Shohei Ohtani of Los Angeles Angels should undergo Tommy John surgery

Los Angeles Angels phenom Shohei Ohtani is currently dealing with a Grade 2 UCL sprain. It may not be a popular decision, but he should undergo Tommy John surgery.

Regardless of your opinion of Shohei Ohtani, there is no denying that he is good for baseball. The Los Angeles Angels‘ 23-year-old phenom has taken the sport by storm, to the tune of a .289 batting average and a 3.10 ERA.

Unfortunately, we may not see Shohei Ohtani play again for a couple of years.

Shortly after signing with the Angels, it was announced that Ohtani had a first-degree UCL sprain. He did not require Tommy John surgery at the time, and it was something that he could pitch through, but it could lead to future injuries.

Fast forward six months, and the Angels’ nightmare has come true; Ohtani’s UCL has gotten worse.

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Now, Ohtani has been diagnosed with a Grade 2 UCL sprain. A Grade 2 sprain does not necessarily require Tommy John surgery, but Ohtani and the Angels would be wise to nip this in the bud and operate now.

As Masahiro Tanaka has proven, it is possible to pitch with a damaged UCL. He partially tore his UCL in July of 2014, but has pitched through the injury for several seasons.

Tanaka has experienced mixed results, pitching to a 3.90 ERA since he suffered the injury. The results have not been an issue, but his durability has been. He has never pitched 200 innings in a season, partially due to a few arm injuries.

It is not guaranteed that Tanaka’s arm injuries stemmed from his torn UCL, but some level of correlation is likely.

Theoretically, Ohtani may be able to pitch with a damaged UCL. But, like Tanaka, he will always be a ticking time bomb. Instead, Ohtani and the Angels should bite the bullet and undergo Tommy John surgery now.

Ohtani would be forced to miss the rest of 2018 and at least most of 2019 if he goes under the knife, but it is the responsible decision.

To complicate matters further, Garrett Richards is due to hit the market at the season’s end, and Mike Trout could be playing elsewhere as soon as 2021.

If the Angels lose Ohtani until 2020, they could be without their top two starting pitchers next year and only have one season with Ohtani and Trout in tow.

It is hard to believe, but Ohtani is just 23 years old. He has only played in 43 major league games, but it is apparent that he has a very bright future ahead of him. It is not hard to imagine him becoming a perennial All-Star, MVP candidate, and possible Hall of Famer. But he must be healthy in order to reach his full potential.

Tanaka is one of only a few pitchers to pitch with a damaged UCL. Meanwhile, there are countless Tommy John success stories.

When making their decision, the Angels should analyze the careers of Stephen Strasburg and Matt Harvey, both of whom have undergone Tommy John surgery.

Strasburg is an eerily similar case. Like Ohtani, his arrival was greeted with unbelievable hype. Also like Ohtani, he lived up to it. He racked up 14 strikeouts in his debut and pitched to a 2.91 ERA in 12 starts before tearing his UCL in his rookie season.

Then 22, Strasburg received the horrific news that his career would be put on hold while he recovered from Tommy John surgery. The Nats handled him very carefully, controversially shutting him down before the 2012 postseason due to an innings limit. Now, Strasburg is among the best starting pitchers in the league.

Harvey, on the other hand, has not been as successful. He underwent Tommy John surgery after the 2013 season as a 24-year-old and did not pitch in 2014. He returned in 2015 to lead the Mets to the World Series.

Instead of shutting Harvey down once he reached his innings limit, the Mets allowed him to pitch throughout their entire World Series run. He pitched well at the time, causing the Nats to appear overly cautious, but he has since fallen from grace.

Since the Mets’ magical 2015 season, Harvey has pitched to a 5.82 ERA and was recently exiled to Cincinnati. Before 2015, he was viewed as one of baseball’s biggest and brightest budding stars.

Now, he is a mess both on and off the field. We will never know, but his career likely would have played out much differently if the Mets had handled him more cautiously.

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The Los Angeles Angels are in a sticky situation. They were already split on how to handle Shohei Ohtani, due to his unique skillset, but he has now suffered a potentially significant injury. Losing him for the next year and a half would be a tough pill to swallow, but it is the responsible decision.

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