When a pitcher has a UCL injury, teams usually don’t see them on the playing field for a while. Los Angeles Angels ace Shohei Ohtani is not like other pitchers, though. Even though the possibility exists that he won’t take the mound again for a long time, he's still providing value as the designated hitter.

Ohtani recently felt cramping in his arm but decided against a deeper look into it, Angels general manager Perry Minasian revealed recently. The Angels superstar's torn right UCL will put his excellent pitching season to a premature end. But he's still producing at the plate thanks in part to his development over the years.

Jeremy Reed, the Angels' hitting coach from 2018 to 2022, told Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic that Ohtani has grown a lot and that he could very well put up even more staggering home run totals despite his UCL issue.

“I really believe in my heart it makes him better to do both,” the former Angels coach said, via The Athletic. “(But) I have a completely different perspective on him now. This guy is a totally different player. He is relentless with getting better. He has tightened up some holes…He understands what people are trying to do to him. That’s not mechanical stuff. That’s more just him growing in the game. The maturity he has in his at-bats now have shown that the guy could hit 50-60 home runs year in and year out. I don’t think he’ll slow down. I don’t think this will put a hindrance on his offensive production one bit.”

Ohtani suffered the UCL tear in the first game of a double-header. He hit a double in the second game and has continued to be effective at the plate. In the following three-game series against the New York Mets, he ended the series on a dud but dominated in the first two games (both Angels wins) by walking five times and recording two doubles, a triple, three runs and one RBI — and one broken display board.

The 50-homer threshold is not a far-fetched goal for Shohei Ohtani, who hit 46 home runs in 2021 and has 44 this season with a heightened home-run percentage. The Angels may decide to rest him down the stretch in the almost certain event that they are eliminated from the postseason, costing him the chance at a 50-home run campaign. But he should have plenty of chances to hit the half-century mark in longballs in a season.