I've been warning about the dangers of owning Shohei Ohtani in season-long fantasy leagues since the preseason and, unfortunately, it seems as though many of my fears were founded in reality.
Shohei Ohtani will be placed on the disabled list with a grade 2 sprain of the UCL. He underwent a PRP and Stem Cell injection yesterday with Dr. Steve Yoon in Los Angeles. He will be re-evaluated in 3 weeks and we will update his plan of care at that time.
— Angels (@Angels) June 8, 2018
Ohtani was placed on the disabled list by the Los Angeles Angels this week, and there are worries he could be headed for Tommy John surgery, a devastatingly cruel blow to both the Angels, fantasy owners and baseball in general.
His 49 innings were not enough to qualify among the league ERA leaders, but in those 49.1 innings this season, he had a 3.10 ERA, 3.22 FIP, and 3.35 xFIP, with an outstanding strikeout rate of 30.5%. All terrific numbers, when he pitched.
It's going to be hard to find an owner optimistic enough to take a chance that he'll be back for the second half of the season, but if you can, now is the time to move Ohtani for something you can use now.