STAY THE COURSE
Surgery shouldn’t eliminate Ohtani’s dual roles
WE LOVE black and white, yes or no. Give us a binary choice, remove ambiguity, don’t make us think so much.
Thus, once it was revealed Shohei Ohtani needs Tommy John surgery to at least continue the pitching portion of his career, a renewed chorus of “told you so” arose, joined by louder calls that he needs to pick a lane — pitch or hit. But why? Ohtani just turned 24. Even if it were revealed in two years that he, indeed, cannot do both, fine, he will be just 26. Aaron Judge’s first full Yankee season last year was at 25.
There are no indicators that the combination of being both a DH and starter for the Angels led to the torn elbow ligament. He is just another starter, 24 or younger, who needs Tommy John surgery. Like Jacob deGrom or Matt Harvey or Patrick Corbin or Alex Reyes or Danny Duffy or …
Maybe it will turn out Ohtani can’t do both. But that was not proven this year. In 2018, Ohtani translated spectacularly from Japan. He is not the best pitcher or hitter in the majors. But when he performed either role this year he was among the best.
In 10 starts, the righty’s ERA was 28 percent better than MLB average factoring in league and parks. In 279 plate appearances, the lefty slugger’s OPS was 55 percent better than league average.
If you want him to stop doing one or the other, it is because you are uncomfortable straying beyond black or white, yes or no. Because the coming attraction of what is possible with Ohtani was not a gimmick, it was a competitive advantage for the Angels. What was theory when he signed became evident in 2018: Ohtani is exceptional at both disciplines.
Which is why in a phone call when I asked Angels GM Billy Eppler if the plan is for Ohtani to continue to hit and start, he said, “Yes, correct.” Why? “Because it is extremely impactful what he provides to a team. We watched him dominate a game on the mound a few times and we watched him carry us with offensive production in games.”
After giving Ohtani a few days to fully absorb the prognosis of his elbow and for the Angels to gather more information of what a rehab for a pitcher/hitter might look like, Eppler is scheduled to meet Monday with Ohtani, who still has to decide if he wants the procedure. Should Ohtani have the surgery there is belief he could be well enough to serve as the Angels’ DH for most, if not all, of the 2019 season.
Rather than send Ohtani to their minor league facility in Arizona as they did after Tyler Skaggs and Andrew Heaney had Tommy John surgery — at ages 23 and 25, by the way — the Angels would set up a pitching rehab situation mostly around the team for Ohtani, who would not pitch next year no matter if he hits or not. The hope would be that by late in the year Ohtani was throwing some simulated games or taking a quick hop to Arizona to appear in Instructional League games and that would position him to be a fully functioning starter by spring training 2020.
“We will have to take the advice of the physicians that treat him,” Eppler said. “And we will pivot and adjust where appropriate based on the recommendations, but he will continue on the same path as coming out of spring training with us.”
That was 10 starts and 279 plate appearances ago. That was when we still wondered if Ohtani could do both at a high level in the majors. The mystery is gone. Ohtani proved elite at both. Will that continue? Who knows? But only the need to follow a familiar path would motivate the Angels and Ohtani off of the dual role because this unique route proved to be both fascinating and successful.