Shuhei Ohtani injury: Updates from Ben Verlander

Ben Verlander

Fox Sports MLB Analyst

Shuhei Ohtani tore his Champions League for the second time earlier this week and won’t play for the rest of this season. An enormous amount of speculation has circulated since then. So should the angels sit him down for an MRI? Was the reported fatigue actually early signs of a Champions League injury? Did Shuhei, his camp, and/or the team ignore these marks on his account?

And since this discussion – which is all speculation – has consumed all of Ohtani’s discussions, I have received new information from a reliable source that helps answer these questions.

First, the fatigue we’ve been hearing about from Ohtani’s point of view over the past month or so was just that. After his start in Detroit—where he threw his first MLB complete game, with a one-hit—exhaustion came naturally. He showed himself through dehydration and cramping, and that was all he was at the time. To be clear, this was it no Product of the current UCL issue. It was simply fatigue from the player hitting and hitting the ball all season, which no other MLB player has ever put up.

Secondly, as we know, on Saturday, Angels GM Perry Minasian said that earlier this month, the team offered to do a two-way MRI of the star, an offer that Ohtani and his agent Nez Balelo turned down.

I was told this happened after the start on August 3rd in Seattle where he dealt with a finger spasm. There is no warrant or indication that imaging is necessary. This was just a finger spasm, so there was no reason to do additional testing.

On his last, final start, I heard he was 100% fit and good. Shuhei himself, and the people around him who care deeply about his health, didn’t think an MRI was necessary.

She became acquainted with his agent, Nez Balilo, whom Minassian mentioned on Saturday, through photography Search for Shuhei. One thing I can promise you is that no one cares about Shuhei Ohtani more than his agent. Balelo has Ohtani’s best interests at heart 100% all the time, he’s on top of absolutely everything and I don’t think anyone cares more than him – other than Shohei himself.

It’s also important to note that this UCL tear is very different from the first, which occurred in 2018 and limited Ohtani to two and a half rounds over the next two years. That tear felt different. The operation was performed by Dr. Neil El-Atrash, the chief expert in Tommy John surgery, and Ohtani made a full recovery.

This recent tear of the UCL occurred in a different part of the muscle. Every part of the muscle that was operated on during the first surgery is fully in place. Better yet, my sources expressed optimism about Ohtani’s prognosis.

Ohtani reached base four times against the Mets on Friday night in his first game since tearing his Champions League — and then reached base in his first three games on Saturday.

He is in good spirits and everything will be fine.

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