Shohei Ohtani battled through a rough final two months of the Dodgers season and postseason, dealing with injuries to his left knee and right biceps, but the team’s President of Baseball Operations, Andrew Friedman, just dropped a bombshell: surgery is NOT on the table this offseason for either issue. Friedman told reporters Wednesday at an end-of-season press conference, as shown on SportsNet LA, that Ohtani “got assessed, and had a lot of stuff going on,” but no knives are needed. You have to wonder, after watching him play, if that is the right call for such a monumental talent.
The ‘Whack-A-Mole’ Reality of Ohtani’s Health
Friedman painted a picture of Ohtani’s season that sounds like pure agony, describing it as “a little bit of an unfortunate game of whack-a-mole.” He said the knee would bother Ohtani, then get better, only for the bicep area to flare up. “Just a number of different things, some that would calm down for some period, some that would get re-irritated. It was a lot of things to try to contend with at once,” Friedman explained. This wasn’t some minor bruise, folks. This was a continuous battle against his own body.
Ohtani was shut down from pitching way back in July. He even missed the midsummer classic to get treatment on his left knee over the All-Star break. Then, right biceps inflammation landed him on the injured list in September. Dodger manager Dave Roberts summed it up perfectly before Game 3 of the NLCS, saying Ohtani was “not perfect. He’s not.” But in Ohtani’s own words, he was “ready to go.” The player himself, speaking through interpreter Will Ireton after Game 4 of the NLCS, even sounded unsure, saying, “It’s hard to tell at this point. It’s something that’s going to be analyzed and discussed over the offseason and see if that’s a viable thing to do.” So, while Friedman says no surgery, Ohtani’s own words were a lot more cautious. That’s a huge disconnect.
A Diminished Dynamo Down the Stretch
The numbers don’t lie, and they tell a stark story of how these injuries absolutely wrecked Ohtani’s second half. Through August 18, the day of his last regular season home run, Ohtani was a bona fide MVP candidate. He was hitting .294/.390/.558 with a 153 wRC+ and 30 homers, leading the National League in OPS and slugging percentage, and sitting second in on-base percentage and wRC+. Friedman himself admitted that “The injury started in early July. Through mid-August he was still, I think, the consensus MVP.”
But after August 18? A completely different player showed up. In his final 26 games, including the postseason, Ohtani hit a dismal .167/.298/.240, with just that one single home run. He finally snapped a 155 plate appearance home run drought in Game 4 of the NLCS. In eight postseason games, he managed only five hits in 26 at-bats, with four walks, that one homer, a hit by pitch, and a stolen base. His postseason slash line was an abysmal .192/.323/.308, along with 10 strikeouts. This isn’t just a slump, this is clear evidence of a player hobbled and hurting.
Friedman talked about “the toll that it takes” for Ohtani to do what he does, and the need to “increase our chances of him doing what is completely unprecedented.” Given the physical decline we all witnessed, the idea that surgery is off the table feels like a gamble. Fans want to see Ohtani back at his peak, performing at the unprecedented level we know he is capable of. The offseason analysis will be huge for him. Let’s hope his body truly is good to go, because nobody wants to see that level of talent performing as a “diminished version” again.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by True Blue LA.
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