The "Next Shohei Ohtani" Has Been Sidelined with Injury Once Again

Brendan McKay, a former collegiate star at Louisville who was supposed to be the next Shohei Ohtani, has been sidelined by injury yet again. He's made just 13 career major league appearances.

Mar 12, 2020; Port Charlotte, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Brendan McKay (49) / Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports

Brendan McKay of the Tampa Bay Rays, who was once thought of as the "next Shohei Ohtani" has been sidelined again with injury.

Per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times on social media:

Another arm issue for #Rays Brendan McKay, who was trying to pitch his way back to majors:
He has a flexor/pronator strain with an accompanying UCL sprain (tear). Plan is 5-6 weeks of rehab/no throwing, then build back up, with goal of resuming full baseball activity in 3 months.

Another arm issue for #Rays Brendan McKay, who was trying to pitch his way back to majors:
He has a flexor/pronator strain with an accompanying UCL sprain (tear). Plan is 5-6 weeks of rehab/no throwing, then build back up, with goal of resuming full baseball activity in 3 months.

— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) May 14, 2024

The No. 4 pick in the draft out of Louisville in 2017, McKay was thought to be a guy who could come to the big leagues and contribute as both a hitter and a pitcher. Unfortunately, he's made just 13 appearances at the big league level, all as a pitcher, going 2-4 with a 5.14 ERA. He gave up hitting as well, last appearing as a hitter at Triple-A in 2021 after the pandemic canceled the 2020 minor league seasons.

McKay was the No. 25 ranked prospect by MLB.com in 2018, No. 29 in 2019 and No. 15 in 2020 before falling to No. 71 in 2021.

Here's more on him - and his unfortunate health issues - from that prospect profile:

McKay won the prestigious John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award in each of his three seasons at Louisville and was considered by many to be the best two-way Draft prospect since Dave Winfield (1973). He became the No. 4 overall pick in the 2017 Draft and signed for $7,005,000 after garnering both the Golden Spikes and Dick Howser Awards as a junior. He reached the Majors as a two-way player in 2019, debuting in June and then pitching well enough to earn a spot on the Rays' postseason roster, and he was expected to take on a more significant role with the club in 2020. Instead, McKay started the season late due to a positive coronavirus test during the summer before requiring season-ending surgery to repair a torn labrum in August. He went under the knife again in November 2021, this time for thoracic outlet syndrome decompression surgery.

Ironically enough, Ohtani didn't get to the big leagues until 2018, so many people had heard of McKay prior to Ohtani, but Ohtani's instant success and phenomena helped spur the idea of McKay being the "next" Ohtani at the major league level.

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