LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Did the Yankees dodge a bullet by whiffing on Shohei Ohtani? At the least, they avoided adding another pitcher — another Japanese pitcher, come to think of it — who will face endless questions about the soundness of his throwing elbow.
Yahoo Sports reported late Tuesday night that Ohtani, the pitcher/hitter who signed last week with the Angels, has a damaged ulnar collateral ligament, as disclosed in a physical, and underwent a platelet-rich plasma shot in October to treat it.
Angels general manager Billy Eppler, who began scouting Ohtani when he worked as a Yankees executive, told Yahoo: “Shohei underwent a thorough physical with MRI scans to both his elbow and his shoulder. Those are scans we conduct whenever we sign a pitcher. Based on the readings of those MRIs, there are not signs of acute trauma in the elbow. It looks consistent with players his age. We are pleased with the results of the physical and we are very happy to have the player.”
As per a physical, the results of which Yahoo obtained, Ohtani has a first-degree sprain of the UCL in his right elbow. Troubles in the UCL lead to Tommy John surgery.
In addition, a “small free body” floats in Ohtani’s elbow near his UCL, according to the physical.
A worst-case scenario for Ohtani would devastate the Angels emotionally, but not financially. Because he’s only 23, as per the rules of baseball’s collective bargaining agreement, he’ll make the major league minimum of $545,000 plus a $2.315 million signing bonus, and the Angels paid a $20 million posting fee to the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters.
The Yankees committed $155 million plus the $20 million posting fee for Masahiro Tanaka nearly four years ago, and in his rookie season 2014, Tanaka suffered a slight tear of his UCL. He has pitched through that ailment and recently decided to not opt out of his contract and pitch three more years for the Yankees.