Angels' Shohei Ohtani to DL: Will he need Tommy John surgery? Is Yankees' Gleyber Torres favorite for AL Rookie of Year?

by Felix Pantaleón

The Los Angeles Angels placed rookie phenom Shohei Ohtani on the disabled list with a sprained right elbow. Will he need Tommy John surgery? Does this open the door for Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres to be the American League Rookie of the Year?

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The Angels placed rookie phenom Shohei Ohtani on the 10-day disabled list Friday with a sprained ligament in his right elbow:

Shohei Ohtani will be placed on the disabled list with a grade 2 sprain of the UCL. He underwent a PRP and Stem Cell injection yesterday with Dr. Steve Yoon in Los Angeles. He will be re-evaluated in 3 weeks and we will update his plan of care at that time.

Ohtani has impressed during the first couple of months of the season.

As a hitter, he’s batting .289 with 6 home runs and 20 RBI. He’s had 114 at-bats in 34 games.

As a pitcher, Ohtani is 4-1 with a 3.10 ERA in nine starts.

Initially, it was thought Ohtani could miss a start after leaving his game Wednesday with what was thought to be a blister problem.

But instead, it’s the far more serious ulnar collateral ligament. If the sprain does not improve, or if it gets worse, Ohtani could be facing Tommy John surgery.

But remember, Yankees right-hander Masahiro Tanaka has been pitching with a partially torn UCL since 2015, so surgery isn’t necessarily a sure thing for Ohtani.

Yanks on Subway Series

Ohtani being sidelined opens the door for Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres to be the American League Rookie of the Year. Even before Ohtani went down, Torres was giving Ohtani a run for his money.

Torres was the American League Player of the Week for the week ending Sunday, May 27th, during which he posted a slash line of .368/.429/1.158 with five runs scored, seven hits, five home runs and nine RBI over six games.

Overall, he’s hitting .294 with 10 home runs and 28 RBI this season.