End of the road for Shohei Ohtani in 2023. Ohtani’s oblique ιnjury, which the Los Angeles Angels disclosed on Saturday, means the two-way star will not play again this season. After Friday night’s loss to the Detroit Tigers, Ohtani’s locker was emptied and his water bottle thrown away at Angel Stadium.

Ohtani will have elbow surgery soon, Angels general manager Perry Minasian informed reporters, including ESPN, adding that the Japanese star will remain with the team until the end of the regular season. Additionally, Ohtani has a torn ligament in his right (pitching) elbow, and Tommy John surgery is typically but not always the recommended therapy for such injuries. For some tears, there are other surgical options.

Since suffering the oblique ιnjury on September 3, Ohtani has been out. Since he initially injured his oblique taking batting practice on September 4, the Angels have listed him as day-to-day; in recent days, he has gone through pregame workouts but has been unable to play in the actual game. On Friday, Ohtani underwent an MRI and then emptied his locker.

Angels manager Phil Nevin said of his starting catcher, “He’s always wanting to play,” in an interview with MLB.com on Friday. As the saying goes, “He’s just going through his stuff.”

Ohtani was remained in the dugout on Saturday despite the fact that his locker had been emptied. According to reports, Ohtani will be with the Angels for the rest of their final homestand until the season finale on October 1.

Just hours before the announcement that Ohtani’s season was over, third baseman Anthony Rendon disclosed he has a fractured tibia and claimed he doesn’t understand why the team suppressed the diagnosis. A bоne bruιse is the official diagnosis. The Fourth of July marked Rendon’s last game. When it comes to injuries, the Angels have a tendency to deceive, and that’s being generous.

Ohtani has probably finished his career with the Angels. He’s a free agent this offseason and has expressed interest in leaving the Angels for a more competitive team. Ohtani will still be highly sought after despite the impending elbow surgery, and he may end up signing a contract for close to $500 million. He has to have surgery as soon as possible so that he can start hitting again and eventually pitch again.

On Labor Day weekend in Oakland, Ohtani made his most recent outing and went 0-for-3 with two walks.

Ohtani, 29, will conclude the season with an AL-best 44 home runs and a.304/.412/.654 hitting line at the plate. As a pitcher, he tossed 132 innings with a 3.14 earned run average and 167 strikeouts. One may аrgue that Ohtani’s three-year stretch from 2021 to 2023 is the greatest such stretch in baseball history, since he leads all players with 10.0 WаR. The 2023 American League Most Valuable Player award would be his second, and he is still the betting favorite to win it.

With 14 games remaining, the Angels are 13.5 games off of a wild-card place and have a 68-80 record. As early as Saturday, they may no longer have a chance to make the playoffs. Without Ohtani, the Angels have never had a winning record and haven’t made the playoffs since 2014.