Aug. 8: Shoemaker’s operation went as expected, and the team expects him to be ready the 2018 season, tweets Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register.
Aug. 6: Angels right-hander Matt Shoemaker will undergo surgery Tuesday to release the radial nerve in his right forearm, the team announced (via Twitter). The usual recovery timeline for such a procedure is an estimated 12-14 weeks, so Shoemaker will miss the rest of the 2017 season.
Shoemaker hit the disabled list in mid-June with a strained extensor muscle in his right forearm. While initially considered to be less serious than most forearm-related injuries, Shoemaker suffered a setback in his rehab process and was diagnosed with posterior interosseous nerve syndrome last month. The Angels announced on Friday that Shoemaker was considering surgery to correct the problem.
In 77 2/3 innings for the Angels this season, Shoemaker posted a 4.52 ERA, 2.46 K/BB rate and 8.0 K/9. He suffered increases in his walk rate (3.2 BB/9, up from his career 1.9 BB/9 prior to 2017) and hard-hit ball rate (36.2%, above his 31.5% career rate), though perhaps most importantly for the injury-ravaged Angels staff, Shoemaker was still able to serve as a capable innings-eater prior to his own DL stint. It was good seeing Shoemaker back on the mound at all, given that his 2016 season was prematurely ended after the righty suffered a skull fracture and a hematoma after being hit in the head by a Kyle Seager line drive on September 4.
Despite the pitching injuries and a general lack of offense beyond Mike Trout and Andrelton Simmons, the Halos have nevertheless stuck around in the AL wild card race. The team is sitting three games behind the Royals for the last wild card slot, albeit with a 55-57 record. It may still be a tall order for L.A. to leapfrog the pack within the crowded American League, though the Angels still get some late-season rotation reinforcements in the form of Andrew Heaney, Tyler Skaggs and potentially Garrett Richards.
Rip Angels postseason
Uh, it was RIP in May
Let’s not speak ill of the dead, guys
Uh, 2 GB. 😉
Baltimore, Cincy and the Angels have no luck when it comes to developing young pitching, which doesn’t get devastated by injuries or just becomes terrible
Arrieta, Cueto, Lackey?
Good post.
Bummer. What a great guy. I hope he will have a strong 2018.
Yep the guy sucks and he blames his arm and claims to need surgery even tho the team says no. What a joke. His contract should be voided.
Who are you to be making any sort of claims?
Lmao ^
your comment is a joke. Stop trolling and grow up
Hahahaha yes pitchers go under the knife to go under the knife. Common sense eludes some.
Okay…. Just another weak Angels pitcher.
Okay…Just another witless comment.
Ummmmm have you seen the Angels DL when it comes to starting pitching the past few years? Facts are facts, was not looking to upset you.
Weak was a poor word to use
Skaggs, Tropeano, and Heaney all came up through different farm systems.
Richards, Heaney, Tropeano, and Shoemaker were in college programs before they were drafted to MLB.
Little commonality in their development, and not all the injuries are the same. So where do you get “weak” as a descriptive? This would have much more to do with coincidence than causality, and be emblematic of the rising number of arm injuries in this generation of pitchers.
Have you seen the the DL all around MLB? It’s been filled with starting pitchers. That’s a big reason there are so many .500 teams fighting for a playoff spot in the AL.
It’s pretty sad how badly the Angels have been bitten by this. 10 years ago they were bringing up a similar young rotation that was so cheap it allowed them to balance their high payroll out enough to keep a deep roster and make the playoffs. You could say that if their rotation was healthy they would’ve never acquired Ricky Nolasco, and would’ve used that money towards a bat. That’s all with the big contracts of Albert and Hamilton. The Angels pulled off their playoff appearances in those days with a payroll that was $60 million dollars less.
Goodnight sweet prince.
Hats off to the Halos who have proven to be a very tough team in ’17 despite injury setbacks and soft spots on the roster. LAA has def exceeded my expectations this season.
Even if they don’t win a WC, this should be considered a successful season for them considering what happened last season.