How can Shohei Ohtani (29-LA Angels) “hit” with damaged elbow ligaments?
Ohtani started the first game of a doubleheader (DH) against the Cincinnati Reds on April 24 (Japan time) and was taken off the mound after just two innings. The cause of his early exit was elbow soreness. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan showed worse than expected. “Ohtani has a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow,” Angels general manager Perry Minassian said. He will not pitch again this season.” The injury to Ohtani, a Major League Baseball (MLB) “two-way star” who can pitch and hit, drew immediate attention from local media.
Undecided about whether to have surgery, Ohtani stopped pitching. But Ohtani the hitter is alive and well. He has been playing as a designated hitter since the second game of the DH on March 24, when he felt pain in his elbow. He is hitting without any problems, despite the medical opinion that he has a torn elbow ligament. “You have to look at the extent of the ligament damage, but the impact (of elbow ligament damage) is less when hitting than when throwing the ball,” said Heo Jae-hyuk, who has been in charge of training for several KBO clubs. “If a right-handed hitter injures the right elbow ligament, it could be more affected (due to movement), but Oh is a left-handed hitter, so he is fortunate.”
Coach Heo, who played at Montana State University and the University of Oklahoma in the United States, also worked as a trainer for the Chicago Cubs minor league team. “Acute damage to the elbow can cause a lot of pain, and in Ohtani’s case, it sounds like there was chronic damage,” he says. “Even if a hitter and a pitcher have the same Tommy John surgery (elbow ligament reconstruction), the hitter comes back faster. The stress on the elbow is different. It’s rare to have a Tommy John surgery just for hitting.”
“Even if the elbow ligaments are damaged, you can compensate with other muscles, including the forearm, biceps, and triceps, to produce some athletic performance,” said Jeong Tae-seung, a former Lotte Giants rehabilitation coach. Former coach Jung Tae-seung tore his elbow ligaments when he was a student at Sungkyunkwan University. It was his senior year before the rookie draft, so he had to take injections and throw the ball through the pain. Even in normal life, if he suddenly stretched or bent his arm, the pain would follow.토스카지노
“He pitched for about a year with a torn ligament,” says former coach Jung Tae-seung. “It would have been difficult for him to play normally if he had to field and throw. He can do it because he’s hitting as a designated hitter. Depending on whether the ligament damage is 60 percent, 40 percent, or a complete tear, we’ve determined that he can play (at this point).”
Most trainers we spoke to weren’t too concerned about elbow ligament damage. Even if a player isn’t able to perform at 100 percent, they’ll still be able to produce results.
“If the ligament ruptures, if it’s not completely torn, there are still some fibers, and the muscles can provide stability, so you can still hit,” said the head trainer at Team A. “When you’re pitching, the valgus force of the elbow (the force that pushes the joint from the outside in) is high, so if there’s an injury, you can’t throw because of ligament pain. However, when batting, there is not that much stress on the valgus force, so I think it is possible.”