OC Register: Angels’ Shohei Ohtani won’t be able to throw for at least 4 weeks, but can DH

[AngelsWin.com]

The chances of Shohei Ohtani pitching again for the Angels this season took a hit with the Monday news that his MRI exam showed an injury that will prevent him from throwing for four to six weeks. There are only eight weeks left in this shortened season.

Ohtani, who had some discomfort after making his second appearance of the year on the mound on Sunday, was diagnosed with a grade 1-2 strain of the flexor pronator mass. The “general timetable for beginning a throwing progression following this injury is four to six weeks,” the Angels announced.

In the meantime, Ohtani can still serve as the team’s designated hitter. He was not placed on the injured list and he traveled with the team to Seattle, where the Angels will begin a series on Tuesday.

The news is certainly discouraging for those who had looked forward to seeing Ohtani once again serve as a two-way player, a role at which he excelled for the first two months of 2018.

On the positive side, the Angels did not indicate there was any damage to Ohtani’s ulnar collateral ligament, which required Tommy John surgery that has kept him from pitching in the majors for most of the past two years.

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More to come on this story.

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[ukyah]

when was the last time something went normally for the angels? 

honestly?

surgery? rehab, then good to go.

FA signing? expected production.

[Blarg]

Ohtani is probably going to be more valuable now that his focus will be on only one skill set.