OC Register: Angels place Shohei Ohtani on the DL with a grade 2 UCL sprain

[AngelsWin.com]

Angels two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani was placed on the disabled list on Friday with what the team called a grade 2 sprain of his ulnar collateral ligament.

The club announced that Ohtani underwent platelet-rich plasma and stem-cell injections on Thursday. He will be re-evaluated in three weeks, and most likely out a significant portion of the rest of the season.

General manager Billy Eppler did not immediately return a message.

Ohtani left his start on Wednesday with what the club described as a recurrence of the blister issue that had bothered him in April and periodically during his time in Japan. The Angels did not make Ohtani available to speak to the media after Wednesday’s game.

Ohtani had been diagnosed with a grade 1 sprain of his UCL last year, ews that broke when details of his physical were leaked during the winter meetings.

A grade 1 sprain means the ligament is merely stretched, but not otherwise damaged. A grade 3 sprain is when the ligament is torn. There are a variety of degrees in between that are classified as grade 2 sprains, sometimes not requiring surgery.

Ohtani, 23, was enjoying an historic season, succeeding as both a pitcher and a hitter, in his rookie year in the majors. He is 4-1 with a 3.10 ERA in nine games, and he is hitting .289 with six homers in 114 at-bats.

More to come on this story.

Related Articles

• Angels starters flourishing with six-man rotation
• Angels hold on to win after Shohei Ohtani leaves with a blister
• Angels’ Andrelton Simmons out indefinitely with a sprained ankle
• Five things we learned from the 2018 Major League Baseball draft
• Angels’ Andrew Heaney tosses 1-hit shutout on his 27th birthday

View the full article