Shohei Ohtani's agent defends Angels, believes experts blew things 'out of proportion' with two-way star's workload management

Shohei Ohtani's injury has put various questions up in the air regarding the Los Angeles Angels phenom. The extent of his injury and whether he will require a second Tommy John surgery are yet to be known. But one thing that has been confirmed by his agent Nez Balelo is that his injury had nothing to do with his workload.

Shohei Ohtani had left the field early in a game against the Cincinnati Reds last month. It was later revealed that the 29-year-old had torn his UCL for a second time in his career. He continued playing DH in the lineup till Monday's (September 4) game against the Baltimore Orioles where he was scrapped due to right oblique tightness.

Talking to reporters about the injury, Balelo pointed out that Ohtani has kept a positive mindset despite his injury. He said that the player's relationship with the Los Angeles Angels remains strong and that his injury had no connection to his workload as a two-way player leading up to his start against the Reds.

Balelo believes that the term 'fatigue' has been used up to varying levels by the baseball community in order to explain Ohtani's injury.

“The fatigue thing really was, I think, blown out of proportion. People were just assuming that he was breaking down and there should have been signs for people to notice, but that wasn’t the case at all,” Balelo said.

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Shohei Ohtani's agent says he might not require a second Tommy John surgery

Nez Balelo also carefully explained that Shohei Ohtani's latest injury to the UCL is unrelated to his previous one. In 2018, when the Japanese sensation tore his UCL, it was to the top of the muscle. However, this time it is towards the bottom end. This suggests that he might not require a Tommy John surgery.

Despite a normal surgery, the 29-year-old is expected to start in 2024 in his usual DH role.