ANAHEIM, Calif. _ Shohei Ohtani's two-way experiment is on pause for the rest of the year.
The Angels star was diagnosed this week with a forearm injury _ specifically, a grade 1-2 sprain of the flexor pronator mass in his right arm. He won't be able to throw again for at least four weeks. Ramping up to pitch will take additional time.
So Ohtani, manager Joe Maddon said Tuesday, will only play as the Angels' designated hitter going forward. With roughly eight weeks remaining in the season, Maddon doesn't anticipate Ohtani recovering in time to pitch again in 2020.
"It's very nebulous," Maddon said when asked to estimate Ohtani's return to the mound. "I don't have any projection on that other than he's not going to pitch this year."
Maddon said there is still hope Ohtani, who has now had two arm injuries debuting in MLB in 2018, will return as a two-way player in the future.
"I'm saying that he can," Maddon said. "From what I've seen, I believe that he can. We just got to get past the arm maladies and figure that out specifically, but I've seen it. He's such a high-end arm.
"Maybe he might get to the point where he may choose to want to do one thing over the other and just express that to us. I know he likes to hit. As of right now, in my mind's eye, he's still going to be able to do this."
Ohtani wasn't in Tuesday's lineup because of soreness in his pitching arm.
