Ohtani had discomfort, got an MRI

[rafibomb]

9 minutes ago, calscuf said:

Look, even if he has no major issues, it’s not a terrible idea to just let him hit this year and give him another 8 months to let the elbow heal.  Especially since he’s struggling.  And I say that as a huge fan of Ohtani the pitcher.  But I’m sure people smarter than me who actually make the decisions already know that.  

And I wouldn’t be surprised to hear it’s not a serious injury but that’s what they’re going to do.

it doesn’t mean he will never pitch again.  But this year is so fucked anyways, let’s get to 2021 and pray his elbow is actually healthy.

That's pretty much what I mentioned in my post earlier. It might be better for the team to rest his elbow and have his bat in the lineup every single day rather than in the lineup 4 days a week and a "practice start" which we can't afford to lose anymore in a short season. Let him get a full spring training as a pitcher next season and if need be rehab in the minors in a normal season. 

[rafibomb]

9 minutes ago, calscuf said:

Do... do we hug now? 

[Angels_Make_Me_Drink]

1 hour ago, Angel Oracle said:

Can’t make him a reliever, because it would screw up his hitting more so than starting pitching does.

Curious as to why? Genuinely don't fully understand this..is it because he would be pitching ore often per week rather than once a week?

[Stradling]

Assuming this isn’t really serious and it is just scar tissue or some other thing related to the first surgery I would have no problem sitting him and continuing to work with him on the side until next season and give it one more try.  Like others have said he has an Ace arm and that is something this team needs much more than another bat.  But at the end of the day him as a bat is not a bad thing at all.  He would be our 3rd best hitter and if he is focusing on just hitting, then we could see him continue to improve.  Obviously if he gives up pitching, then he won’t just be a DH, and the team will have to find what position makes the most sense for him, with my guess being he would be 1st baseman.  There are worse things than a first baseman capable of a 900 ops.  

[Inside Pitch]

3 hours ago, jsnpritchett said:

No.  Eschew animated ducks. 

Honestly that's the first thing I thought, too.

GMTA!.

[Inside Pitch]

8 hours ago, rafibomb said:

Am I the only one who thinks that if by some miracle his arm is fine we would be better off to just let him be an everyday hitter for this shortened season? 

Nope.   

Their plan was to have him throw in A ball and get himself to where he could throw in the big leagues, they even got MLB to give him a special designation so they could do just that.   Then when there was no minor league season they switched gears, said he was100% and he's looked off the entire time.

I get he's a special talent but it's MLB, they are all talented..

Park the arm, it's not like Sandoval and others can't take this time to take a step forward.

[Pujols4MVP]

With how good Bundy/Heaney/Canning have been this year along with Sandoval being solid, they can afford to let Ohtani just DH and hope that Teheran does well.

Ohtani has been OhShitani on the mound this year anyways.

[DMVol]

6 hours ago, Angel Oracle said:

Can’t make him a reliever, because it would screw up his hitting more so than starting pitching does.

It would make sense if he wasn’t hitting....

[Junkballer]

8 hours ago, RendZone said:

Unfortunately next season we will have a 3 DH logjam and that's on Eppler. Ohtani is not a defensive position player and never will be. 

Well, Pujols said he doesn't like to DH, so, "Sorry AP, we made new plans based on your own feedback; one day at 1b, two days of rest".

[DMVol]

4 minutes ago, Junkballer said:

Well, Pujols said he doesn't like to DH, so, "Sorry AP, we made new plans based on your own feedback; one day at 1b, two days of rest".

Maddon has (seemingly) been ok with sitting Pujols pretty regularly, playing Walsh and LaStella at 1b against RHP....I'm not sure it would be that big a deal....

[Stradling]

You can’t put Ohtani in the bullpen because he walks more batters than all of our other bullpen arms.  

[fan_since79]

The guy has incredible power at the plate, dare I say Ruthian?

Just put a hold on the pitching experiment before we ruin his arm completely, and pencil him in batting cleanup for the rest of the year. Let him develop his already great hitting skills with everyday practice.

It's really not that hard to fix this little problem. If we want to reevaluate the pitching option next year, fine. But not now. He's an absolute mess on the mound.

[Inside Pitch]

8 hours ago, RendZone said:

Unfortunately next season we will have a 3 DH logjam and that's on Eppler. Ohtani is not a defensive position player and never will be. 

Claude...  Ohtani has played 100 games in RF before coming to the US.   His FLD% was .990.    Calhoun's career FLD% is .986, .984 as s RFer.

If they decide his arm is done forever its likely they will try to find a defensive position for him... because he has done it, and he's proven he can do pretty well.  Your narratives fall flat in face of this little thing called reality.

They didn't move him off the OF because he couldn't field, they did it because a DH is less taxing than any defensive position.

[bloodbrother]

Yeah, first and foremost gotta hope that the MRI comes back clean for his and the teams sake. After that, probably wise to scrap the pitching for the remainder of this season and just let him be the everyday DH. This potential injury scare + his performance just doesn't make the risk worth it in a short season like this. Give him another offseason and a normal ST routine next year and hope he gets past this

[m0nkey]

9 hours ago, Taylor said:

I due enjoy the predictability of AW.

@EnglishCop

[hangin n wangin]

I think Ohtani would be pretty damn solid in the field. No worse than Upton's dumb ass.

[Stradling]

WARNING THIS POST IS GOING TO GET WAY AHEAD OF ITSELF

If Ohtani becomes an outfielder and not a two way player they need to move Adell for the best arm they can get for him.   Then trade Goodwin for the best arm they can get for him.  

[bloodbrother]

4 minutes ago, hangin n wangin said:

I think Ohtani would be pretty damn solid in the field. No worse than Upton's dumb ass.

Amen to that

I mean, worst comes to worst...say he and the team scrap the pitching for good and make him an everyday OFer going forward. This would allow the Angels to make one of their OF prospects(Marsh or Jordyn Adams most likely) more expendable as part of a trade that could net them a SP back. At the very least, it opens up more options for them

[Inside Pitch]

2 minutes ago, Stradling said:

WARNING THIS POST IS GOING TO GET WAY AHEAD OF ITSELF

If Ohtani becomes an outfielder and not a two way player they need to move Adell for the best arm they can get for him.   Then trade Goodwin for the best arm they can get for him.  

If they dont try his tall ass at 1B when they don't have a 1B worth investing into to..   They are dumb.

[fan_since79]

2 minutes ago, Stradling said:

WARNING THIS POST IS GOING TO GET WAY AHEAD OF ITSELF

If Ohtani becomes an outfielder and not a two way player they need to move Adell for the best arm they can get for him.   Then trade Goodwin for the best arm they can get for him.  

Can I have some of that coffee you're drinking?

[Claude]

Just now, Inside Pitch said:

Claude...  Ohtani has played 100 games in RF before coming to the US.   His FLD% was .990.    Calhoun's career FLD% is .986, .984 as s RFer.

If they decide his arm is done forever its likely they will try to find a defensive position for him... because he has done it, and he's proven he can do pretty well.  Your narratives fall flat in face of this little thing called reality.

They didn't move him off the OF because he couldn't field, they did it because a DH is less taxing than any defensive position.

So Adell isn’t the plan? I’m pretty sure that when Ohtani signed with the Angels that there were some certain gentlemens agreements that made it perfectly clear that was going to only pitch and DH. 
This idea that he could play a defensive position is probably not something he would want to do and the Angels will probably not force the issue. This will definitely cause a logjam next season because he most likely won’t be able to throw from an outfield position anyway. 

[Sully151]

Just let Ohtani hit during the season and save his arm for the PLAYOFFS !!!

[Claude]

Just now, Sully151 said:

Just let Ohtani hit during the season and save his arm for the PLAYOFFS !!!

I think that they will shut him down completely for 2020 is they find structural damage. 

[hangin n wangin]

6 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

If they dont try his tall ass at 1B when they don't have a 1B worth investing into to..   They are dumb.

Seriously. Dig out some ground balls and catch the damn ball. Try it out. And I agree, if they don't, they are dumb.

They probably won't. 

[Claude]

6 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

If they dont try his tall ass at 1B when they don't have a 1B worth investing into to..   They are dumb.

Ohtani is not going to be playing 1st base. That’s not a position that you can just teach someone to play over the winter break.