[Seven]

Originally Posted by packs

I don’t know what Tanaka did but he also had a UCL issue and opted not to do surgery. Somehow he managed to be a kind of work horse for the Yankees anyway. I think they found the tear his first year over here too. Maybe there’s an option like that for Ohtani.

I think it had to do with the nature of Tanaka's tear, where it was located and the rehab work he did around it.

I will also say, that there is zero guarantee that Ohtani is a Hall of Famer. He needs to continue to put up the production on the offensive side of the baseball. I don't think Starting Pitching is a realistic, long term option. Maybe he might be able to compete as a high leverage reliever or closer, but this is his second UCL tear, the body can't handle this much strain. He is human, afterall.