Angels News: Shohei Ohtani Officially Undergoes Elbow Procedure, Status for 2024 Revealed
Angels two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani has officially undergone elbow surgery, his agent Nez Balelo said in a statement on Tuesday. Ohtani's procedure occurred in Los Angeles, and was done by Dr. Neal ElAttrache. While the procedure was not specified, Balelo said Ohtani will be ready to hit on Opening Day of 2024, and will be ready to pitch again in 2025.
This was kind of expected, as Ohtani is dealing with a torn UCL. He was able to continue hitting this season until he hurt his oblique, which ultimately led him to clean out his locker and undergo this elbow surgery.
It's great news that Ohtani will be ready to hit come Opening Day of 2024, and even better news that he'll be able to pitch again. The hope is that he can get back to being the superstar two-way player he showed this year, as one of baseball's premier pitchers and hitters.
It'll be interesting to see how this affects his free agency, if at all.
While Ohtani won't be pitching in 2024, it's assumed that he'll get back to being himself in 2025 and beyond. If he is able to return to his superstardom on both the mound and at the plate, he will be well worth any contract a team offers him this winter.
However, they'll have to do their due diligence to ensure he will, in fact, be able to get back to being the same pitcher he was before this seemingly serious surgery.
Considering a team will be giving him hundreds of millions of dollars, we can assume all that due diligence will be done.
For now, we wish the best to Ohtani in his recovery, and can't wait to see him back on the diamond in 2024.
