Shohei Ohtani to undergo left knee surgery, ending his season (timeline is 8-12 weeks)

[Docwaukee]

4 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

Bummer, but makes sense.

Ohtani's actually had a bit of a sophomore slump this year: same BABIP and BA, but lower OBP and SLG due to less walks and HR. His ISO is down from .279 to .219, despite the league-wide surge in HR. Overally his wRC+ is down from 151 last year to 122 this year. Among players with 300+ PA, that's a drop from 8th to 69th.

Hope he rebounds. Still a good hitter, but not one of the best in the league.

seems to pull off the ball a ton which saps his power.  He's just looked really off at the plate to me this year.  Lot's of mechanical issues with his setup and swing.  

[tdawg87]

32 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

seems to pull off the ball a ton which saps his power.  He's just looked really off at the plate to me this year.  Lot's of mechanical issues with his setup and swing.  

Claude right now:

[mulwin444]

14 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

Claude right now:

Yep, he loves himself so good Angels torture-porn

[Angelsjunky]

57 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

seems to pull off the ball a ton which saps his power.  He's just looked really off at the plate to me this year.  Lot's of mechanical issues with his setup and swing.  

I kind of felt his approach in 2018 wasn't sustainable, but didn't want to say it out loud. He looked like a talented rookie, not a polished vet - and didn't seem to command the strike zone like great hitters do. I suppose the good thing might be that 2019 looks like his floor, which is still pretty good. And he's only 25...as he matures, he could improve further and have some truly elite hitting seasons.

[Stradling]

4 hours ago, Kevinb said:

Two seasons two season ending surgeries. Perfect. 

I don’t think this is true. 

[TooCool]

Sucks but at the same time why did I expect it?

[John Taylor]

Meh, get it out of the way now, hell lets find all the birth defects for all our players and just em under the knife now so their ready for next season. Plastic surgery for everyone! Maybe if we give Albert some botox he'll only look 40....

[Claude]

2 hours ago, tdawg87 said:

Claude right now:

The Angels F’d up his natural swing. He doesn’t look comfortable standing at the plate. 

[Docwaukee]

2 hours ago, Angelsjunky said:

I kind of felt his approach in 2018 wasn't sustainable, but didn't want to say it out loud. He looked like a talented rookie, not a polished vet - and didn't seem to command the strike zone like great hitters do. I suppose the good thing might be that 2019 looks like his floor, which is still pretty good. And he's only 25...as he matures, he could improve further and have some truly elite hitting seasons.

I agree that so much of his production is from just pure natural talent and not really much in the way of approach.  He's kind of a mess mechanically and doesn't seem to be making the right adjustments right now.  

[nate]

3 hours ago, Baghdad Strad said:

I don’t think this is true. 

It isn't

Interesting that it wasn't until the team was out of contention that he decided to have the surgery.  I am sure he would have done the same if this were a playoff team, right?

[Tank]

58 minutes ago, Calzone 2 said:

The Angels F’d up his natural swing. He doesn’t look comfortable standing at the plate. 

wait, how is this the angels fault?

[Stradling]

2 minutes ago, Tank said:

wait, how is this the angels fault?

You know how 

[Stradling]

11 minutes ago, nate said:

It isn't

Interesting that it wasn't until the team was out of contention that he decided to have the surgery.  I am sure he would have done the same if this were a playoff team, right?

He would have waited until they were eliminated 

[Claude]

5 minutes ago, Tank said:

wait, how is this the angels fault?

The Angels changed his hitting approach last season. They had him ditch the leg kick. I watched some of his BP earlier this season and he was off to side off the cage simulating his swing with a leg kick. It's his natural motion.

[Tank]

didn't he start hitting better last season once he ditched the leg kick? and I'm pretty sure I remember a story about him ditching the kick because one of step players suggested it to him (Albert maybe?).

someone far more literate on this than me might be able to shed some light.

I think you're barking up the wrong blame tree on this one.

[kevinb]

3 hours ago, Baghdad Strad said:

I don’t think this is true. 

It’s not true? I don’t know how you can say other wise. Last year he had to get surgery and stopped pitching. This year he has to get surgery and stop hitting and playing. Maybe season ending surgery was a bit much. But it’s two surgeries in two years that can’t be great in terms of healthy for someone we are expecting to last a full season. 

[Claude]

8 minutes ago, Tank said:

didn't he start hitting better last season once he ditched the leg kick? and I'm pretty sure I remember a story about him ditching the kick because one of step players suggested it to him (Albert maybe?).

someone far more literate on this than me might be able to shed some light.

I think you're barking up the wrong blame tree on this one.

This is Shohei during BP in Oakland earlier this season. He’s definitely more comfortable with his natural swing. He’s more balanced in the box as he was in Japan.

[Revad]

He wouldnt have surgery unless he thought it was the right choice.

 

[Stradling]

6 hours ago, Tank said:

didn't he start hitting better last season once he ditched the leg kick? and I'm pretty sure I remember a story about him ditching the kick because one of step players suggested it to him (Albert maybe?).

someone far more literate on this than me might be able to shed some light.

I think you're barking up the wrong blame tree on this one.

You’re absolutely right.  Not to mention he was fine this year. 

[Jeff Fletcher]

He had the leg kick last spring and was awful. Once he ditched it, he was good. 

And this congenital knee condition didn’t bother him hitting. It was an issue as he ramped up his throwing off a mound. 

The only thing it affected was he had to modify some of his leg work in the weight room, which I suppose could have affected him. His issue this year was really his swing path, not his bat speed or the exit velo he produced. He hit the ball just as hard, but didn’t get it in the air enough. 

[fan_since79]

16 hours ago, Dochalo said:

this season sucks so much that it's causing problems for next year.  

I'm prepared for two or three more years of pain.

Or ten. Just get to the playoffs one more time before I'm too old to know what's happening.

[mulwin444]

2 hours ago, Baghdad Strad said:

You’re absolutely right.  Not to mention he was fine this year. 

But Calzone said?! He's got random, out of context screen shots and everything?!

[Stradling]

1 hour ago, mulwin444 said:

But Calzone said?! He's got random, out of context screen shots and everything?!

The defense rests your honor

[Stradling]

1 hour ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

He had the leg kick last spring and was awful. Once he ditched it, he was good. 

And this congenital knee condition didn’t bother him hitting. It was an issue as he ramped up his throwing off a mound. 

The only thing it affected was he had to modify some of his leg work in the weight room, which I suppose could have affected him. His issue this year was really his swing path, not his bat speed or the exit velo he produced. He hit the ball just as hard, but didn’t get it in the air enough. 

So what you are saying is it isn’t the Angels fault?  

[Jeff Fletcher]

2 minutes ago, Baghdad Strad said:

So what you are saying is it isn’t the Angels fault?  

Don’t drag me into this. Lol

I just report the facts as I understand them. You guys can argue about them.