"No surgery for Ohtani" Injured a fourth time, yet again! The unyielding stubbornness of his two-way play, with the fate of the Dodgers also hanging in the balance in "fateful 2027"

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

"I am confident he will return to the pitcher's mound next year."

Shohei Ohtani (32, LA Dodgers), who set down his ball due to a left knee injury, will not undergo surgery. Furthermore, Andrew Friedman, President of Baseball Operations for the Dodgers, emphasized that Ohtani's two-way performance will continue.

U.S. sports outlet Yahoo Sports reported on the 22nd (Korean time) that Friedman met with reporters in Los Angeles, California, to explain Ohtani's condition.

According to Friedman, Ohtani struggled with left knee and biceps injuries this season, a situation he described as akin to "whack-a-mole." This meant that new, unexpected injuries kept popping up continuously.

Nevertheless, Friedman stated that Ohtani is not even being considered for surgery and that he will recover after having sufficient rest during the offseason, allowing him to return to the pitcher's mound next year as well.

Ohtani performed as a two-way player again this season. As a pitcher, he handled 85⅔ innings in 14 games, recording an 8-2 record, an ERA of 1.79, and 95 strikeouts, returning as an elite pitcher. The batting average against him was 0.184, and his walks plus hits per inning pitched (WHIP) was just 0.95. Although he set down his ball after July 4 due to injury, it was a performance at the level of an elite pitcher. In terms of impact alone, it was his most outstanding performance in his Major League career.

However, as a batter, he played in a Dodgers-record low 139 games since joining the team, posting a .275 batting average (144 hits in 523 at-bats), 30 home runs, 81 RBIs, 89 runs scored, and 11 stolen bases. His on-base percentage was .377, slugging percentage .512, and OPS (on-base plus slugging) .889.

While this is a scorecard of simultaneous pitching and batting performance at a level unimaginable in modern baseball, the possibility of winning the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award, which he received for three consecutive seasons, does not appear likely. Given that Ohtani had already demonstrated how much he could perform as a two-way player, it is understandable that he had to pass on the MVP award even in 2022, when he recorded 15 wins, an ERA of 2.33, and 219 strikeouts as a pitcher, while hitting 34 home runs and driving in 95 runs.

Winning the MVP is not what matters. The bigger issue is Ohtani's physical condition. As a result of Ohtani insisting on two-way play, he has suffered injuries four times since entering the U.S. market.

Ohtani, who injured his right elbow and underwent surgery in his first year in the U.S. in 2018, returned as a pitcher in 2020 but this time injured his right flexor muscle, playing only two games as a pitcher before switching to batting only thereafter. In 2023, he won 10 games as a pitcher and hit 44 home runs as a batter, ultimately winning the American League MVP, but had to undergo surgery again. This time, too, it was a right elbow injury.

Ohtani returned as a pitcher last year but only handled 47 innings in 14 games, focusing on warming up for this season. Despite an impressive performance this season, he stopped pitching after issues with his left knee reappeared, following the same problem in 2019.

As a batter, he stepped into the box normally but suffered severe slumps late in the season. In the National League Championship Series (NLCS), he hit a three-run home run in Game 4 after falling behind 0-3, but failed to turn around the already lost momentum and bowed his head.

Ohtani has considerable attachment to "two-way play." It is certainly a definitive weapon that only Ohtani can wield. However, the past two seasons, during which he essentially won the MVP with designated hitter performance alone, proved how great Ohtani could be when focusing solely on batting. Those were also two seasons that showed how healthy Ohtani could be if he set down pitching.

However, this season, when he fully returned to the mound, he was again held back by injury. While it is not easy for one player to change a team in baseball, had Ohtani performed at the same level as the past two seasons without injury, the Dodgers would not have failed to advance to the World Series so helplessly. Attention is focused on what impact the decision to insist on two-way play once again will have on Ohtani and the Dodgers next season.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original