Shohei Ohtani undergoes shoulder surgery after playing through torn labrum in World Series

Shohei Ohtani’s shoulder injury in the 2024 World Series was apparently a bit worse than the Los Angeles Dodgers let on.

The Dodgers announced Tuesday that their superstar underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder, the result of his bad slide in Game 2 of the World Series against the New York Yankees. Ohtani is reportedly expected to be ready for spring training.

This will be the second year in a row that Ohtani underwent a significant surgery, as he needed an internal brace to repair a torn UCL in his pitching arm at the end of last season. He spent all of 2024 rehabbing that elbow while also hitting for the Dodgers.

Ohtani sustained the injury by landing hard on his left arm during the seventh inning of Game 2 on Oct. 26. He was in clear pain and was escorted off the field by trainers, to whom Japanese speakers believe he said the shoulder popped out.

It was a scene that stunned a previously jubilant Dodger Stadium, but the Dodgers indicated after the game that the injury was a minor subluxation. Ohtani was in the lineup for Game 3 two days later.

Ohtani struggled to make hard contact for the rest of the series, however, and that now makes a bit more sense. He went a combined 1-for-14 with no extra-base hits in Games 3, 4 and 5 after hitting .260/.403/.460 in his first 13 career postseason games.

It was clear that Ohtani was dealing with some sort of discomfort, as he ran awkwardly while holding his collar with his left hand when he had to run the bases.

Ohtani’s World Series performance was a quiet end to one of the greatest seasons in MLB history. Despite his struggles, Ohtani will finish 2024 with his first ring, a presumed third MVP trophy and the first 50-50 season in the history of MLB, all after joining the Dodgers on a record-shattering, 10-year, $700 million deal.

Ohtani wasn’t the only Dodger playing through pain during the postseason, as it was also revealed recently that World Series MVP Freddie Freeman was playing through broken rib cartilage, in addition to a sprained right ankle and residual soreness from a fractured finger in August.

Despite two stars hobbled by injuries and perhaps the most injury-riddled pitching staff in baseball, the Dodgers put away the Yankees in five games for their eighth title in franchise history, with some help from the Yankees themselves.

The closest precedent to Ohtani’s injury is an ominous one for the Dodgers, as Cody Bellinger tore his right labrum while celebrating a home run during the Dodgers’ World Series run in 2020. He underwent surgery on Nov. 17 that year and was ready for Opening Day the next season, but his production fell off a cliff after that, and he was non-tendered after the 2022 season.

However, it’s worth noting that Bellinger injured the more important front arm of his batting stance, while Ohtani’s injury is in the opposite shoulder. The bigger issue for the Dodgers might be whether this injury will affect Ohtani’s UCL rehab, as he is expected to return as a pitcher in 2025.