Shohei Ohtani has a tear in his UCL, Angels GM Perry Minasian told reporters in Anaheim. It is still unclear, he said, whether it will require surgery. He will not pitch the rest of the season.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) August 24, 2023
Ohtani had Tommy John surgery in October 2018. The elbow continues to be the worst.
Mike Trout is going back on the injured list, Angels GM Perry Minasian announced. pic.twitter.com/DKfhGCNom2
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) August 24, 2023
The pain and misfortune never ends for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. In one night, they find out Ohtani will not pitch again this year after tearing his UCL in the same arm he already got Tommy John surgery on, and Mike Trout heads back to the IL after just one game.
I can’t even begin to understand the pain and suffering Angels fans go through. As a Yankees fan yes, this season has been incredibly frustrating, but I cannot imagine what the last decade has been like for people who support this franchise.
They are so uniquely bad. An incredibly rare blend of bad decisions and bad luck. For example: they are willing to buy. They shelled out a 10 year contract to Albert Pujols, they paid Mike Trout, they paid Anthony Rendon, they were buyers at this years deadline; but in the same breath, ex-players like CJ Wilson are airing out very cheap things the Angels have done.
Was it a mistake to sign Pujols, Rendon, or Trout? No. These signing made a big splash, and it was a direct indication the Angels are trying to win. But all of those contracts aged poorly. Pujols made just one all-star team in his 10 years with LA, Rendon has played 200 games in four years, and Trout has been plagued with injuries for the past three seasons, playing in only 236 games since Ohtani’s 2021 MVP season. This is only the beginning of the list, by the way.
Now, the most generationally talented player that has ever stepped on a baseball diamond has a torn UCL, and is probably going to walk away from you for nothing because you didn’t trade him at the deadline and made an unsuccessful playoff push. It’s just a nightmare. Fans and spectators will blame Owner Arte Moreno for his shortsightedness in not trading Ohtani, but the team, and Ohtani, seemed to celebrate buying at the deadline, according to ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez. I’m not going to lie, I thought they made significant moves, but as stated: it’s been a brutal decade of bad luck and bad decisions.
I really don’t think this is entirely Arte Moreno’s fault. I truly believe the guy wants to win. However, he has just never been able to make the right decision when he needs to. He employs bad general managers, the Angels draft poorly, they never sign good pitchers, etc.
Every season, the Angels look like a good team on paper, a team ready to compete. Usually they start off pretty well, but by mid-July they completely spiral and take themselves out of the race entirely, and injuries start stacking up.
The Angels are about to go their eighth year in a row with a losing record.
This is baseball purgatory. Moreno wants to spend, but every move he makes to be competitive ends up setting the Angels back. Now, with Ohtani’s free agency looming, you’re staring irrelevance in the face.
Who knows, maybe the Angels will convince Ohtani to stay, but would that really make a difference? Could they potentially squander the entire careers of Mike Trout and Shohei? Unfortunately for Angels fans and baseball fans alike, it’s entirely possible.
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