Angels Rumors

Injury Notes: Donaldson, Tropeano, Musgrove, Twins

By Steve Adams | May 2, 2018 at 11:38pm CDT

The Blue Jays announced tonight that third baseman Josh Donaldson will rejoin the club Thursday and is likely to be activated from the disabled list. A shoulder issue has kept the former AL MVP out of action since April 10, though he’s played in multiple minor league rehab games and appears to be back on track after experiencing some troubles throwing across the diamond earlier this season. The Jays have stayed afloat just fine in the absence of their best player, as they’re currently sporting a 17-13 record and right in the middle of the AL Wild Card mix a month into the season. Donaldson will have plenty riding on a healthy and productive return, as he’s set to hit free agency for the first time following the 2018 campaign.

Some other health-related notes from around the league…

Already being hit hard by the injury bug, the Angels took another punch on Wednesday, announcing that righty Nick Tropeano is headed to the 10-day DL with a shoulder issue. The good news for the Halos is that the injury appears minor, as Tropeano told reporters he’ll “100 percent” be ready to return after the 10-day minimum (Twitter link via Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register). As Tropeano explains, he’s not even planning to stop throwing and already played catch earlier today. The Angels, it seems, are merely acting with precaution after the righty felt some something slightly off in his shoulder.
Pirates righty Joe Musgrove threw 36 pitches in a rehab outing, writes Oliver Macklin of MLB.com, 29 of which went for strikes. Manager Clint Hurdle added that Musgrove threw his cutter, slider and changeup in the outing and demonstrated “firm” velocity on his fastball. Perhaps more notable is the fact that Hurdle confirmed that Musgrove will indeed be rejoining the Pirates’ rotation when he returns from the disabled list. That could be bad news for rookie Nick Kingham, who turned in one of the best debuts in recent MLB history when he flirted with a perfect game through more than six innings this past Sunday. Kingham is slated to start Friday for the Buccos, though Hurdle said in announcing that earlier this week that there was nothing guaranteed beyond that point. Speculatively speaking, right-hander Chad Kuhl has also struggled in 2018 (5.01 ERA, seven homers in 32 1/3 innings), so perhaps he could be bumped if Kingham impresses in his second big league start.
Byron Buxton has yet to progress to running since being diagnosed with a hairline fracture in his toe, writes MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger. Buxton sustained the injury when he fouled a ball into his foot during a rehab game in Fort Myers as he was working his way back from a bout with ongoing migraine headaches. He’ll rejoin the club on Friday but won’t necessarily be activated from the DL, Bollinger notes, as the team is debating whether he needs another rehab stint now that he’s been off for several weeks due to the foot injury. Bollinger adds that righty Trevor May, recovering from 2017 Tommy John surgery, tossed three innings and 46 pitches in an extended Spring Training game as he pushes his way toward readiness for a rehab assignment with the team’s Triple-A club.

Injury Notes: Middleton, Bumgarner, Mariners, Hedges, Orioles, Chirinos

By Steve Adams | May 1, 2018 at 6:12pm CDT

The Angels announced today that they’ve placed right-hander Keynan Middleton on the 10-day disabled list, retroactive to April 29, with inflammation in his right elbow. It’s not immediately clear how long the team expects Middleton to be sidelined, though the loss comes as a notable hit to the Halos’ bullpen. Middleton, 24, has handled much of the Angels’ closer responsibilities in 2018, saving six games while pitching to a 2.40 ERA with a 15-to-7 K/BB ratio in 15 innings of work. With Middleton on the shelf, Cam Bedrosian, Blake Parker and (especially) Jim Johnson have experience closing games out at the big league level, though Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register suggests that rookie Justin Anderson could step into the ninth inning spotlight (Twitter link). Eduardo Paredes has been recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake to take Middleton’s roster spot for now.

Some more injury news from around the league…

Giants manager Bruce Bochy told reporters today that Madison Bumgarner could begin throwing off a bullpen mound in a couple of weeks (Twitter link via Chris Haft of MLB.com). Bumgarner, of course, will need multiple bullpen sessions and some rest days between them before he can build up to the point where he’d be able to go out on a minor league rehab assignment. A mid-May target for bullpen sessions and, presumably, multiple outings in a rehab assignment would figure to put Bumgarner in line for a return at some point in June.
The Mariners announced today that both Dan Altavilla and Erasmo Ramirez are headed to the 10-day disabled list, with outfielder Guillermo Heredia and right-hander Casey Lawrence coming up from Triple-A Tacoma to take their spots. Altavilla, who has occupied a setup role for the M’s over the past couple of seasons, has inflammation in his right AC joint, whereas Ramirez will return to the DL with a Teres Major strain after only a brief activation period. Seattle didn’t provide timelines for either right-hander’s return, though Ramirez could be facing the longer recovery time of the two. Michael Pineda and Clayton Kershaw have both missed four-plus weeks in the past with similar injuries.
Catcher Austin Hedges has been placed on the 10-day DL with tendinitis in his right elbow, per a club announcement from the Padres, with Rafael Lopez coming up from Triple-A El Paso to fill his roster spot. The defensively sound Hedges has had another slow start to the season with the bat, hitting at just a .173/.235/.293 pace through 81 trips to the plate thus far. Veteran receiver A.J. Ellis figures to step up as San Diego’s primary backstop in Hedges’ absence. Lopez, 30, hit .222/.306/.463 in a career-high 63 PAs for the Blue Jays last season and is hitting .300/.372/.657 with a whopping seven homers through just 79 Triple-A PAs. He hit 12 homers in Triple-A last year through 223 PAs.
The Orioles announced that they’ve activated Mark Trumbo from the 10-day DL for his season debut, though they also had to place infielder Luis Sardinas on the DL in his place due to a strained lower back. Sardinas’ DL placement is retroactive to April 29, and defensive specialist Engelb Vielma is up from Triple-A to take over Sardinas’ infield duties for now. Pedro Alvarez’s resurgence at the plate could prompt Trumbo to see some time at the outfield in order to keep Alvarez in the lineup at designated hitter. Jace Peterson figures to get starts at second base until Jonathan Schoop returns.
Tampa Bay righty Yonny Chirinos has landed on the disabled list with a right forearm strain, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter links). The Rays have brought lefty Ryan Yarbrough back up from Triple-A Durham to take his spot on the roster. It’s not clear yet how long Chirinos will be expected to miss, though Topkin suggests that the organization doesn’t believe the injury to be serious. Chirinos had stepped up as the team’s de facto fourth starter following a series of injuries that initially led the Rays to open the season with three starters and a pair of bullpen days in place of a traditional five-man rotation. Yarbrough has been pitching in multi-inning relief stints with the Rays and could be looked at as a starting option himself in Chirinos’ absence.

Injury Updates: Ohtani, CarGo, Giants, Matz

By Mark Polishuk | April 29, 2018 at 11:50pm CDT

Here’s the latest on some injury situations from around the game…

Shohei Ohtani will be available as a DH for the Angels’ upcoming series against the Orioles (from Tuesday to Thursday) but his next start on the mound won’t be until next weekend in Seattle at the earliest, manager Mike Scioscia told MLB.com’s Maria Guardado and other reporters. Ohtani suffered a minor ankle injury while trying to beat out a grounder on Friday, and the team will hold Ohtani out of a scheduled start against the O’s in order to make sure the ankle is completely healed. Ohtani’s availability against Baltimore indicates that the injury isn’t too serious, though he wasn’t in the lineup on Saturday or Sunday.
Carlos Gonzalez is likely to be activated from the Rockies’ disabled list on Monday, the Athletic’s Nick Groke reports (Twitter link). Gonzalez was placed on the DL with a hamstring strain and was eligible to be activated today, so he’ll end up missing slightly more than the 10-day minimum. The veteran outfielder had managed only a .235/.264/.426 slash line over his first 72 PA of the season as Gonzalez tries to rebound from a disappointing 2017 campaign.
Some Giants DL updates are provided by The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly (on Twitter), who notes that Madison Bumgarner could be cleared on Tuesday to play catch, while Mark Melancon is now throwing from 90 feet as the closer continues his recovery from a bothersome pronator. More immediately, left-hander Will Smith is likely to be activated from the DL on Wednesday, making his return to MLB after missing all of 2017 recovering from Tommy John surgery.
The Mets will skip Steven Matz’s next turn in the rotation since the southpaw is dealing with some minor back stiffness. Rather than start on Tuesday as scheduled, Matz will instead pitch on Saturday. He told MLB.com’s Tim Powers and other reporters that he has dealt with the injury before and is “feeling good” following a bullpen session today, though he and the team are just being cautious to avoid a larger issue. No rotation replacement will be needed, as the Mets don’t play on Monday.

West Notes: Myers, Ohtani, Haniger, Puig

By Connor Byrne | April 28, 2018 at 11:12pm CDT

Padres outfielder Wil Myers exited the team’s game against the Mets on Saturday with a left oblique strain, according to an announcement from San Diego. The severity of the injury isn’t yet known, but oblique strains often require stints on the disabled list. Myers was already on the DL earlier this month (with a right arm injury), thereby limiting him to 40 plate appearances thus far in 2018. The Padres had a crowded outfield on their hands prior to Saturday’s game, as AJ Cassavell of MLB.com detailed at the time, with Myers, Manuel Margot, Franchy Cordero and Jose Pirela among their options. Pirela had been slated to see more time at second base as a result, but if Myers joins fellow Friars outfielder Hunter Renfroe on the DL, that plan could change.

Angels Return Luke Bard To Twins

By Jeff Todd | April 27, 2018 at 4:06pm CDT

The Angels have returned Rule 5 pick Luke Bard to the Twins, per a club announcement. The reliever had been designated for assignment recently.

Bard, 27, has long been viewed as a high-upside relief arm. But he had managed only a 5.40 ERA in his first 11 2/3 innings at the MLB level. While Bard carried 10.0 K/9 against 3.9 BB/9 in that span, he also coughed up four long balls.

As they compete for a postseason spot, the Halos will not be able to afford the luxury of carrying a Rule 5 player who will not be an immediate contributor. Evidently, the club did not feel he was going to a valuable enough performer to hold down a bullpen spot the rest of the way.

That’s good news for the Twins, who’ll be able to hold onto their former first-round pick without occupying a 40-man spot. They’ll send $50K to Los Angeles to reacquire his rights. It seems there’s still reason to hope that Bard can turn into a quality MLB asset. He’s certainly dedicated to his craft, as an excellent chat with David Laurila of Fangraphs from earlier this year demonstrates.

Blake Wood Diagnosed With Elbow Impingement

By Jeff Todd | April 23, 2018 at 4:38pm CDT

Angels righty Blake Wood has been diagnosed with an impingement in his pitching elbow, Jeff Fletcher of the Southern California News Group was among those to report on Twitter. Wood is heading to the 10-day DL.

Fellow righty Justin Anderson receiving his first call to the majors to take the open roster spot. The team had an open 40-man spot to accommodate the selection of his contract. Another right-handed reliever, Eduardo Paredes, is also heading back to the majors after some time on optional assignment.

The Halos added Wood late in the 2017 season and then agreed to an arbitration contract with him just before the tender deadline. He’s earning $1.45MM for the 2018 season.

Details of the injury aren’t yet known, but this sort of malady typically sidelines a pitcher for a fairly substantial stretch of time. To take but one recent example — which may or may no be of much predictive value — the Dodgers shut down Alex Wood for about a month when he was diagnosed with an elbow impingement back in 2016.

Wood, 32, has given the Angels 11 2/3 innings of 2.31 ERA ball thus far. While he has only managed 7.7 K/9 against 5.4 BB/9, he’s sporting a fairly typical 10.0% swinging-strike rate and 96 mph average fastball. Wood has also generated groundballs at an excellent 58.6% rate in the early going.

While the Angels would surely rather continue trotting Wood out there, turning to Anderson represents an interesting alternative. The 25-year-old has opened eyes in the upper minors after a strong showing in camp. Through 8 2/3 innings at the Double-A and Triple-A thus far in the regular season, he has racked up a 14:2 K/BB ratio while allowing just two hits and no earned runs. That’s certainly an intriguing development for a pitcher who, entering the season, had averaged less than seven strikeouts per nine as a professional.

Angels Designate Luke Bard

By Connor Byrne | April 21, 2018 at 5:02pm CDT

The Angels have designated right-hander Luke Bard for assignment, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times tweets. Bard’s roster spot will go to fellow righty Eduardo Paredes, whom the team recalled from Triple-A, per Maria Guardado of MLB.com.

The 27-year-old Bard joined the Angels last December as a Rule 5 pick from the Twins, who will have a chance to get Bard back for $50K if he goes through waivers unclaimed. If a team does claim Bard, it’ll need to keep him on its 25-man roster or risk losing him to waivers.

Bard, whom Minnesota chose in the first round of the 2012 draft, brings both an impressive minor league track record and an intriguing fastball to the table. He hasn’t yet pitched at the Triple-A level, though he carries a 3.09 ERA with 12.1 K/9 against 3.8 BB/9 in 67 Double-A innings. Bard wasn’t able to replicate that success with the Angels early this season, though, as he pitched to a 5.40 ERA despite solid strikeout and walk rates (10.03 K/9, 3.86 BB/9) across 11 2/3 frames.

Injury Notes: Zobrist, Despaigne, Ohtani

By Kyle Downing | April 21, 2018 at 9:24am CDT

Ben Zobrist says he’s headed to the DL to tend to a minor back injury, via Jesse Rogers of ESPN. There doesn’t seem to be any serious concern, but Zobrist has missed the past few games due to the injury, so the Cubs appear to be proceeding with caution. They’ll be able to make the move retroactive by a few days, so it seems unlikely he’ll be out for very long. The versatile Zobrist is in the third year of a four-year, $56MM contract with Chicago. He’s certainly off to an impressive start; in 49 plate appearances so far this season, the veteran has hit .326/.408/.465 with more walks (six) than strikeouts (5). For the time being, players like Kyle Schwarber, Albert Almora Jr. and Ian Happ will likely continue to get an extra game here and there to plug the gaps created by Zobrist’s absence

A pair of additional injury notes elsewhere in MLB…

The Marlins officially placed 31-year-old righty Odrisamer Despaigne on the DL last night (along with fellow reliever Chris O’Grady), as we noted in our daily roster roundup. The reason was a strained forearm, which is always a concerning injury when it comes to pitchers. According to Joe Frisaro of MLB.com, Despaigne had the following to say about his injury: “I first felt it tight when I was warming up in the bullpen. I tried to keep going with it. When the game started, it’s when I started to feel the pain.” For the Marlins, it’s yet another development that thins out an already-shaky pitching staff.
Two-way Angels phenom Shohei Ohtani appears to be making progress in regards to his blister issues. Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register tweets that Ohtani feels his blister is “recovering”, and that he’s on schedule to make a start on Tuesday in Houston. Fletcher also notes that Ohtani worked with pitching coach Charlie Nagy in a bullpen session, and came away with some things he can use (presumably to prevent a re-aggravation of the injury).

Injury Notes: Kahnle, Drury, Shoemaker, Goodwin, Rendon, Burnette

By Jeff Todd | April 17, 2018 at 9:20pm CDT

As expected, Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo was activated from the DL after a minimal time away from the team. But plenty of other players are still hurting, so we’ll take a spin around the league to catch up on the latest injury news of note:

Yankees righty Tommy Kahnle is heading to the DL with shoulder tendinitis, as MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch reports. While the hope is there isn’t any kind of long-term problem at play, Kahnle has stumbled out of the gates in 2018. The 28-year-old, who turned in a breakout 2017 campaign, has not only been wild — a worrying turn for a pitcher with a history of control problems — but has lost about two-and-a-half ticks from his average fastball. Kahnle is still inducing plenty of whiffs, though, so perhaps a respite will allow him to get back to form.
In other Yankees-related injury news, third bagger Brandon Drury discussed the headache and vision problems he has been battling with reporters including ESPN.com’s Coley Harvey. The recent trade acquisition says he’s looking forward to finally figuring out what is causing the long-standing problem. While awaiting further information, Drury is beginning to perform some baseball activities. It still isn’t clear just when he can be expected to return. Meanwhile, outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury has yet another injury issue to deal with, as Lindsey Adler of The Athletic recently tweeted.
Things are looking up for Angels righty Matt Shoemaker, as Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times tweets. He’s hoping to begin throwing in relatively short order after experiencing “drastic improvement” in the nerve issue that has planted him on the DL. The Halos will certainly hope that Shoemaker can make steady progress once his rest period is over. Presumably, though, he’ll be given a long ramp given his injury history and the fact that he’ll have been down for some time.
The Nationals have made another DL placement as the organization continues to deal with a barrage of position-player injuries. As Byron Kerr of MASNsports.com reports, Brian Goodwin’s sore wrist has forced him onto the shelf. The expectation, though, is that it’ll be a short stint. Andrew Stevenson will replace him for the time being. In more hopeful news, skipper Dave Martinez says that third baseman Anthony Rendon is making steady progress from a toe injury suffered on a foul tip. That’s certainly good news for the Nats, who are currently going without several of their best players.
Rangers reliever Tony Barnette has been placed on the 10-day DL with what the team is calling right shoulder inflammation. His open roster spot will go to outfielder Ryan Rua, who was just optioned down but can come back before the usual ten-day minimum stay since he’s replacing an injured player. Barnette has endured a few minor maladies early in the year and has only appeared in two games thus far.

AL West Notes: Ohtani, Profar, Cahill, Mariners

By Steve Adams | April 17, 2018 at 11:05am CDT

Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register runs through a number of factors that could contribute to the remarkable discrepancy between Shohei Ohtani’s uninspiring spring performance and his dominance on both sides of the ball during the regular season. Meanwhile, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic highlights (subscription link) Ohtani’s ravenous consumption of data and analytics that the Angels are providing him and his ability to make unnaturally quick adjustments. Veterans Ian Kinsler and Chris Young marveled to both Fletcher and Rosenthal about Ohtani’s work ethic and adaptability, while hitting coach Eric Hinske praised his willingness to ditch a leg kick he had long utilized at the plate in an effort to make his swing more efficient. Pitching coach Charles Nagy and catcher Martin Maldonado also weighed in on the way in which Ohtani has quickly adapted to his new environs while taking MLB by storm.

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