What happened to Shohei Ohtani? Angels phenom exits game vs Tigers early

Amid what is one of the best single-day performances in MLB history, Shohei Ohtani appears to have grabbed at his side in pain. After he ran the bases on Thursday against the Detroit Tigers, he went straight down the tunnel into the clubhouse, before returning to the dugout.

Considering he just pitched a complete game shutout and hit two home runs, it could simply be fatigue.

At what should have been his next at-bat in the game, the Angels sent up Michael Stefanic in his place. With a lopsided score in the Angels' favor, paired with Ohtani appearing to be in pain, pulling him made sense.

The hope is that this pain was caused primarily by fatigue, and not an indication of a more serious injury.

Talkin' Baseball shared footage of Ohtani grimacing in pain after his homer on Twitter:

"After hitting his second home run Shohei appeared to grab his side and went up the tunnel after returning to the dugout" - Talkin' Baseball

The Angels confirmed on Twitter that Ohtani left the game with cramping, which points to fatigue as a cause:

"Shohei Ohtani was removed from today’s game due to cramping" - Angels

It has been such an incredible day for Shohei Ohtani, and this is an anti-climactic ending fans were not hoping for.

The Los Angeles Angels' decision not to trade Shohei Ohtani has already been vindicated

Ohtani continues to set the MLB world on fire, having a historic day against the Tigers. He played like the best pitcher and best hitter in the league within about six hours.

That is a virtually unheard-of feat in modern baseball. Keeping Ohtani on the roster instead of adding prospects that may or may not work out seems to have been the right move by the Angels.

They are going all-in on the 2023 season and their playoff chances are the best they have been in years.