Shohei Ohtani could be out until 2020 season after Tommy John surgery: report

The Shohei Ohtani show may be put on hold until 2020.

ESPN has reported that the Angels’ two-way star is expected to undergo Tommy John surgery that would sideline him for the rest of this season and possibly the entire 2019 season as well.

“Everything I’m hearing is that the reality is, he probably will need Tommy John surgery,” Pedro Gomez said on “SportsCenter” Monday morning.

On Friday, the Angels placed Ohtani on the disabled list with a Grade 2 sprain of his ulnar collateral ligament in his right throwing arm. He received platelet-rich plasma stem-cell injections on Thursday and is scheduled to be reevaluated in three weeks.

Angels GM Billy Eppler was optimistic Friday that Ohtani could avoid having the surgery.

"We’re hopeful that he can, that it is completely treatable with the biologic prescription the doctors recommended,” Eppler told reporters.

But Ohtani’s injury is reportedly more serious than initially believed.

The 23-year-old informed the team Wednesday that his elbow was stiff after having a blister drained, which led to an MRI. Ohtani left his Wednesday start against the Royals after throwing just 63 pitches through four innings.

Ohtani has a history of right elbow issues that was known among MLB teams when they were pursuing him during the offseason. Yahoo Sports reported in December that Ohtani had a less-severe Grade 1 UCL sprain as of Nov. 28 and received a PRP injection on Oct. 20.

Ohtani has taken Major League Baseball by storm both on the mound and at the plate since coming over from Japan. As a starter, he is 4-1 with a 3.10 ERA and 61 strikeouts in 49.1 innings. As a designated hitter, he is batting .289 with six home runs, 20 RBI and a .907 OPS in 129 plate appearances.

The Angels are 4.5 games back on the Mariners and Astros for the AL West lead as they head to Seattle for a three-game set starting Monday.