Two-way superstar and runaway favorite for NL MVP Shohei Ohtani, who suffered a shoulder injury in the 2024 World Series while attempting to steal a base, was apparently worse than the Los Angeles Dodgers led everyone to believe.
The Dodgers announced Tuesday that Ohtani underwent arthroscopic surgery to clean up and repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder, the result of his bad slide in Game 2 of the Fall Classic against the New York Yankees. Ohtani is reportedly expected to make a full recovery and be ready to go in time for spring training in March.
Unfortunately for Ohtani, this will be the second consecutive off season that Ohtani underwent a significant surgery, as he needed an internal brace to repair a torn UCL in his pitching arm at the end of last season when he was still with the Los Angeles Angels. He spent the entire 2024 campaign getting his elbow back in shape while also hitting for the Dodgers.
Ohtani sustained the injury by landing hard on his left arm during the bottom of the seventh inning of Game 2 on October 26. He was in obvious discomfort and was helped off the field by trainers, to whom Japanese speakers believe he said the shoulder popped out.
It was a scene that stunned and quieted a previously raucous Dodger Stadium, but the Dodgers indicated after the game that the injury was a minor subluxation. Ohtani was in the lineup for Game 3 just 48 hours later.
Ohtani fought through it and tried his best but struggled to make hard consistent contact for the rest of the series, however, and now the picture is clearer. He went a combined 1-for-14 with no extra-base hits in Games 3, 4 and 5 after hitting .260/.403/.460 in his first 13 career postseason games.
It was obvious that Ohtani was experiencing some sort of discomfort, as he ran awkwardly while holding his collar with his left hand when he had to run the bases.
Embed from Getty ImagesOhtani’s World Series performance was a quiet end compared to one of the greatest seasons in MLB history. Despite his struggles, Ohtani will finish 2024 with his first ring, a presumed third MVP trophy and the first 50-50 season in the history of MLB, all after joining the Dodgers on a record-shattering, 10-year, $700 million contract.
Ohtani was not the only Dodger being an iron man and playing through pain during the playoffs. It was also revealed recently that World Series MVP Freddie Freeman was playing through broken rib cartilage, in addition to a sprained right ankle and residual soreness from a fractured finger in August.
Despite two future Hall of Famers hobbled by injuries and perhaps the most injury-ravaged pitching staff in baseball, the Dodgers put away the Yankees in a gentlemen’s sweep for their eighth title in franchise history, with a lot of help from the Yankees themselves.
The most similar incident to Ohtani’s injury is an ominous one for the Dodgers, as Cody Bellinger tore his right labrum while celebrating a home run during the Dodgers’ World Series run in 2020, the season that was shortened due to the pandemic. He underwent surgery on November 17 that year and was ready for Opening Day the next season, but his production plummeted off a cliff after that, and he was non-tendered after the 2022 season.
However, it is worth pointing out that Bellinger injured the more critical front arm of his batting stance, while Ohtani’s injury is in the opposite shoulder. The most pressing issue for the Dodgers might be whether this injury will affect Ohtani’s UCL rehab, as he is expected to return to the mound as a pitcher in 2025.
