Ohtani to miss rest of season with oblique injury

Shohei Ohtani’s 2023 season is over, and so might be his career with the Los Angeles Angels.

The Angels announced Saturday Ohtani will miss the rest of the season as he continues to battle an oblique injury that has kept him out for 11 straight games since Sept. 3.

This comes after reports emerged Friday that Ohtani had removed many of his personal belongings from his locker at Angel Stadium. The team said an explanation would follow on Saturday.

Ohtani is widely expected to be named American League MVP for the second time in three years after posting one of the greatest individual seasons in MLB history.

The 29-year-old finishes 2023 leading the league with 44 home runs, 95 RBI, a .304/.412/.654 slash line and a career-high 1.066 OPS at the plate. On the mound, Ohtani went 10-5 with a 3.14 ERA with 167 strikeouts in 132.0 innings pitched. However, Ohtani has not pitched since Aug. 23 and it figures to be his last for a while due to a torn UCL in his right elbow that may require Tommy John surgery, the same injury and procedure that kept him off the mound for the entire 2019 season and most of 2020.

Ohtani is scheduled to become a free agent this winter and with the Angels well on their way to their eighth straight sub-.500 season, questions surround the two-way star’s future in Anaheim. Multiple reports indicate that Ohtani will prioritize the chance to win a World Series during his free agency and that could lead him to leave the Angels for a team with a more competitive track record. Reports from this week suggest co-superstar Mike Trout could also seek an exit from L.A. this off-season despite being under contract until 2020.

Ohtani joined the Angels as a 23-year-old in December of 2017 and won the American League Rookie of the Year award the following season. He also has three All-Star nominations, a Silver Slugger and finished fourth in AL Cy Young voting last season.