Home Baseball The Angels’ penultimate weekend before an unpredictable offseason is met with jubilation due to Shohei Ohtani’s return

The Angels’ penultimate weekend before an unpredictable offseason is met with jubilation due to Shohei Ohtani’s return

Baseball — 10/01/2023

To celebrate the final weekend of the regular season with his Los Angeles Angels colleagues, Shohei Ohtani has returned from Japan.

Since Ohtani had surgery on his pitching elbow on September 19, he has been gone from the Angels. However, he was back in the dugout on Saturday night when the Angels visited the Oakland Athletics.

Before the game, the Angels’ general manager Perry Minasian and manager Phil Nevin presented the two-way hero with the team’s MVP award on the field, where he was greeted with multiple standing ovations. Arte Moreno, owner of the Angels, sat out the event.

Ohtani is a heavy favorite to win his second AL MVP award in as many years, despite having played his last game on September 3. Nevin was only one of many Angels concerned about their friend and teammate.

Nevin had this to sаy about their opponent, “I’m going to give him a big hug and hope I don’t hurt his elbow,” before the game. I haven’t seen him for a few weeks at this point. I’m sure he longs to be with the gаng again; I know I do! Schedules are familiar to him. I never have to fret over him as he recovers, bulks up, or prepares for the upcoming season. I expect him to be prepared for spring training.

Due to the uncertainty of Ohtani’s future with the Angels beyond this season, the weekend takes on new significance for his current teammates and supporters. Ohtani received the news that he would need surgery on September 15, and he emptied his locker at the Big A during the game.

Despite failing to make the playoffs and finishing with a losing record in each of Ohtani’s six seasons in the United States, the Angels are hoping to re-sign him in free agency. Even with Ohtani out of the lineup, they still face tough competition from better teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are just down the road.

Even though Ohtani Һit his last home run of the season on August 23, he still has the highest OPS in the majors (1.066) and is a virtual lock to win the American League home run crown (44). On that same day, while pitching in the second game of a doubleheader, Ohtani injured a ligament in his elbow after hitting a home run in the first inning.

Ohtani will miss the 2019 season while he recovers from elbow surgery, but his surgeon has predicted that he would be ready to Һit in 2024 and throw again in 2025. Ohtani is adamant about keeping up his two-way career, according to his agent Nez Balelo.