Shohei Ohtani’s ″injury is a blessing in disguise″ and his ″six batting crowns” are now a reality!

Shohei Ohtani, 29, of the Angels has damaged his right elbow ligament and will not pitch again this season.

It has already been a week since the tragic news broke on August 24 (Japan time). Despite the sighs of the fans, Otani’s face was cheerful as he entered the batter’s box.

In a game against the Reds, where his injury was discovered, Otani hit home run No. 44, and in a game against the Mets on March 26, he hit a double off Kota Senga (30), who started the game. On the following day, the 27th, he hit two long balls and stole two bases, making the “triple 3″ a reality. On the 27th, he hit an oversized foul ball that destroyed the stadium’s electronic billboard, so I expect his home run count to continue to increase.

Yu Darvish (37), who competed in the WBC with Otani, said in a live broadcast on SNS, “If he has to have a second Tommy John surgery, it will take a long time for him to come back as a pitcher. But I don’t think there will be any problem with his hitting.” As a hitter, Otani will run through to the end of the season. In fact, there is even a possibility that he will get even better. Sportswriter Nachi Tomonari analyzes this phenomenon, which should be called “the benefit of injury.

By concentrating on being a hitter, he does not have to think about conserving energy for when he comes on the mound, which makes it easier for him to make plays that require a lot of determination, such as stealing bases. In addition, at the end of the season, they often face teams that have given up on winning the championship. For example, they have six more games against the Athletics, who are in last place in the West Division of the A League, and three games against the Tigers, who are Ohtani’s favorite team. These teams will use their young players as a test for next season, disregarding wins and losses, so they will not shun Ohtani as they have done in the past, and the level of opposing pitchers will also drop. They will probably increase his home run total to 52-54 by the end of the season.”

While the home run crown is almost assured, Tomonari says he will be number one in the A-League in many other categories.

He is currently third in the batting standings, but since the top two players are from teams competing for the championship, it will be harder for his numbers to increase, and Ohtani will have more chances. He is currently leading in OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage), WAR (a measure of how many wins a team has achieved by a single player), runs scored, and on-base percentage, so he could win the “Sixth Crown” in the batting category. It is no exaggeration to say that the probability of winning the MVP award has exceeded 100% and is now 150% (laugh).

It will be sad to see Otani’s two-fisted style of pitching and hitting disappear for a while, but we look forward to watching him shine as the “best hitter in the majors.

From the September 15 and 22, 2023 issues of FRIDAY