With surgery on mind, Ohtani homers twice

ARLINGTON, Texas — Shohei Ohtani muscled two balls out of the park on a huge night at the plate but not before getting some bad news about his pitching arm. Nevertheless, he led the Angels to a 9-3 win over the Rangers on Wednesday.

Perhaps headed for Tommy John surgery, the two-way rookie sensation went 4-for-4 with three RBIs, four runs and a stolen base to power the Angels. About two hours before the game, the team announced Ohtani has new damage in his right elbow and ligament-replacement surgery has been recommended.

The club said the Japanese star had an MRI earlier in the day that revealed the problem in his ulnar collateral ligament.

“There’s more questions out there right now than answers. We’ll take it one step at a time,” manager Mike Scioscia said. “There’s a lot of consulting that Shohei will do with doctors and just see what the best course of action is, and we’ll see where we are.”

Ohtani’s homers were both towering drives into the right-field seats. With his second two-homer game, the designated hitter tied Kenji Johjima’s 2006 major league record of 18 homers in a season by a Japanese rookie.

Ohtani had been scheduled to throw a light bullpen session Wednesday, but never did after reporting that his elbow was sore. The medical staff then decided that he should get the new MRI.

Ohtani was diagnosed with a sprained UCL fol- lowing a start June 6 and was treated with a plateletrich plasma injection and an injection of stem cells. He was hitting again in early July, and returned to the mound with his start Sunday at Houston.

Ohtani lasted only 2 ¹/3 innings in that start against the Astros, and had a drastic drop in velocity during the game.

“I’m sure at some point he’s going to resume his pitching career,” Scioscia said. “When that is depends on whatever the course of action is.”

“We’d love to have him a whole season, but I think that taking a little half-step back here and seeing him pitch for a whole career is more important than looking back and saying “what if ?’“he said.

In 10 starts on the mound, the right-hander was 4-2 with a 3.31 ERA. He struck out 63 with 22 walks in 51 2/3 innings.

Last fall, Ohtani was diagnosed with a sprained elbow ligament while in Japan. Major League Baseball teams were advised of his condition before they could bid on his rights.

The Angels paid the $20 million posting fee to Ohtani’s previous club, the Nippon-Ham Fighters. Ohtani, who is under the Angels’ contractual control for six years, signed a minor league contract and got $2,315,000 in international bonus money from the Angels.

On Monday, Scioscia said Ohtani had been evaluated after coming out of his pitching return early and that there was no apprehension about the elbow.