ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — The Los Angeles Angels placed Shohei Ohtani on the 10-day injured list Saturday with an oblique injury and said he will not play again this season.
Ohtani’s locker was cleaned out after the Angels’ 11-2 home loss to the Detroit Tigers on Friday. A packed All-Star Game duffel sat in front of it, and almost all of his baseball gear and personal items were no longer in his locker.
The Angels would not say Friday whether his roster status had changed or why the contents of his locker were removed. Los Angeles general manager Perry Minasian said Saturday that Ohtani had an MRI at 4 p.m. PT on Friday and received the results in about the first inning, which is why his locker was full.
The 29-year-old Ohtani has missed the last 11 games because of the oblique injury. Angels manager Phil Nevin stated that the superstar attended every game day after day but never came back onto the field. The injury was not considered serious and there was initially no expectation that he would be placed on the injured list.
Ohtani also has a torn UCL in his pitching elbow, it was revealed last month. This would prevent him from pitching, but he continued to pitch in the days that followed. Ohtani’s agent, Nez Balelo, told reporters last week that he believed surgery on Ohtani was inevitable. But he declined to go into details.
Minasian said Saturday that he expects Ohtani to have surgery for his UCL soon, but that he was unaware of the procedure.
Ohtani put together one of the greatest seasons of all time. He posted a 1.066 OPS at the plate and a 3.14 ERA on the mound.
He will be a free agent after the season; It’s possible Ohtani played his last game in an Angels jersey. The team still intends to pursue Ohtani, who will be at the stadium Saturday and during the final home game, in free agency.
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(Photo: Brad Penner / USA Today)