Turns Out Shohei Ohtani Had a Labrum Tear In His Shoulder During The World Series And Just Underwent Surgery To Repair It
No real surprise here to anyone that saw the actual injury occur but Shohei Ohtani went under the knife to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder. We all saw it happen and knew right away he was hurt and it wasn't good for Ohtani, sliding into second on a stolen base attempt and he put that left arm down and it just kind of popped. The Dodgers announced that he would be playing and in the lineup the next game and they were right, he didn't miss a pitch but it was very clear that he was not healthy and would be a complete non-factor in the series. After hurting his shoulder he went just 1-11, you could tell he was not comfortable swinging the bat. Some swing and misses he looked just awful, you could have given him 6 strikes and he wouldn't have been able to get a hit.
He got the surgery already and is expected to be ready for Opening Day but the injuries keep piling up for Shohei. He's already rehabbing from his 2nd Tommy John surgery and this is the 2nd offseason in a row he's had a major surgery. You'd think this being his non-throwing shoulder wouldn't mess with his comeback on the mound and it being his back shoulder during his swing helps a lot too. Doesn't sound like anyone anticipates this being an issue going forward but obviously it had to be done. You knew he'd try and gut it out too, he knew he needed surgery on it but just him being in the lineup had such a big impact on the series. Even if he's in there basically just to be a decoy, they needed Ohtani in that lineup just for the thought that he could turn on one and send it deep.
It's also a good thing that he stole 50 bases last year because they'll never have him steal again. I'm sure the Dodgers will give him the red light just so this doesn't happen again. If this injury happened in game 1 of the series or in the NLCS it would have been much different. But he gutted it out for a ring and that is what big time players do, you don't get sidelined for a labrum injury has a DH, you try and gut it out to get that ring and that is exactly what he did. Speedy recovery for Ohtani as he heads into 2025 with a ring and another MVP trophy, those may be a bit hard to carry in a sling though.