Otani to qualify for FA at the end of this season, decided to operate on his right elbow

Shohei Otani (29, Los Angeles Angels), who played a terrifying role as a “two-hitter” this year, will eventually be on the operating table.

The LA Angels announced on the 17th that “Otani will officially end the season early as he is on the 10-day injured list (IL).”

The club said, “Otani will continue to feel pain in his right side muscle and finish this season,” adding, “We decided to undergo elbow surgery for next season.” “It has not yet been decided whether it will be an elbow ligament surgery (Tommy John Surgery) or another type of surgery,” he said.

He will not be able to play in the remaining 25 games of his team’s season. It is a sad result for Otani, who will qualify for FA at the end of this season.

Otani, who underwent surgery due to an injury to his right elbow, has to undergo at least a year of rehabilitation. Therefore, it is difficult to play as a pitcher next season. As a result, it is highly likely that a mega FA contract containing an astronomical amount exceeding $500 million (about 665 billion won) for the first time in Major League Baseball history will also fail.

Otani emphasized, “I can play full-time as a (nominated) hitter next season.” Otani had a batting average of 0.286, 18 home runs, and 62 RBIs in 106 games as a batter in the 2019 season after receiving Tommy John Surgery in 2018. However, it is widely expected that a drop in ransom will be inevitable because the value of a starting pitcher close to the Cy Young Award cannot be reflected immediately next year.

Even in this situation, Otani, who unanimously won the AL MVP two years ago, is highly likely to be selected as the MVP of the season.

Otani played 135 games as a batter this season, batting .304 with 44 home runs, 95 RBIs, 102 runs, 20 steals, OPS 1.066. He is still No. 1 in the AL home run category and No. 2 in the OPS category. As a starting pitcher, he pitched in 23 games (132 innings) with 10 wins, 5 losses, a 3.14 ERA and 167 strikeouts. He stopped due to injury, but showed pitching that made him look forward to the Cy Young Award until the middle of the season. 토토사이트