Finger injury ‘complicates’ potential Shohei Ohtani trade

For as historic of a season Shohei Ohtani is having, there has been a recent blip on the pitching side. Ohtani’s last three outings on the mound have resulted in him leaving due to a finger issue. Friday night against Houston was the latest example, going five innings while allowing five runs (four earned) and three walks while striking out seven.

Los Angeles found itself on the losing side once again, dipping a game under .500. Just 18 days away from the trade deadline, a move for Ohtani is looking more and more likely. The finger injury could play a factor though, especially since he would be considered a rental.

“It does complicate things,” Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic and FOX said. “If he is going to go on the injured list as a pitcher — actually as a player but because of his pitching situation — yeah, that would complicate things considerably.”

That’s if there is a trade coming from the Angels. Even with the recently losing slide, owner Arte Moreno has not fully signed off on moving Ohtani. I mean, who would want to be the guy who approved trading maybe the best player in baseball history?

“We’ve got to get to Point A to Point B first,” Rosenthal said. “That would be him becoming available. (The Angels) have lost 10 of 11, their playoff odds are down below 7%. If this slide keeps going, the pressure is going to mount on Arte Moreno to get this done. He is hanging on to a sliver of a chance that they might make the postseason with Ohtani… at some point, you have to face reality.”