Connect with us

Published

on

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Shohei Ohtani is still evaluating medical opinions on the tear in his right ulnar collateral ligament, but his agent, Nez Balelo of CAA, made two things clear Monday afternoon: Ohtani will be ready to at least hit at the start of next season, regardless of how much longer he plays in 2023, and he will remain a two-way player down the road.

“There’s not a question in his mind that he’s going to come back and he’s going to continue to do both,” Balelo told a large contingent of reporters from his suite at Angel Stadium, marking the first time he, or Ohtani, has addressed the media since his tear was revealed Aug. 23.

Ohtani will continue to hit for the foreseeable future — though he was a late scratch from Monday’s lineup because of what the Los Angeles Angels described as right oblique tightness — but Balelo didn’t commit to him hitting the rest of the season.

Balelo acknowledged that Ohtani, who will soon be one of the most prominent free agents in baseball history, will eventually undergo “some type of procedure,” a list of options that would seemingly include Tommy John surgery — the standard UCL replacement that would keep him off a mound through the 2024 season — or a noninvasive treatment that utilizes stem cells and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) in an effort to strengthen the ligament. A relatively new, less-invasive bracing procedure also has been popularized in recent years, though it is unclear whether Ohtani is a candidate for that.

In dealing with a previous UCL tear, Ohtani underwent stem cell and PRP therapy in June 2018 in hopes of avoiding surgery, then learned he needed Tommy John less than three months later and underwent the procedure Oct. 1 of that year.

Waiting until then kept Ohtani from serving as a designated hitter until May of the following season. But Balelo expressed confidence that won’t be the case this time around, adding that the most recent tear is on the lowest extremity of his right UCL, closest to the ulna and radius bones, whereas the tear five years ago was at the highest extremity, attached to the humerus.

“It’s completely different,” Balelo said, adding that the graft from Ohtani’s initial surgery is “all together, all intact, no problems. Everything looks good.”

Balelo said doctors told him the current tear is “the best-case scenario for the situation we’re in,” though he didn’t provide any indication on a course of action or a return to pitching.

“Shohei’s going to be fine,” Balelo said. “Is he going to pitch the rest of the year? No. We already know that. Is he going to get into next year? We don’t know yet. So just bear with me on that. But I do know this — no matter what timetable we’re dealing with and when we get this done, Shohei’s going to be in somebody’s lineup next year, DHing when the bell rings. We know that. We’re not going to push that. He’s going to be good to go.”

Ohtani served as the Angels’ designated hitter for most of 2018 and all of 2019 and struggled to both pitch and hit during the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season. But he emerged as a two-way force the following year, winning the American League MVP award unanimously in 2021 and finishing second to Aaron Judge, who set the AL home run record, in 2022. The 2023 MVP is all but certain to be Ohtani’s, even though the Angels are trending toward their eighth consecutive losing season.

Ohtani entered the Angels’ most recent homestand leading the majors in OPS (1.066), homers (44) and triples (eight) while adding 20 stolen bases. He finished his season as a pitcher with a 10-5 record, a 3.14 ERA and 167 strikeouts in 132 innings.

Ohtani’s last start came Aug. 23, when he exited in the second inning of a doubleheader and later underwent the MRI that revealed the tear. Ohtani nonetheless opted to hit in the second game of the doubleheader and continued to hit during the Angels’ ensuing road trip through New York, Philadelphia and Oakland.

“This guy loves the game,” Balelo said. “When he found out that there’s nothing that he can do to create any more damage than what’s already been done, he was like, ‘I’m going to play this thing out until we gather more information to make the right decision.’ That’s where we’re at as of today.”

Ohtani skipped the start that preceded his last outing because of what was described as arm fatigue and had been battling intermittent bouts of cramping and fatigue in prior weeks, prompting questions around whether the Angels could have prevented the tear or at least caught it sooner. Angels general manager Perry Minasian told reporters last week that Ohtani and Balelo declined an MRI after Ohtani’s Aug. 3 start against the Seattle Mariners, when he complained of finger cramps. Balelo confirmed those details, adding that Ohtani homered later in that game and made his next scheduled start, throwing 97 pitches.

“It was just a quick suggestion,” Balelo said. “Thought about it, talked to him, everything was good. It didn’t warrant it at all.”

Ohtani is not expected to address the media any time soon. Balelo wouldn’t get into what types of contracts he will pursue in free agency or Ohtani’s chances of re-signing with the Angels, but he said the player’s relationship with the team hasn’t been strained by recent developments. As was the case when Ohtani continued to hit through a Grade 2 tear for the last three and a half months in 2018, doctors have told Balelo that Ohtani can’t do any further damage to his UCL by continuing to serve as the Angels’ DH.

“He can lift, he can run, he can slide, take violent swings,” Balelo said. “He can do anything he wants right now. It doesn’t affect the problem in question. We’re good. Whatever we decide to get done, we have to take into consideration next year. The way the timetable is going to play out, he’s going to be fine when the bell rings in ’24.”

Continue Reading

Sports

Keselowski: NASCAR rulebook like IRS tax code

Published

on

By

Keselowski: NASCAR rulebook like IRS tax code

LEBANON, Tenn. — Brad Keselowski said RFK Racing has made some small changes and talked about the “complexities” and team burdens under the NASCAR rulebook after an appeal reduced a penalty given to driver Chris Buescher and his team at Kansas Speedway.

Keselowski compared the NASCAR rulebook a bit to the IRS tax code during practice and qualifying Saturday at Nashville Superspeedway for Sunday night’s Cracker Barrel 400.

“You read this paper and then you got to reference this paper to reference this paper to reference this paper, and when your head’s down and digging and you’re running 38 weeks a year, oversights are going to happen,” Keselowski said.

The co-owner of RFK Racing said that’s not an excuse. Keselowski said the team changed some roles and responsibilities this week to help the team be “better prepared and more mindful of what it takes to to be in compliance.”

NASCAR penalized Buescher and his team May 15 for illegal modifications to the bumper of his No. 17 Ford at Kansas. The team was docked 60 driver points, 60 owner points, five driver playoff points and five owner playoff points for the level one violation. It also fined the team $75,000 and suspended crew chief Scott Graves from the next two races: the All-Star Race and the Coca-Cola 600.

Those penalties came three days after Buescher finished eighth at Kansas and dropped him from 12th to 24th in the Cup Series point standings.

RFK Racing appealed and had a partial win Wednesday with the appeals panel ruling the team violated the rule on the front bumper cover but not the exhaust cover panel.

Buescher got back 30 points, moving him to 16th in the Cup Series points standing. That’s a slot below the playoff cutline and six points behind RFK Racing teammate Ryan Preece.

Continue Reading

Sports

Thousands attend race event honoring Gaudreaus

Published

on

By

Thousands attend race event honoring Gaudreaus

SEWELL, N.J. — A few days after brothers John and Matthew Gaudreau died when they were struck by a driver while riding bicycles on the eve of their sister Katie’s wedding, family friends were visiting parents Guy and Jane at their home during a rainstorm. Looking outside after the skies cleared, they saw a double rainbow that brought them some momentary peace.

Since then, Jane Gaudreau had not gotten any signs she attributed to her sons, so she sat in their room Friday and asked them for some divine intervention to clear out bad weather in time for an event to honor their legacies. After a brief scare of a tornado watch the night before, a rainbow appeared Saturday morning about an hour before the sun came out for the inaugural Gaudreau Family 5K Walk/Run and Family Day.

“I was so relieved,” Jane said. “I was like, ‘Well, there’s my sign.'”

Thousands attended the event at Washington Lake Park in southern New Jersey, a place John and Matthew went hundreds of times as kids and around the corner from Hollydell Ice Arena, where they started playing hockey. Roughly 1,100 people took part in a walk or run in person, along with more than 1,300 virtually in the U.S., Canada and around the world.

“I think it speaks to them as a family, how close they were and how everybody loved being around them,” said Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk, one of a handful of NHL players who were close to the Gaudreaus and made a point to be there. “You just see the support from this community and from other players as well that are here and traveled in. It just says a lot about Johnny, Matty, their legacy and this family as a whole, how much support they have because they’re such amazing people.”

Along with honoring the NHL star known as “Johnny Hockey” and his younger brother who family and friends called Matty, the goal of the event was to raise money for an accessible playground at Archbishop Damiano School where Jane and her daughter Kristen work. It was a cause John and Matthew had begun to champion in honor of their grandmother Marie, who spent 44 years at the school and died in 2023.

It became their mother’s project after their deaths.

“Jane works every day with children with disabilities, and she knew how important it was for the playground to be built,” said family friend Deb Vasutoro, who came up with the idea for a 5K. “The playground has been a project for, I think, four or five years, and there just never was enough funding. When the boys passed and Jane needed a purpose, she thought, ‘Let’s build the playground.’ It was the perfect marriage of doing something good to honor the boys and seeing children laugh and smile.”

The Rev. Allain Caparas from Gloucester Catholic High School, which the brothers attended and played hockey for while growing up in Carneys Point, said raising funds for the playground is an extension of the impact they had on the community.

“They’re continuing to make a difference in the lives of so many others,” Caparas said. “Johnny and Matthew lived their lives with purpose, and now we’re celebrating that.”

Social media filled with mentions from folks in Columbus and Calgary, the NHL cities in which John Gaudreau played, and as far away as Ireland and Sweden. Paul O’Connor, who has been tight with the Gaudreau family from son Dalton being childhood best friends with Matthew, couldn’t empty out his inbox because he kept getting notifications about signups and donations.

“It just keeps growing,” O’Connor said. “And people that couldn’t be here, they’re doing a virtual [5K]. If they can’t do either, they’re just throwing money at the cause.”

Tears welled up in the eyes of Guy and Jane as they talked about the event. His speech to the crowd was brief and poignant at the same time.

“I’d like to thank everybody for coming,” Guy said after running the 5K. “It really means a lot to Jane and the girls and the family. We miss the boys, and it really means a lot for us to have you here to honor my boys. Thank you.”

The sea of people first in the rain and then the sunshine included folks in gear from all across hockey. Tkachuk wore a “Johnny Hockey” hoodie with Gaudreau’s name and No. 13 on the back.

He handed sticks, collected from various vigils in late August and early September, to race winners along with fellow players Erik Gudbranson, Zach Aston-Reese, Tony DeAngelo and Buddy Robinson.

“Our family wouldn’t have missed this,” Gudbranson said after flying in Friday night following a trip to Walt Disney World. “Hockey’s a very tight community. It’s still a tragedy. We miss the boys.”

The aim is to hold the event annually moving forward, potentially in Calgary and Columbus.

“We thought this was such a good thing to honor the boys we want to keep it up,” Jane said. “I just think each year it’ll just get better and better.”

Continue Reading

Sports

Panthers’ Lundell, Luostarinen clear for Final G1

Published

on

By

Panthers' Lundell, Luostarinen clear for Final G1

Florida Panthers forwards Eetu Luostarinen and Anton Lundell will be ready for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday night in Edmonton, coach Paul Maurice said Saturday.

Both players were injured in Wednesday’s series-clinching Game 5 win against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Panthers forward A.J. Greer‘s status for the series opener against the Oilers remains uncertain. He missed Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals and was on the ice for only 4:22 in Game 5 due to a lower-body injury.

All three players did not participate in Saturday’s practice, the first team skate since the defending champions booked their spot in the Final rematch.

“I think the only question mark is Greer,” Maurice said. “We will list him as day to day. The other guys are fine. They will be back on the ice tomorrow when we do a little bit of an optional.”

Luostarinen, 26, recorded 24 points (9 goals, 15 assists) in 80 games during the regular season and 13 points (4 goals, 9 assists) in 17 games this postseason.

Lundell, 23, tallied 45 points (17 goals, 28 assists) in 79 games in the regular season and 12 points (5 goals, 7 assists) in 17 playoff games.

Greer, 28, posted 17 points (6 goals, 11 assists) in 81 games in the regular season and three points (2 goals, 1 assist) in 12 playoff contests.

Continue Reading

Trending