The Angels placed Shohei Ohtani on the disabled list Friday because of a Grade 2 sprain to his ulnar collateral ligament, saying they would reevaluate his situation in three weeks.
We might not see the two-way Japanese sensation on the field until well after that.
ESPN's Pedro Gomez reported Sunday night that the Angels are worried that Ohtani's UCL sprain has progressed to Grade 3, a full tear that would require ligament replacement surgery (a.k.a. Tommy John surgery) and a lengthy rehab process.
"It's not good at this point. There's three grades of an ulnar collateral ligament injury, Grade 1 being the mildest; Grade 2 - which is what Ohtani is having right now - is a more severe sprain; Grade 3 being a full tear, where you've gotta have Tommy John surgery," Gomez said on "SportsCenter."
"The Angels are holding out hope that [Ohtani won't need surgery], but everything I'm hearing is that the reality is he probably will need Tommy John surgery. They're trying to hold out because they're in the middle of a season, they're kind of competitive right now, he is their best pitcher. But it doesn't look good at this point."
Angels General Manager Billy Eppler, however, denied Monday that the team has made a decision on Ohtani's treatment.
"There have been no changes in Ohtani's diagnosis and neither our physicians nor medical staff have recommended [Tommy John surgery] or said it's likely," Eppler said, per Ken Rosenthal.
Ohtani, the first two-way MLB pitcher in decades, is 4-1 with a 3.10 ERA on the mound and is hitting .289 with six home runs, 20 RBI and a .907 on-base-plus-slugging percentage in his first season of U.S. baseball. Days after he signed as a free agent with the Angels in December, Yahoo reported that Ohtani had a Grade 1 UCL tear but Eppler said at the time that there were "no signs of acute trauma" in the ligament. Ohtani's devastating split-finger fastball is a pitch that puts significant strain on the elbow.
If Ohtani needs to undergo surgery, he likely wouldn't be back until 2020.