team harder hit by injuries than the Angels the last few years? Brutal, I feel bad for them.
 

BigSoxFan

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Any chance he could still hit after a few weeks if surgery isn’t needed? Will be interesting to see how they handle this. His top value is as a SP but he’s still a .900+ OPS hitter and might be better than that with consistent ABs.
 

axx

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Any chance he could still hit after a few weeks if surgery isn’t needed? Will be interesting to see how they handle this. His top value is as a SP but he’s still a .900+ OPS hitter and might be better than that with consistent ABs.
Don't they usually have TJS eventually? Maybe he could be the everyday DH and return sometime in 2019?
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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Pomeranz also got this treatment a couple years back and has avoided TJS since.

Also, there's this from PeteAbe about Pomeranz that would seem to imply that 3 weeks seems awfully optimistic for Ohtani's re-evaluation to tell them anything.

 

axx

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Difference is though, if he doesn't end up doing the TJS he could just be the full time DH. Pujols has been pretty meh this season.
 

BigSoxFan

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Difference is though, if he doesn't end up doing the TJS he could just be the full time DH. Pujols has been pretty meh this season.
This gets to the core of my question. What do the Angels do if he probably needs TJ to continue pitching but doesn’t necessarily need it to hit? He’s such a good hitter that I’d rather have him hit for the next 2 years than lose him in the rotation and lineup. Given their lineup issues, I’d rather have him hit than have an elite pitcher once / week.
 

jon abbey

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This gets to the core of my question. What do the Angels do if he probably needs TJ to continue pitching but doesn’t necessarily need it to hit? He’s such a good hitter that I’d rather have him hit for the next 2 years than lose him in the rotation and lineup. Given their lineup issues, I’d rather have him hit than have an elite pitcher once / week.
The Athletic just put up a piece on this, here is the relevant quote for your question:

"Ohtani could also conceivably begin swinging a bat within months of surgery if the Angels had had the surgery immediately.

“You usually can start hitting pretty quick after Tommy John. And if you need Tommy John and you injure your ligament, you can still hit, or at least most of the guys can still hit,” Kremchek said. “You just can’t field your position and throw.

“There are some that cannot hit, that it causes pain when they hit. But by and large, most of the guys can hit.”

Eppler said Friday that, if Ohtani were solely viewed as a designated hitter in the eyes of the organization, he would “probably” be able to hit. However, it is not a hypothetical he would be willing to entertain and jeopardize the organization’s investment in him as a two-way player, and not one or the other.

“It was determined that any unique swing or variability could impose some small percentage increase of risk,” Eppler said. “That’s why we’re going to commit to that three-week time period to further assess and then make a determination at that time.”"
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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If his elbow is bad enough that surgery is needed, I'd imagine that it would affect his swing. Maybe not to the dramatic degree that it affects pitching, but enough that he might be diminished at the plate.

I would imagine he could return to hitting sooner than he could to the mound if he had the surgery, so conceivably if he had the surgery at the end of the month, he might be able to DH at the start of next season even if he was still months away from the mound.
 

BigSoxFan

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The Athletic just put up a piece on this, here is the relevant quote for your question:

"Ohtani could also conceivably begin swinging a bat within months of surgery if the Angels had had the surgery immediately.

“You usually can start hitting pretty quick after Tommy John. And if you need Tommy John and you injure your ligament, you can still hit, or at least most of the guys can still hit,” Kremchek said. “You just can’t field your position and throw.

“There are some that cannot hit, that it causes pain when they hit. But by and large, most of the guys can hit.”

Eppler said Friday that, if Ohtani were solely viewed as a designated hitter in the eyes of the organization, he would “probably” be able to hit. However, it is not a hypothetical he would be willing to entertain and jeopardize the organization’s investment in him as a two-way player, and not one or the other.

“It was determined that any unique swing or variability could impose some small percentage increase of risk,” Eppler said. “That’s why we’re going to commit to that three-week time period to further assess and then make a determination at that time.”"
Thanks. Sounds like it really does depend on how he responds and possible he could be full time DH in a month.
 

sean1562

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I imagine he would want the surgery though no? His whole selection process seemed to be based around who would let him hit and pitch
 

BigSoxFan

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He’s baaaaaaaack! Activated off DL and will DH. Should play almost every day now that pitching isn’t in play for a while.
 

NYCSox

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He’s baaaaaaaack! Activated off DL and will DH. Should play almost every day now that pitching isn’t in play for a while.
I'm guessing he's going to play until the ASB. The Halos have six with the Mariners and unless they go at least 5-1 they're done at which point he could be shut down, get TJS and come back as a DH only in 2019 and DH/P in 2020.