Shohei Ohtani to miss rest of season after surgery to address bipartite patella
Shohei Ohtani’s season is over.
The Los Angeles Angels designated hitter will undergo surgery on Friday to adress a bipartite patella in his left knee, the team announced Thursday.
Ohtani will have reportedly have an 8-12 week timetable to recover, so his season is over.
— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) September 12, 2019
A bipartite patella is a condition in which the patella, more commonly known as the kneecap, doesn’t fuse together in early childhood and remains seperated. The condition — which occurs in 2-3 percent of the population — is often asymptomatic, but it was clearly a problem for Ohtani.
At 67-80 and 28 games out of first place, the Angels had little reason to keep Ohtani on the field.
Shohei Ohtani’s half-season comes to an end
The Angels will certainly miss Ohtani, but they have plenty of reason to be more excited about seeing him take the field next year.
Even though he played for much of the season, this was always going to be a limited performance from Ohtani due to his Tommy John surgery last year. Rather than use his two-way talents, Ohtani worked solely as a designated hitter this year.
The 25-year-old still performed quite well for a player in his position, hitting .286/.343/.505, 18 home runs and the first cycle from a Japanese player in MLB history. He figures to deliver even more value next year when he starts pitching again.
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