Angels decide on Shohei Ohtani's 2021 role

The Los Angeles Angels have not had Shohei Ohtani healthy for much of his MLB career, but the hope is 2021 will be different.

The Angels shared an update Friday on Ohtani, who was shut down early in 2020 due to elbow issues. The two-way star is expected to be healthy for spring training and has begun to throw from 120 feet, via Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. More importantly, the Angels still intend to use him as a two-way player in 2021.

Given the arm problems Ohtani has had, there was speculation that the Angels might give up on him as a pitcher. There even looked to be some evidence that the Angels were moving toward that conclusion late in 2020, but it turns out they are not there yet.

Ohtani, for what it’s worth, has been adamant about how he sees his role. He’s made only 12 MLB appearances as a pitcher, but he looked great doing it in 2018 when healthy. 2021 might be his last shot to prove he can be a two-way player while staying healthy. Another injury and both he and the Angels just might have to accept that his future lies as a position player.