ANAHEIM, Calif. — Shohei Ohtani won’t pitch for the rest of the season because of a tear in a right elbow ligament, Los Angeles Angels general manager Perry Minasian said Wednesday night.
The Angels don’t yet know whether Ohtani will need surgery to repair the UCL ligament nearly five years after the two-way superstar first had Tommy John surgery.
“A tough day for him,” Minasian said. “Tough day for all of us.”
The injury will have a massive effect on baseball’s free agent market this winter with Ohtani headed to unrestricted free agency. The uniquely valuable AL MVP front-runner was expected to receive the most lucrative contract offers in baseball history after six landmark seasons with the Angels, but now much will depend on the health of his pitching elbow.
“If I was to bet on anybody bouncing back, he would be the guy,” said Minasian, who didn’t know the grade of Ohtani’s ligament tear.
Ohtani is the major league leader with 44 homers after connecting in the first game of the doubleheader Wednesday. He has 10 wins with a 3.14 ERA on the mound.
Angels’ Ohtani crushes league-leading 44th home run vs. Reds
Ohtani left the mound in the middle of an at-bat during the second inning, feeling what the Angels called arm fatigue. Postgame tests revealed Ohtani has a ligament tear nearly five years after he had Tommy John surgery on his pitching elbow.
Ohtani, who homered in the first inning of the opener, told the Angels he wanted to play in the nightcap. Ohtani served as the Angels’ designated hitter for much of the 2019 season after having Tommy John surgery following his rookie stateside campaign in 2018.
Angels’ Ohtani exits outing on the mound vs. Reds after 26 pitches
Minasian isn’t sure whether his two-way superstar will continue to serve as their designated hitter.
“I think he needs time to wrap his head around it, talk to the people close to him,” Minasian said. “We’re in the process of getting second opinions. Once the information is there, he’ll make the right decision on what he wants to do, and we’ll support him, whatever he decides. … I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s in New York and he’s in the lineup. I know how bad he wants to play.”
The AL MVP front-runner skipped his previous turn in the rotation last week to rest his arm late in a long summer. Ohtani’s velocity was down across the board Wednesday while he faced the Reds’ first six batters, although he sometimes ramps up his pitching speeds gradually in the opening innings.
Ohtani had a 2-2 count on Cincinnati Reds third baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand when the Angels’ training staff came out to check on him following a 94 mph fastball. Ohtani headed off the mound after a brief discussion, having thrown just 26 pitches.
“In the second (inning, Ohtani’s velocity) was down,” manager Phil Nevin said. “I was noticing the shapes on his pitches just weren’t the same, and I just saw a look after a pitch, so I decided to go out there and check on him.”
Ohtani is almost certain to win his second AL MVP award in three seasons after another standout two-way campaign. His two-run homer gave him 91 RBIs and broke his tie with Atlanta’s Matt Olson atop the homer standings.
How much will Ohtani’s UCL injury affect his free agency value?
Ohtani was back in the Angels’ lineup for the nightcap as their designated hitter. The two-way superstar has missed only two games all season, none since May 2.
Nevin said Ohtani told him that his pitching arm “just didn’t feel right.”
“He told me he didn’t feel any pain,” Nevin said after the Angels’ 9-4 loss. “It was just more of the same thing he’s been feeling for the last couple of weeks.”
Ohtani hit his major league-leading 44th homer in the first inning of the opening game, a two-run shot. He also left that game as the Angels’ designated hitter, with rookie Nolan Schanuel replacing him.
Ohtani has struggled with blisters, cramps and other minor injuries to his pitching hand, but he had pitched through them while continuing to play every day at DH. Ohtani has rarely let pitching injuries stop him from hitting for the Angels, even playing 106 games in 2019 as the Angels’ DH while he was recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Ohtani left the mound early with pain from blisters or a cracked fingernail in three straight starts earlier this summer, although he pitched at least five innings each time. He then left the mound after four scoreless innings against Seattle on Aug. 3 because of cramping in his hand and fingers.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Restricted free agent forward Isaac Okoro has agreed to re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers on a three-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Saturday.
Okoro’s new deal is worth $38 million, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the contract has not been signed or announced by the team.
ESPN.com first reported the agreement, citing Okoro’s representation.
The fifth overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, Okoro is Cleveland’s best perimeter defender, often drawing the assignment of guarding the opponent’s top scorer. Okoro also has worked to improve his offensive game.
The 23-year-old averaged 9.4 points and 3.0 rebounds in 69 games — 42 starts — last season for the Cavs, who beat Orlando in the opening round of the playoffs before losing to eventual champion Boston.
Okoro shot a career-best 39% on 3-pointers, forcing teams to come out and guard him.
His agreement caps an extraordinarily busy summer for the Cavs that began with coach J.B. Bickerstaff being fired and replaced by Kenny Atkinson. All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell signed a three-year, $150 million extension in July, ending months of speculation that he wanted out of Cleveland.
Also, power forward Evan Mobley signed a five-year, $224 deal and center Jarrett Allen signed a three-year, $91 million extension.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
