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Shohei Ohtani Won't Pitch for Angels Again in 2020 After Injury, Joe Maddon Says
August 5, 2020
Los Angeles Angels manager Joe Maddon revealed to reporters that designated hitter/starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani will not pitch again for the Halos this season after an MRI revealed a right forearm strain on Monday.
Maddon said that he still believes that Ohtani can be a two-way player in Major League Baseball, per Jeff Fletcher of the Southern California News Group.
Ohtani arrived in the United States after a successful five-year stint as a pitcher and outfielder for the Nippon Ham Fighters of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. He hit 48 home runs alongside a .284 batting average and .854 OPS and also went 42-17 with a 2.55 ERA and 10.4 K/9 rate, per Baseball-Reference.
The Angels signed Ohtani before the 2018 season, and he excelled from the batter's box and pitcher's mound. He had 22 home runs, 61 RBI and a .285/.361/.564 slash line and went 4-2 with a 3.31 ERA and 63 strikeouts in 51.2 frames.
Unfortunately, Ohtani underwent Tommy John surgery at season's end and was limited to hitting duties only in 2019.
The Angels returned him to the mound in 2020, but he allowed seven earned runs in just 1.2 innings over a pair of starts against the Oakland Athletics and Houston Astros.
Following the Houston start on Sunday, Ohtani had an MRI after feeling discomfort, and he was diagnosed with a Grade 1-2 strain of the flexor pronator mass in his right arm.
The Angels reported that he could begin throwing in four to six weeks but that his designated hitter status was day to day. He was not in Los Angeles' lineup Tuesday against the Seattle Mariners.