The Dodgers announced today that Shohei Ohtani underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair a labrum tear in his left shoulder that resulted from a dislocation. The club added that the two-way star is expected to be ready for spring training.
Ohtani was clearly hurt in game two of the World Series. He attempted to steal second base, sliding into the bag and wincing in pain afterwards. He left the field with the trainer though technically wasn’t replaced, as he was the designated hitter and his spot in the lineup didn’t come up again.
After the game, manager Dave Roberts said that Ohtani had suffered a “little” shoulder subluxation, or dislocation. After a day off between the second and third game of the series, Ohtani was back in the lineup but collected just one hit in the final three games of the series. Even the best hitters in the world can have a few rough games but perhaps the injury was lingering more than the club let on initially. Roberts implied as much after the series was done, per Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post on X. Whatever Ohtani’s status was during those games, it’s now clear that his labrum was torn and arthroscopic surgery was necessary.
Though the injury is to Ohtani’s non-throwing arm and he is expected to recover by spring training, it could add another bit of uncertainty heading into 2025. It’s not uncommon for injury recoveries to eventually surge past estimated timelines and this isn’t the only thing Ohtani will be working back from. He underwent UCL surgery late in 2023 and didn’t pitch at all in 2024.
Though he was limited to a designated hitter role in 2024, he still had an elite season. He hit 54 home runs and stole 59 bases, producing a .310/.390/.646 slash line and 181 wRC+ in the process. The Dodgers went on to win the World Series and Ohtani seems like a lock to earn another Most Valuable Player award soon.
Heading into 2025, Ohtani will be trying to get both his right elbow and left shoulder in game shape as he looks to return to being a two-way player. His mound work was probably going be limited anyway after missing an entire season. Whether this new operation adds further limitations or impacts his availability as a hitter remains to be seen. Ohtani has generally shown that it’s best not to doubt his abilities but his unprecedented career means he is always stepping into unknown territory, in a sense, since no player has ever managed his kind of double workload over an extended period of time before.
Depending on how the situation develops, it could impact the offseason for the Dodgers. They have plenty of talented arms in their theoretical 2025 rotation, including Ohtani but also Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May, Landon Knack, Ben Casparius and others. Clayton Kershaw will presumably be re-signed at some point. However, most of those guys have workload or health concerns, so the club could consider offseason additions even though there’s a large number of names in it. The free agent market features Jack Flaherty, Corbin Burnes, Blake Snell and dozens of others, while the trade market could potentially have Garrett Crochet leading the pack.
BlooperDisbeliever
Will this affect his pitching ramp-up?
YankeesBleacherCreature
It’s his non-pitching shoulder and typical recovery time is 3 to 4 months for normal humans.
BlooperDisbeliever
Even the non-pitching shoulder is exerted while pitching, no?
YankeesBleacherCreature
Yes, but if he’s getting frequent PT, top nutrition, and possibly PRP injection treatments I don’t think it’s going to be much of an issue come early Feb.
Perksy
Especially for a betting man like himself
16
For a labrum tear? No chance…I tore mine 15 years ago, same shoulder and still took me 12 months to have 70% range of motion swinging a golf club. I’m no Shohei, but no way 3-4 months for a labrum.
sufferforsnakes
Exactly. Minimum 6 months to rebuild strength and range of motion. Some of the most painful and frustrating rehabs I’ve ever gone through.
Vote Blue No Matter Who
Was it his gambling shoulder?
Neon Cop
How can anyone still root for this guy?
bkbk
Hes baseballs kevin durant.
Datashark
if he stepped up his injury game he could be a Kawhi Leonard type
PeteRose’s Bookie
I guess he should of just stayed rotting with the Angels like poor Mike Trout
MarioP
That’s all you got??
vtadave
Quite easily
fred-3
Ah yes, Neon Cop. The troll his spent years fishing for likes with his anti-Dodgers post. I would’ve thought you’d throw yourself out the nearest second story window considering the results of a week ago.
Neon Cop
No clue who you are…yes, LA finally wins a WS, after countless billions spent in failure & after being the laughingstock of the baseball world since 1988. Enjoy it while it lasts, basement dweller. You’ll be claiming victimhood again before you know it.
fred-3
I’m not even I Dodger fan, but I know you are a dirty little troll that always post nonsense in their articles. You made it your identity to be a weird obsessed troll, so don’t be mad at me for calling you out.
prov356
Neon – The Dodgers have been the laughing stock since 1988? Please, with all due respect, the Angels are a way bigger laughing stock than the Dodgers have ever been.
vtadave
Yeah the Dodgers have definitely been a laughingstock, unlike the A’s, Rockies, etc.
Jerry Hairston Jr's Toupee
NeonSlopp done crying into mommy’s bosom. Took him a week to recover….
Inside Out
What the hell is your problem? Still jealous your pathetic team didn’t sign best ever player in baseball? Wow you really are a sad person.
prov356
How can you not root for Ohtani?
Neon Cop
Isn’t he a degenerate gambler?
prov356
Ohtani is an unbelievable baseball talent. He was never charged with a gambling crime, which isn’t necessarily indicative of the facts, but still…never charged.
So let’s say your characterization of Ohtani as a degenerate gambler is true. Should you be characterized by the worst thing you’ve ever done or by your best accomplishments?
vtadave
no, but I’m sure your dad was
halloffamernobodycares
You know what you can do with it Neon Cop. No more bullet points to hit. 60 game season. Post season chokers. All shoved right in the same place for the haters for a convenient storage spot. Just a hating troll if you ever were anything else.
mlb fan
“How can anyone still root”…I don’t know. Maybe you could start by asking the whole country of Japan? After that, we can move onto examining each individual countries feelings about Shohei Ohtani.
old elpaso
Because he’s the best of the best. How can you root against the MFer?
Non Roster Invitee
Nice slide.
Patriot12992
That was the other arm, this must have happened elsewhere.
Yankee Clipper
At the craps table?
Rick Pernell
You are assuming he placed the bet!
…..like everything, he phoned it in and Ippei was happy to take the call.
derail76
No, Cole, Rizzo, Judge and Volpe are taking all the spots at the “crap” table, or maybe it’s a bed, since that’s obviously where they like to drop excrement.
Yankee Clipper
Now that’s just hurtful.
NashvilleJeff
@derail76: CJ Abrams is throwing the dice at the craps table.
dasit
cole tried gambling once but his team forgot to cover the spread (bitter yankee fan joke)
KingKen
No, it’s the same arm. It was his left arm he hurt on the slide.
Non Roster Invitee
Thank you.
Patriot12992
You are correct my mistake
Datashark
at $2m per season – not much of a financial loss there.
markbrunell
TJ surgery, shoulder surgery. he’ll need to set up a new draft kings account to keep himself busy during recovery
DarrenDreifortsContract
Does anyone have the gofundme link?
LordD99
Not sure he’ll be allowed to attempt 10 steals in a season moving forward, let alone 60.
DarrenDreifortsContract
Even if he didn’t get hurt, he wasn’t going to be allowed with him pitching. Sadly he won’t come close to another 50/50 season
Yankee Clipper
Starting to wonder if he will end up being one of the “what-ifs” of MLB lore. He’s only in his twenties and I’m sure it won’t get better in his thirties.
Fever Pitch Guy
Clip – He turned 30 the day after George’s birthday ;o)
PoisonedPens
I’m betting he’ll be back sooner…. oops.
getrealgone2
You can call him the One Armed Bandit.
Niekro floater
Good, get it fixed right now so it doesn’t linger n eat-up regular season @bats.
Baatza
Ohtani and Glasnow coming off 2 elbow surgeries each. Did they figure out what they are doing wrong to stay healthy?
Wouldn’t be surprised if Thirds are coming.
scruffmcgruff
You really just hope the guy can get these injuries behind him completely. I’m not sure you’ll see another guy like this that can be a Cy Young dude and also an MVP candidate based solely on his offense.
LordD99
Labrum surgeries can be tricky, sometimes taking a year or more before the hitter regains full function.
Fever Pitch Guy
Lord – Maybe he will be just a pitcher next year … remember Jim Abbott?
Citizen1
Ohtani betting he can be starting next season. Slide with the legs next time.
Oldguy58
What are the odds?
Yanks4life22
Are people seriously complaining about this man after playing through a shoulder dislocation in the World Series?