Shohei Ohtani, one of baseball’s biggest stars, says that he is dealing with a middle finger blister and is unlikely to pitch in the MLB’s All-Star Game.
Ohtani, who had been voted as a two-way All-Star due to his pitching and batting proficiency, left Tuesday’s Los Angeles Angels game against the San Diego Padres in the sixth inning after giving up consecutive home runs to Xander Bogaerts and Jake Cronenworth.
Afterwards, Ohtani told reporters through an interpreter that he is not likely to pitch at the ‘Midsummer Classic’ in Seattle on July 11 with the blister but hopes to be able to do so in the Angels’ first game back against the Houston Astros on July 15. He said he will continue to bat.
The Japanese two-way star’s blister came days after he said he was suffering from a cracked nail on his right middle finger.
The 29-year-old was given a day of extra rest and he used an acrylic nail to try to solve the issue, but it proceeded to deteriorate as Tuesday’s game went on.
“I think it’s basically the same thing as last time,” Ohtani said. “It wasn’t fully healed. It just kind of got worse as the game went on.”
He pitched with less velocity against the Padres and it showed in the results. By the time he left the game, Ohtani had allowed five runs and seven hits, whilst also striking out five and walking four. The back-to-back homers allowed were a first for Ohtani in his MLB career.
Ohtani had been coming off American League Player of the Month honors in June; pitching with a 3.26 earned runs average with 37 strikeouts and while batting, has hit 15 home runs including 29 runs batted in.
It capped off an unfortunate evening for the Angels who, as well as eventually losing 8-5 to San Diego, lost superstar center fielder Mike Trout with a fractured bone in his left wrist.
Trout, a three-time American League MVP, suffered the left hamate fracture when he fouled a ball in the eight inning. He is expected to be out for about four to eight weeks.
“I kind of knew it wasn’t good,” Trout told reporters afterwards. “It’s just a freak thing. I had a lot of guys reach out who had the surgery or the injury before. Some guys came back in four weeks. Some guys took longer. We’ll see how it goes.”