The Angels announced that catcher Max Stassi underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left hip. He should take around four to six months to recover from the procedure.
Considering the timeline for Stassi’s surgery, it’s possible the Angels won’t have him for at least the early part of next season. That would be a blow for the team, as Stassi was its primary option at the position in 2020 and performed well in the role. While the defense-first Stassi typically hasn’t offered much offensively, he did slash .278/.352/.533 with seven home runs in 105 trips to the plate this year.
Stassi’s absence would leave the Angels with Anthony Bemboom as the No. 1 option on their roster, but it’s possible they’ll look elsewhere for help during the winter. Jason Castro’s a pending free agent, and he spent the first part of 2020 on the Angels’ roster before they traded him to the Padres at the end of August. If the Angels want to aim higher, though, J.T. Realmuto and James McCann are also scheduled to hit the open market. It also seems possible the Yankees will part with Gary Sanchez in a trade, so the Angels could inquire about his availability.
One of the breakouts no one is talking about. Angels were open about seeing something in his swing they wanted to fix when they traded for him last year. He was fantastic offensively all year. With his solid defense, if he can keep hitting, he’d be a very valuable player.
Yup. He’s the catcher of the future. Next question.
He had such a good year, too. Even with a bit of a dip offensively he’s still a solid player thanks to his defense.
This is two hip surgeries, though.
I’m always skeptical when someone goes from horrible hitter to a good hitter.
I wouldn’t count on him repeating.
So am I unless there is a documented change in their swing or an obvious change in their batted ball profile. In Stassi’s case both are true.
Two months is not enough time for me to say a swing approach is working.
Stassi hit 364 in Aug, 206 in July, and 311 in September.
So he went back to his old swing in Aug?
Thinking Stassi is a ‘done deal’ is pretty darn optimistic.
More concerned about the surgery although it was an incredibly small sample size. And as for Sanchez, I’m hoping he’s not mentioned in every catching article discussing a team’s need. NO ONE is trading for him. Makes no sense.
Fair enough. Extremely SSS of course, but as a baseball fan, I hope he can repeat it. Always cool to see guys who are terrible offensively just figure it out.
i doubt he repeats. terrible track record
Can he pitch?
He can! I think he has a career 0 era (over 2 innings).
Thais for Sanchez
This sucks. When the Angels got him in 2019, he was a complete dead weight on the roster. This season, he turned into a competent hitter. Not spectacular, but a huge improvement over where he was. Hope he comes all the way back.
Bring back Jeff Mathis
Sorry, that was sarcasm