Shohei Ohtani May Not Pitch Again In 2021 After Arm Injury

Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani has been scratched from his scheduled start on Saturday against the A’s with a sore arm.

According to Ryan Herrera of MLB.com, Ohtani may not pitch again this year. Angels manager Joe Maddon said that Ohtani felt soreness in his arm after playing catch on Wednesday.

“We just have to wait and see,” Maddon said of Ohtani’s chances of pitching again in 2021. “He’ll continue to do his thing and be playing catch, and then we’ll determine if he feels good enough to again. So I don’t know. I think he can, but we’ve been caught in these circumstances a lot this year.

Maddon added that Ohtani would continue to serve as a DH.

It sucks to see this happen again to Ohtani. It’s not Tommy John Surgery, but it sucks that he’s had to deal with so many injuries in just a short amount of time, especially with the talent he has. The good thing about Ohtani is that he’s a two-way player and can keep hitting.

On the hitting side, Ohtani is hitting .256 with 44 homers and 94 RBI’s. He’s still a potential MVP candidate, especially if he keeps hitting, though he’s got stiff competition from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. out in Toronto.

This probably won’t make much of a difference for the Angels, who sit at 72-74. They’re fourteen games back of first and ten out in the Wild Card.

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