There is no one quite like Shohei Ohtani in Major League Baseball. Just last year, the two-way star impressed during spring training with the Los Angeles Angels, reaching a staggering 103.5 mph on the mound.
It was a remarkable feat by Ohtani, especially considering he had undergone Tommy John surgery previously. For Dr. Neal ElAttrache, the head team physician for the Dodgers who performed the 2018 surgery, news of Ohtani’s velocity jump raised some concerns.
“Everybody was ecstatic,” ElAttrache recalled. “I was maybe the only one concerned because a jump in velocity, especially after a Tommy John operation, over two to three years to that magnitude is exponentially more strain and stress on the ligament.”
ElAttrache’s apprehensions were validated when Ohtani underwent another elbow operation in September, a more advanced version of Tommy John surgery. As the 50th anniversary of the first Tommy John procedure approached in September, Ohtani’s case became a focal point in the study of this operation.
The Dodgers showed their confidence in Ohtani’s recovery by offering him a record $700 million contract in free agency in December.
ElAttrache remarked, “Fifty years after the first Tommy John and 34 years after I learned how to do the operation, now a guy’s having his second operation and he’s not only expected to come back to (his) previous level of performance, it just so happens that he’s being paid to be the best player in the history of baseball.”
Following his initial Tommy John surgery, Ohtani returned to pitching in July 2020. The two-time AL MVP had an impressive record with the Angels before his injury in August 2023.
Regarding his second elbow surgery, Ohtani has remained somewhat elusive, stating at his introductory press conference with the Dodgers that it was “completely different from my first time.” ElAttrache described it as a hybrid procedure involving an internal brace and the insertion of a tendon, combining elements from both traditional and modern Tommy John surgeries.
Ohtani’s recovery journey mirrors that of other pitchers who have undergone similar hybrid procedures, such as Tyler Glasnow, now with the Dodgers. While Ohtani will focus on hitting duties in his first season with the Dodgers, his return to the mound could coincide with a significant milestone: the anniversary of the first Tommy John procedure.
“If he goes along with the throwing program as we have it scheduled, he’ll be throwing his first simulated game the last week of September,” ElAttrache revealed. “Tommy John’s operation 50 years ago was September 25th, 1974. So Ohtani will be throwing his first sim game 50 years almost to the date of the first Tommy John, which is pretty wild.”
