Japanese media, including Sponichi Annex and Daily Sports, recently reported that Otani said, "If I get my third surgery, I could give up pitching." These are his words from Otani's documentary, which is currently airing on NHK in Japan.

Ohtani made tremendous achievements during the six Major League seasons by playing both pitching and batting, which had disappeared in the 21st century. During the six seasons as a batter, he played in 701 games and recorded a batting average of 0.274 681 hits in 2,483 times at bat, 171 home runs, 437 RBIs, 428 runs scored, 86 steals, a 0.366 slugging percentage of 0.556 and an OPS of 0.922. As a pitcher, he played as a starter in all 86 games and recorded 38 wins and 19 losses with an ERA of 3.01, 608 strikeouts with 173 walks and 481 ⅔ innings with WHIP of 1.08. He won the Rookie of the Year award in the American League in 2018 and the unanimous MVP award in the league in 2021 and this season.

He hit 0.304 in 135 games, 44 homers, 95 RBIs, 102 runs and 20 stolen bases, a slugging percentage of 0.412 with an on-base percentage of 0.654 with an OPS of 1.066, 10 wins and five losses with an ERA of 3.14 in 23 games, and 167 strikeouts in 132 innings. However, Ohtani's "dryu" life has not been smooth. He pitched in 10 games in his first season since his big league debut in 2018, but he felt an abnormality in his elbow, and eventually lost the entire 2019 season on the operating table. He returned to the mound in 2020, but gave up eight walks in two games and one ⅔ innings, and Ohtani's appearance seemed to end there.

Still, Ohtani pitched 130 ⅓ in 23 games in 2021, recording 9 wins and 2 losses with an ERA of 3.18. In the following year, he pitched 166 innings, exceeding the required innings 162 innings, and posted a career high of 15 wins and 9 losses with an ERA of 2.33. In turn, Ohtani ranked fourth in the voting for the American League Cy Young Award for the first time.

Ohtani's performance remained intact this year. With sweeper and two-seam fastball that he has been wearing since the end of last year, Ohtani played 23 games and recorded 10-5 loss with a 3.14 ERA. However, he took the mound as a starting pitcher in Game 1 of the doubleheader against the Cincinnati Reds on August 24, but dark cloud lingered as he complained of elbow pain after one ⅓ inning. "Otani will not be able to play as a pitcher for the rest of the season due to a ruptured UCL in his right elbow," the Angels officially announced after Game 2 of the doubleheader. As a result, Ohtani was put on the surgery table in mid-September, and will not be able to take the mound until at least 2025.

It is not known exactly what Ohtani's surgery is, but it is presumed to be Tommy John surgery arm ligament joint surgery. And although Tommy John surgery has become common, the future of operators more than two times has not been good. According to a 2016 study by the North American Association of Arthroscopic Diseases AANA, 235 big league pitchers have undergone Tommy John surgery since 1999, of which 13.2% 31 have undergone reoperation. Of the 26 people who had reoperation more than two years after the first surgery, only 17 65.4% succeeded in returning to the Major League and 11 42.3% pitched more than 10 games.

In addition, according to the U.S. baseball statistics site FanGraph, 11 pitchers underwent a second Tommy John surgery in 2014. Among them, four no longer recorded major league appearances, and three only pitched less than 10 games. "Of the 14 pitchers who have undergone Tommy John reoperation since 2021, three about 21% have made a comeback," FanGraph said.

After all, even Ohtani's return to normal is not guaranteed for now. It would be a best-case scenario if he recovers after the first surgery. However, if he gets the third surgery, it will not be easy to rehabilitate him. Ohtani mentioned this, too.

"This is my second surgery as a pitcher. So if this happens again, I think I should change my career to a batter," Ohtani said, noting that he might give up pitching and hitting. In the first surgery, Ohtani had a tendon implanted in his right wrist, and this time he had a tendon removed in his left wrist.

Of course, Ohtani did not already say that he intended to give up. "I want to continue performing consistently for a long time," he said. "My goal is to continue this trend for the next 10 years." "I'm not sure because no one did that," he said, but at the same time, he made up his mind by saying, "I'll do my best first."

Ohtani signed a 10-year, $700 million about 911.2 billion won contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers on the 10th, the largest-ever contract in North America's four major professional sports. The highest amount ever in the Major League is a 12-year extension of $426.5 million about 556.4 billion won signed by the Los Angeles Angels and Mike Trout ahead of the 2019 season, and in terms of FA alone, Aaron Judge New York Yankees last year was $360 million about 469.6 billion won.

"Dodgers fans, thank you for welcoming me. I can be sure that you, the Dodgers, and I share the same goal of staging a World Series Parade on the streets of Los Angeles," Ohtani said through his club. "Otani is a once-in-a-century talent and the most exciting baseball player in the world. We will increase the number of fans around the world who are enjoying Major League Baseball together with Ohtani," Dodgers owner Mark Walter said.  토토사이트