OC Register: With his pitching season over, Angels’ Shohei Ohtani takes the long view

[AngelsWin.com]

Shohei Ohtani’s reaction to the end of his 2020 season was steeped in perspective.

“This time it’s not as severe as when I needed Tommy John surgery,” Ohtani said through his interpreter on a Zoom call with reporters Wednesday. “It’s just a little inflammation in the elbow. I’m trying to get back on the mound.”

Ohtani was told not to throw for 4-6 weeks Monday after an MRI revealed a grade 1-2 strain of the flexor pronator mass. He’s likely to be limited to designated hitter duties the remainder of the season, beginning Thursday in Seattle.

In the second inning of his most recent start Sunday, Ohtani threw 42 pitches while recording only two outs. His fastball sat at 93 mph until he faced George Springer, his last batter of the game, and could not touch 90 on the radar gun.

Ohtani stopped short of saying he began to feel discomfort while pitching to Springer.

“I’m not sure if it was pain, but I’ve always felt tightness throughout this rehab,” he said. “It’s hard to differentiate the tightness, the soreness and the pain. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to throw 100 mph again without tightness, soreness or pain. I’m just taking this as part of the program.”

Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Angels tosses balls back during batting practice before a game against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park on August 5, 2020 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Lindsey Wasson/Getty Images)Ohtani did not pitch at all last season as he recovered from Tommy John surgery, but he appeared in 106 games as the Angels’ DH and swatted 18 home runs. As a pitcher, Ohtani was a radar gun darling before the ligament-replacement procedure. He took a perfect game into the seventh inning of his second major league start.

Ohtani conceded he did not expect to be that pitcher in 2020. He faced six batters without recording an out in his first start of the season, July 26 in Oakland. Afterward, Manager Joe Maddon told Ohtani to “have fun.” But without the health he enjoyed prior to undergoing surgery in 2018, Ohtani said, that was impossible.

“I was going to be on an inning limit, a pitch limit, this year,” he said. “I was taking it as part of my rehab process. I still have the hitting part of the game, which I need to focus on.”

Ohtani took batting practice at Safeco Field on Wednesday and said the discomfort did not affect his swing. Still, Maddon erred on the side of caution by giving him an extra day’s rest.

The Mariners will send a right-handed pitcher, Taijuan Walker, to the mound on Thursday. Delaying Ohtani’s return allowed him to avoid lefty Marco Gonzales, who hasn’t allowed a hit to Ohtani in 10 head-to-head plate appearances.

As for whether Ohtani will pitch again, that’s a question for another day.

“If the possibility is there,” he said, “obviously I still want to try.”

LINEUP CHOICES

Justin Upton served as the Angels’ DH against Gonzales, but Ohtani figures to grab the bulk of DH duties the remainder of the season with fewer days off to pitch.

Now, Upton and Brian Goodwin are slated to platoon in left field with rookie Jo Adell in right.

“It’s going to be more difficult,” Maddon said of dividing DH at-bats. “In a perfect world, we’re going to have everybody well and figure out creative ways to solve it.”

Adell has hit seventh in each of his first two major league games, and Maddon said he wants to keep Adell there for now.

“I like the seventh hole as a break-in spot. If he were to get extremely toasty I might try something differently.”

ALSO

Shortstop Andrelton Simmons is eligible to return from the injured list Friday, but he’ll need more time to recover from a left ankle sprain. Maddon said there is no “finish line” for his return. … The Angels haven’t announced their starting rotation for the weekend series against the Texas Rangers. In his pregame Zoom call, Maddon said he had not decided whether they will use a five- or six-man rotation in Ohtani’s absence. … Reliever Kyle Keller was optioned to the Angels’ alternate training site to make room for right-hander Julio Teheran, who was activated from the disabled list to make Wednesday’s start. … Luis Rengifo was thrown out at second base on the tail end of an inning-ending double play in the second inning Tuesday. Maddon partially blamed the Angels’ dugout for exhorting Rengifo to run, which might not have been an issue in another season. “In a loud ballpark, he probably would not have heard that and not have gone,” Maddon said. “The moment it was hit, we all thought it was going to fade and fall on the grass. So it wasn’t horrible on his part.”

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[Blarg]

12 hours ago, AngelsWin.com said:

Maddon partially blamed the Angels’ dugout for exhorting Rengifo to run, which might not have been an issue in another season. “In a loud ballpark, he probably would not have heard that and not have gone,” Maddon said. “The moment it was hit, we all thought it was going to fade and fall on the grass. So it wasn’t horrible on his part.”

So many reasons why players do what they do, sometimes it's not an act of stupidity but of encouragement. I never saw if the third base coach gave him any sign to stop or go. Some blame could lie there.