Headlines

  • Jose Altuve To Miss About Two Months Due To Thumb Surgery
  • Rockies Sign Jurickson Profar
  • Braves Option Vaughn Grissom, Braden Shewmake
  • Jose Altuve Leaves WBC Game After Hit By Pitch
  • Edwin Diaz Undergoes Surgery To Repair Patellar Tendon
  • Out Of Options 2023
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2022-23 MLB Free Agent List
    • Top 50 Free Agents
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2023
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Arbitration Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Luis Valbuena To Miss 4-6 Weeks Due To Hamstring Strain

By Mark Polishuk | March 23, 2017 at 5:15pm CDT

The Angels will be without Luis Valbuena for an estimated 4-6 weeks after the first baseman suffered a Grade 1 strain in his right hamstring, the club announced.  Valbuena suffered the injury yesterday, forcing him to leave a Spring Training game.

Valbuena was signed to a two-year, $15MM contract in January and slated to get the bulk of playing time at first base for the Halos.  C.J. Cron will handle first base in Valbuena’s absence, with Jefry Marte in line to pick up some at-bats against right-handed pitching.  Albert Pujols underwent foot surgery in December and will only be limited to DH duty in the near future — fears that Pujols could miss the start of the season have seemingly been allayed, since Pujols has been playing regularly since March 10 and hitting very well.

[Updated Angels depth chart at Roster Resource]

While a Grade 1 is the least-serious type of hamstring strain, the injury is still quite troubling given that Valbuena underwent surgery on this same hamstring last August while still a member of the Astros.  It’s worth noting that Valbuena originally hit the DL with that injury in late July and missed almost a month before having to undergo his season-ending surgery, so it’s clear that the Angels will be quite cautious in order to prevent more lingering issues.  The Angels don’t really have anywhere else to put Valbuena besides first base since Pujols looks to be locked into the DH role.

Valbuena, 31, has hit .243/.334/.442 with 54 homers in 1382 PA for the Cubs and Astros since the start of the 2014 season, including a .260/.357/.459 slash line and 16 big flies over 342 PA for Houston in 2016.  Valbuena has hit right-handed pitching much better than southpaws over that stretch, so Cron would’ve likely been in line anyway for a good chunk of playing time when the Angels faced a left-handed starter.  There was some trade buzz around Cron earlier this winter in the wake of Valbuena’s signing, though if Valbuena’s hamstring will be an ongoing issue, there seems virtually no chance Cron will be moved.

Share 0 Retweet 4 Send via email0

Los Angeles Angels Luis Valbuena

Giants Release Gordon Beckham
Main
Heyman’s Latest: Odor, Baker, Robertson, Bucs, M’s, Alvarez, Marlins, Pagan, Twins, Santana, Gentry
View Comments (7)

Comments

  1. lovableschmuck

    6 years ago

    The ceremonial first injury of the year for the Angels.More to follow.

    Reply
    • angels fan

      6 years ago

      Huston street was first

      Reply
  2. markb

    6 years ago

    Very true, It’s the curse 2002 was supposed to break.

    Reply
  3. halofan20

    6 years ago

    Soooooo here we go again.

    Reply
  4. srdiaz1972

    6 years ago

    Jesus you guys have some faith. Every team has injuries. Pujols is ahead of schedule and Cron is doing just fine…..

    Reply
    • angels fan

      6 years ago

      I have faith

      Reply
  5. Will McLaren

    6 years ago

    Valbuena has looked pretty awful in Spring Training so far so I hope it was his injury factoring in. He definitely looked like he came up lame after grounding into a double play in his last AB today

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.
Log in Register

ad: 300x250_1_MLB

    Top Stories

    Jose Altuve To Miss About Two Months Due To Thumb Surgery

    Rockies Sign Jurickson Profar

    Braves Option Vaughn Grissom, Braden Shewmake

    Jose Altuve Leaves WBC Game After Hit By Pitch

    Edwin Diaz Undergoes Surgery To Repair Patellar Tendon

    Out Of Options 2023

    Cade Cavalli To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Edwin Diaz Helped Off Field With Right Knee Injury

    José Quintana Out Until At Least July Due To Rib Surgery

    Trevor Bauer Signs With NPB’s Yokohama DeNA BayStars

    Craig Stammen “Highly Unlikely” To Pitch Again Following Shoulder Injury

    Diamondbacks, Corbin Carroll Agree To Eight-Year Deal

    Nationals Sign Keibert Ruiz To Eight-Year Extension

    Rockies Showing Interest In Jurickson Profar

    Andrew Painter Diagnosed With UCL Sprain; Ranger Suarez Dealing With Forearm Tightness

    Marlins, Jose Iglesias Agree To Minor League Contract

    Marlins In Agreement With Yuli Gurriel On Minor League Deal

    Carlos Rodon, Tommy Kahnle, Lou Trivino To Begin Season On IL

    Mitch Moreland Announces Retirement

    Astros Facing Gaps In Extension Talks With Kyle Tucker, Framber Valdez

    Recent

    Ranger Suarez Still Dealing With Elbow Inflammation, Could Open Season On Injured List

    Jorge Polanco, Alex Kirilloff To Start Season On Injured List

    Veterans With Upcoming Opt-Outs On Minor League Deals

    MLBTR Chat Transcript

    Ryan Lavarnway Announces Retirement

    Offseason In Review: Chicago Cubs

    Offseason Review Chat Transcript: Los Angeles Dodgers

    Jose Altuve To Miss About Two Months Due To Thumb Surgery

    MLB Makes Minor Tweaks To 2023 Rule Changes

    Royals Option Nick Pratto, Maikel Garcia

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Offseason Outlook Series
    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Go Ad-Free
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2023
    • 2022-23 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2023-24 MLB Free Agent List
    • MLB Player Chats
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    ad: 160x600_MLB

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • Feeds by Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top
    Close

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version