Shohei Ohtani's on-field plans for rest of MLB season revealed

We don't know when Los Angeles Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani is going to pitch again following this week's news that he has a tear in his UCL. That is awful news for baseball fans who loved watching him dominate as a two-way player, and bad news for Ohtani as he heads into free agency this winter.

The good news is that baseball fans are still going to get an opportunity to see him hit. 

According to multiple reports on Thursday, including MLB.com's Shanthi Sepe-Chepuru and ESPN's Alden Gonzalez, Ohtani is still expected to be used as the Angels designated hitter this season while he and the team consider his options as to whether or not he will need surgery. 

Ohtani already had Tommy John surgery once in his career following his rookie year in 2018. While he did not pitch in 2019, he still appeared in 106 games as the Angels DH and hit 18 home runs with an .848 OPS.

Over the past three years, he has been one of the most unique players in Major League Baseball history as he has dominated as both a top-level starting pitcher and one of the best power hitters in baseball. He won the 2021 American League MVP, was the runner-up for the award in 2022 and has been the leading favorite to win it again during the 2023 season.

As of Thursday, he is leading the league with 44 home runs, seven triples, a .644 slugging percentage and a 1.069 OPS at the plate. Along with that, he has also stolen 17 bases and has a 3.14 ERA with 167 strikeouts in 132 innings pitched. He has been especially dominant on the mound over his past few starts, but he has had to cut several of them short due to injury issues. 

His last start came on Wednesday in the first game of a doubleheader. He left after just one inning with what was originally called arm fatigue. Even after the UCL tear diagnosis, he still hit in the second game of the doubleheader as the Angels designated hitter.