Report: Angels' Ohtani dealing with UCL sprain in pitching elbow

Shohei Ohtani, the Japanese phenom who signed with the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, is dealing with a first-degree sprain of his right ulnar collateral ligament and received a platelet-rich plasma injection in October to try to alleviate the discomfort in his pitching elbow, according to a recent physical obtained by Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports.

Ohtani, who could be a candidate for reconstructive Tommy John surgery were he to further damage his UCL, also has a "small free body" floating in his elbow near the affected ligament, according to the Nov. 28 report - which was distributed to MLB clubs when Ohtani was posted by the Nippon-Ham Fighters.

Still, the Angels were undeterred, spending $22.3 million to sign the two-way phenom - $20 million of which went to Ohtani's erstwhile Japanese club - despite being fully aware of his elbow woes.

"Shohei underwent a thorough physical with MRI scans to both his elbow and his shoulder," Angels general manager Billy Eppler told Passan on Tuesday night. "Those are scans we conduct whenever we sign a pitcher. Based on the readings of those MRIs, there are not signs of acute trauma in the elbow. It looks consistent with players his age. We are pleased with the results of the physical and we are very happy to have the player."

Ohtani, whose fastball has been clocked at 102 miles per hour, didn't pitch much in 2017 due to hamstring and ankle problems, making just five starts for Nippon-Ham. When he did take the mound, though, the 23-year-old was dominant, managing a 3.20 ERA and 1.26 WHIP with a 27.6 percent strikeout rate over 25 1/3 innings.