Passan: Ohtani’s magic cut short by limits of the body
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Jeff Passan, ESPN
Every minute of the past three years Shohei Ohtani spent on the baseball field was a gift. The most perfect ball-playing specimen ever to wear a uniform, simultaneously one of the best hitters and pitchers in a sport that for a century had demanded players choose one track or the other, Ohtani recalibrated what the game could be. He was baseball at its zenith. He is baseball, period.
What everyone took for granted, as he launched majestic home runs and unfurled unfair pitches, was the Faustian bargain underpinning it all — that as Ohtani trafficked in the impossible, he was relying on a wholly imperfect vessel to deliver it. Ohtani’s most formidable opponent was never the pitchers or hitters he faced. It was his body and its capacity to withstand everything he asked of it. Ligaments do not care about legend.
Ohtani being Ohtani, he reacted to the news that he had suffered a tear in the ulnar collateral ligament of his right elbow in Game 1 of a doubleheader Wednesday by batting second for his Los Angeles Angels in Game 2. Ohtani will not pitch again this season. He might need another Tommy John surgery. His already-complicated free agency, just two months away, is now even more confusing. And Ohtani knew all of it in the second game, which, in hindsight, makes a moment that looked so wholesome at the time so heartbreaking now.
In the fifth inning, Ohtani doubled — you can still swing the bat with a UCL tear — and awaiting him at second base stood Cincinnati shortstop Elly De La Cruz, a 6-foot-5, switch-hitting, homer-crushing, 21-year-old rookie wunderkind who also happens to be the fastest man in baseball. A full-blown unicorn. And even to him Ohtani is something different altogether. To introduce himself, De La Cruz extended his right index finger and poked 29-year-old Ohtani on the arm five times, chuckling, as if to say: Are you even real?
It’s the sort of question anyone who watched Ohtani asked constantly. And Wednesday’s lesson was that he’s all too real — not a baseball automaton sent from the future to transfix but flesh and blood. Like any ballplayer, always one pitch, one swing, one stride away from a muscle or tendon or bone or ligament failing. Ohtani took on more than any other player: starting for the Angels once a week and serving as their designated hitter nightly. The job and its level of stress chipped away, little by little. And even then, Ohtani never accepted training at a reduced rate to give himself a break. Why would he? The work got him to this place.
And what a place it was. His native Japan served as the petri dish for Ohtani’s two-way experiment, and almost immediately upon his arrival to Major League Baseball as a 23-year-old in 2018, he cut a transcendent figure, his bat an awfully good sidekick to his vaunted arm. Then his UCL gave out that first season, and rehab didn’t heal it. The subsequent Tommy John surgery in October 2018 kept him off the mound in 2019 and might as well have in 2020.
It’s not that his return to form in 2021 was surprising — because to be surprised by Ohtani is a user error — but it was glorious. It could be done for a full season: 46 home runs in 155 games played, 130⅓ innings of 3.18 ERA ball over 23 starts, one unanimous American League MVP Award. And then, he showed it could be done two seasons in a row, with 2022 a little worse at the plate, a little better on the mound, undeniably MVP-worthy if not for Aaron Judge.
And now this year. Even by Ohtani’s standards it has been singular. He has been the best hitter in baseball, leading the big leagues in home runs (44), triples (7), OPS (1.069) and total bases (310). He has held opposing hitters to a .184 batting average, the lowest of all 146 pitchers who have thrown at least 70 innings. He entered 2023 with prospective suitors wondering whether he’d live up to earning the first $500 million free agent contract in baseball history, and by the middle of the season, a half-a-billion-dollar bid was liable to get a team laughed out of the room.
Perhaps the most fully formed version of Ohtani was the one we saw this spring: captain of World Baseball Classic-winning Team Japan, capper of the tournament with a strikeout of his friend and Angels teammate Mike Trout. It was a moment upon which baseball fans can reflect, perhaps wistfully, fearful that peak Ohtani has passed. It’s possible. Age is undefeated. The greatest predictor of a future arm injury is a past arm injury. Nobody, not even Ohtani, can avoid all aphorisms.
Now come questions. How bad is the tear? Will Ohtani try platelet-rich plasma again in an attempt to heal it, or is surgery a fait accompli? Regardless of Ohtani’s approach to fixing his elbow, he might not miss games for long. In 2019, seven months after surgery, Ohtani returned to DH full time as he did his Tommy John rehab for pitching. Back then, doctors considered it safe. But the demand on Ohtani’s arm far exceeds that of the typical hitter, and a second procedure leaves the elbow that much more fragile. The discussion on what’s best for Ohtani’s future will come into focus in the coming days as the Angels wind toward another playoff-free season and the expiration of his contract.
What the injury means for his future as a pitcher is bound to play a part in his free agency. The failure rate is overwhelming for players who have undergone the Tommy John procedure twice in a five-year span: Jameson Taillon, the most successful, returned and signed a four-year, $68 million free agent contract this winter. Daniel Hudson closed out a World Series. Drew Rasmussen grew into an elite starter — only to blow out a third time. Cole Ragans, a wildly talented 25-year-old, is looking the part for Kansas City but hasn’t thrown even 100 big league innings.
Of course, Ohtani does the things others can’t. He is not an outlier. He is the outlier. If he wants to be a starter again, he will be a starter again. He has earned that, and if one team doesn’t concur, Ohtani will find another that does. Because as much as the ligament tear muddies the valuation on Ohtani, whatever team is lucky enough to land him will get the biggest star in the game since Ken Griffey Jr., regardless of how many pitches he throws again. The past three years vaulted Ohtani to that rarefied place few baseball players go. He is, a century later, in achievement and prestige, Babe Ruth. And in talent, Ruth pales to Ohtani.
Ruth, remember, never played every day and pitched full time. He didn’t think it possible. Ohtani proved it so, hefty though the cost might have been. “It is a wonder he held up this long,” a person familiar with Ohtani’s routine said early Thursday morning, after the announcement of Ohtani’s UCL tear from Angels general manager Perry Minasian sent an off-hours thunderclap through the sport. The chatter was all the same, more or less. Why him? Why now? Why at all?
Totally fair questions all, but their implication — their negativity — didn’t seem to be of interest to the one person who had the right to ask them. If you really want to know who Shohei Ohtani is, and what he’s made of, look at his reaction when De La Cruz poked him. He could’ve turtled away, glowered, snapped, and he would’ve been well within his right to do any considering what he was now facing. Instead, Ohtani smiled and returned the compliment, marveling at De La Cruz’s incredible talent — a kid from Japan and a kid from the Dominican Republic conversant in the language that binds them: baseball.
Optimism is Ohtani’s choice. The last time he was at this juncture, he returned and evolved into the greatest baseball player anyone has seen. Doubt him at your peril.
Seven of eight first-round series in the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs have begun, and No. 8 gets rolling on Tuesday.
The Battle of Florida between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers begins anew (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN), with both clubs looking like a legitimate Stanley Cup contender if they can survive the intrastate showdown.
Cats-Bolts is the third game of four Tuesday on the ESPN family of networks, following New Jersey–Carolina (6 p.m. ET, ESPN) and Ottawa–Toronto (7:30 p.m., ESPN2), and preceding the nightcap, Minnesota–Vegas (11 p.m. ET, ESPN).
What are the key storylines heading into Tuesday’s games? Who are the key players to watch?
Read on for game previews with statistical insights from ESPN Research, recaps of what went down Monday night, and the Three Stars of Monday Night from Arda Öcal.
Matchup notes
New Jersey Devils at Carolina Hurricanes
Game 2 (CAR leads 1-0) | 6 p.m. ET | ESPN
Game 1 sure did not go as planned for the Devils. A win at the legendarily loud Lenovo Center would’ve been stretching it, but losing Brenden Dillon, Cody Glass and Luke Hughes to injury was not an ideal outcome either.
They’ll hope to rebound Tuesday before the series shifts to Newark. Closing the shot attempt differential might help, as the famously possession-savvy Hurricanes held a 45-24 edge on shots on goal in Game 1.
For years, the knock on Carolina was that it lacked that one goal scorer who could get the Canes over the hump in the playoffs. Many observers thought the Canes had acquired such a player in Mikko Rantanen in January. Ironically, it was the player Carolina acquired in its subsequent trade of Rantanen to Dallas — Logan Stankoven — who scored two goals in Game 1. Will he add to that total in Game 2?
Of note heading into Tuesday’s game, the Devils have come back to win a playoff series after losing the first game 11 out of 26 times (42%); that figure drops to 20% if they fall behind 0-2. The Hurricanes have won six of their past seven series after winning Game 1.
Ottawa Senators at Toronto Maple Leafs
Game 2 (TOR leads 1-0) | 7:30 p.m. ET | ESPN2
The atmosphere was intense for Game 1, and the Maple Leafs’ “Core Four” led the way: Mitch Marner (one goal, two assists), William Nylander (one goal, one assist), John Tavares (one goal, one assist) and Auston Matthews (two assists) each filled up the scoresheet. A continuation of that output will obviously help Toronto overwhelm its provincial neighbor.
Slowing down the Maple Leafs could depend on discipline, according to Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk. “We took too many penalties, they scored on [them] and that’s the game,” Tkachuk told reporters after Game 1. “So that’s on us. We’ve got to be more disciplined.”
The Sens will also need to capitalize on their chances. According to Stathletes, Ottawa had five high-danger scoring chances in this game, and produced only two goals.
Florida Panthers at Tampa Bay Lightning
Game 1 | 8:30 p.m ET | ESPN
This is the fourth time that the two Sunshine State franchises have met in the postseason, and all four of the meetings have occurred since 2021.
In each instance, the winner of the series has gone on to reach the Stanley Cup Final — Lightning in 2021 and 2022; Panthers in 2024 — while the 2021 Lightning and 2024 Panthers won it all.
Unsurprisingly, Nikita Kucherov is Tampa Bay’s leading scorer against Florida, with 25 points (five goals, 20 assists) in 15 games. Aleksander Barkov is the Panthers’ leading scorer against the Lightning, with 13 points (three goals, 10 assists) in 15 games.
The two teams split their meetings in the regular season, with the Lightning winning the most recent, 5-1 on April 15.
Minnesota Wild at Vegas Golden Knights
Game 2 (VGK leads 1-0) | 11 p.m. ET | ESPN
The underdog Wild set a physical tone to the series in Game 1, outhitting the Golden Knights 54-29, but the hosts emerged with a 4-2 victory. Tomas Hertl, Pavel Dorofeyev and Brett Howden (two) were the goal scorers for Vegas, and Matt Boldy was responsible for both Minnesota goals.
Howden, who had never scored double-digit goals until his 23 this season, earned praise from coach Bruce Cassidy after Game 1. “He didn’t change his game,” Cassidy told reporters. “He played physical. He’s part of our penalty kill. He’s always out when the goalie’s out, typically one of the six guys we use a lot because of his versatility. He can play wing. He can take draws as a center. He’s been real good for us all year and good again tonight.”
Sunday’s game was the NHL debut for 2024 first-round pick Zeev Buium, who just finished his season with the University of Denver. He played 13 minutes, 37 seconds and finished with one shot on goal.
Arda’s Three Stars of Monday
The greatest goal scorer in NHL history just keeps finding the back of the net. He had two goals, including the overtime winner, as the Caps take Game 1 3-2 despite a valiant third period effort from Montreal to send it to the extra frame.
Connor had the game-winning goal in the third period for the second straight game, as Winnipeg takes both games at home for the 2-0 series lead on the Blues.
Further proof that the Oilers are never out of the game, McDavid helped erase a 4-0 deficit with a goal and three assists, despite the Oilers falling 6-5 late in a thrilling Game 1.
Monday’s scores
Capitals 3, Canadiens 2 (OT)
Washington leads 1-0
Much of the regular season was spent focused on Alex Ovechkin‘s “Gr8 Chase” of Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal-scoring record, and he scored historic goal No. 895 on Sunday, April 6. It turns out, Ovi likes the spotlight. The Capitals superstar opened the scoring in the game, and bookended it with the overtime winner — his first ever, believe it or not — as the Caps survived a thriller in Game 1, following Nick Suzuki‘s tying goal with 4:15 remaining. Full recap.
1:51
Alex Ovechkin’s OT goal wins Game 1 for Capitals
Alex Ovechkin’s second goal of the game is an overtime winner that gives the Capitals a 1-0 series lead vs. the Canadiens.
Jets 2, Blues 1
Winnipeg leads 2-0
Game 1 between the two clubs was tightly contested until the Jets took over in the third period. That trend took hold again on Monday — the score remained tied into 1-1 the third period, when Winnipeg’s Kyle Connor scored at the 1:43 mark, and the Jets were able to hold the Blues off the scoreboard for the duration. Connor’s linemate Mark Scheifele assisted on the game-winner and opened the scoring, giving him a league-leading five points this postseason. Full recap.
0:40
Kyle Connor scores clutch goal to put Jets ahead in 3rd period
Kyle Connor extends Winnipeg’s lead after a clutch goal early in the 3rd period vs. St. Louis.
Stars 4, Avalanche 3 (OT)
Series tied 1-1
The series that every observer thought would be the closest in the first round didn’t look that way in Game 1, as the Avs ran over the Stars en route to a 5-1 win. Game 2 was much more in line with expectations, as the two Western powerhouses needed OT to settle things. Colin Blackwell was the hero for Dallas, scoring with 2:14 remaining in the first OT period. Full recap.
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Colin Blackwell comes up with big OT winner for Stars
Colin Blackwell sends the Stars faithful into jubilation with a great overtime winner to tie the series at 1-1 vs. the Avalanche.
Kings 6, Oilers 5
Los Angeles leads 1-0
Monday’s nightcap was a delight to those who like offensive hockey and were willing to stay up late. The Kings roared out to a four-goal lead late in the second period before Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl scored to pull within three with six seconds remaining. The two teams traded goals to start the third, before the Oilers notched three in a row to tie up the festivities with 1:28 remaining on Connor McDavid‘s first of the 2025 playoffs. L.A.’s Phillip Danault sent his club’s fans home happy, scoring the pivotal goal with 42 seconds left. Full recap.
0:46
Kings retake lead on Phillip Danault’s goal in final minute
Phillip Danault restores the lead for the Kings with a goal vs. the Oilers in the closing moments.
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