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Matt Shoemaker

Shohei Ohtani Will Start For Angels On Sunday; Matt Shoemaker To Start Monday

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SEPT. 1: Shoemaker will start Monday in Texas, Maria Guardado of MLB.com reports.

AUG. 30: The Angels announced today that Shohei Ohtani will return to the mound on Sunday, as Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register was among those to report on Twitter. He had not thrown in the majors since being diagnosed with a grade 2 UCL sprain in early June.

In other news, the Halos have activated outfielder Justin Upton from the DL. And the organization called up backstop Jose Briceno to take the roster spot and role vacated by the just-dealt Bobby Wilson.

Additionally, the team indicated that right-hander Matt Shoemaker is nearing his own activation, as Fletcher further tweets. That’s another good bit of injury news for an organization that needs as many as it can get.

Ohtani, 24, has been active on the MLB roster in the meantime, of course. He was cleared to resume performing his services as a designated hitter prior to being ready to return to the hill. While continuing to post impressive numbers with the bat, the Japanese star has been building up his stamina in hopes of making it back into the rotation.

For the Halos, the late-season return of Ohtani as a pitcher won’t make up for the club’s intervening struggles. But his showing will certainly be important for the future. If the right-hander can return to full strength this year without issue, then he and the organization can go into the offseason feeling reasonably confident that he’ll be able to ramp up next spring and turn in a full 2019 season. If things go south, then more drastic scenarios may need to be considered.

It’s not an altogether different scenario for Shoemaker, who has only made one start to this point of the season and was limited to 14 outings last year. The 31-year-old, who’ll be eligible for his third of four potential trips through the arbitration process this fall, had been a solid rotation presence for the club in the prior three campaigns.

Injury Notes: Shoemaker, Cubs, Ozuna, Pineda, Villanueva

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Angels righty Matt Shoemaker underwent forearm surgery earlier this summer — an operation that repaired the pronator teres tendon and also decompressed a nerve in his right arm. While that sounded ominous and called the remainder of his season into question, Shoemaker has thrown a pair of simulated games recently and tells Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register that he’s aiming to return to the Angels in September. Shoemaker has been battling injuries for much of his career and has only pitched once in the Majors since last June. As he explains it, the tendon damage in his arm was not initially revealed on an MRI and was not detected during a 2017 operation because that surgery was performed a few inches away from the tendon damage. It took exploratory surgery for doctors to discover a “split tendon,” which Shoemaker believes to have been the root of his troubles.

Some more injury news from around the league…

  • The Cubs put Addison Russell on the disabled list today as a corresponding move for the activation of newly acquired Daniel Murphy. As MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat writes, the official announcement stated that a sprained left index finger was prompting the DL placement, but Russell has also been bothered by inflammation in his right shoulder. He’ll get some needed rest from the current DL stint, though there’s no indication that he’s expected to miss a prolonged period of time. There’s less certainty regarding closer Brandon Morrow, Muskat continues, explaining that the right-hander is headed for more tests on his ailing right biceps Friday and isn’t expected to return until September. Morrow has been sidelined since mid-July.
  • The Cardinals announced today that left fielder Marcell Ozuna has been placed on the disabled list due to inflammation in his right shoulder. It’s a tough loss for the Cards, even if it’s only an abbreviated stint, as Ozuna had hit safely in 22 of his past 27 games, batting a combined .315/.356/.532 with six homers, four doubles and a triple in that span of 118 plate appearances. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that Ozuna’s shoulder has been problematic dating all the way back to last season. The Cardinals were aware of the issue when trading for him, Goold writes, and the team has tried to limit Ozuna’s throwing outside of a game setting throughout the season in order to lessen the stress on said shoulder.
  • Michael Pineda is slated to make two more starts for the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate before joining the big league club in September, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports. Signed to a two-year, $10MM deal that pays him $8MM in 2019, Pineda is in the final stages of recovering from 2017 Tommy John surgery and is expected to be an important piece in Minnesota’s rotation next season. Manager Paul Molitor wouldn’t rule out giving Pineda a start or two in September but said he doesn’t plan to get him too stretched out. Berardino suggests that Pineda won’t top 75 pitches in any appearance this year.
  • Padres third baseman Christian Villanueva has been diagnosed with a fractured finger and is headed to the 10-day disabled list, tweets AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. Villanueva wasn’t in today’s lineup due to some swelling in his hand after taking a tough grounder yesterday, and further testing appears to have revealed the fracture. A corresponding move will be announced tomorrow. It’s not clear how long Villanueva will be out. The 27-year-old Villanueva has utterly demolished left-handed pitching this season, hitting at an absurd .336/.392/.736 clip with 14 home runs through 113 plate appearances when holding the platoon advantage. Unfortunately, he’s mustered a feeble .189/.255/.319 slash against right-handed opponents.

Injury Notes: Snell, Dickerson, Fowler, Williams, Skaggs

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As expected, the Rays have activated left-hander Blake Snell to start tonight’s game against the White Sox. The first-time All-Star will be on a limited pitch count following a two-week DL stint for left shoulder fatigue. Following a trade of Chris Archer to the Pirates, Snell looks like the only reliable starter in a Rays rotation that continues to see relievers open games more often than the starters themselves. Snell’s pre-injury performance, of course, was phenomenal; his 2.27 ERA would be more than a run lower than his career best season.

Here are a few other disabled list transactions from around the league…

  • Pirates outfielder Corey Dickerson has been activated after a short stint on the disabled list; he’d been sidelined with a left hamstring strain. They’ll surely be glad to have him back after the club traded away notable outfield depth in the form of Austin Meadows at the July 31st deadline. While he’s active, Dickerson won’t be starting today’s game against the Cardinals (though he’ll presumably be available off the bench).
  • As expected after last night’s news, Cardinals outfielder Dexter Fowler will hit the DL after suffering a fractured foot. Fowler’s enduring a miserable season that’s by far his career worst; he’s managed to hit an absolutely wretched .180/.278/.298 across 334 plate appearances while playing middling outfield defense. Fangraphs rates him as being 1.2 wins below replacement level on the season after a 2.5 fWAR debut with the Cards last year.
  • Switch-hitting relief pitcher Taylor Williams is headed to the DL with right elbow soreness. It’s certainly bad news for a Brewers bullpen that’s seeing Corey Knebel struggle mightily of late. Williams has tossed 42 2/3 relief innings and managed to strike out 10.43 batters per nine innings, though he’s only managed to keep the ball on the ground 34.8% of the time and has walked a batter nearly every other inning on average. Williams is in the midst of his first full season in the majors after a 4 2/3 inning cup of coffee last year.
  • Angels hurler Tyler Skaggs is headed to the disabled list with a left adductor strain, the club has announced. Skaggs has described the injury as “extremely frustrating”, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. He apparently sustained it during his last start. In his stead, the Angels have called up right-hander Taylor Cole. The Angels, of course, have already seen their rotation annihilated by injuries this year, with Garrett Richards, Shohei Ohtani, J.C. Ramirez and Matt Shoemaker among the affected starters.

Angels Notes: Calhoun, Cozart, Shoemaker

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A few notes from Anaheim…

  • The Angels have placed right fielder Kole Calhoun on the 10-day disabled list (retroactive to Friday) with a right oblique strain, per a team announcement. In corresponding moves, the club recalled infielder Kaleb Cowart and outfielder Michael Hermosillo and optioned right-hander Jaime Barria to Triple-A. The loss of Calhoun may be a positive development for the Angels’ offense, as the normally respectable hitter has opened his age-30 campaign with a hideous .145/.195/.179 line in 185 plate appearances. As a result, Calhoun easily ranks last among qualified hitters in wRC+ (3, compared to a career 104 mark). To Calhoun’s credit, he hasn’t allowed his offensive woes to carry into the field. He ranks first among outfielders in Ultimate Zone Rating (6.2) and 11th in Defensive Runs Saved (seven).
  • Third baseman Zack Cozart is dealing with a left forearm strain, per Avery Yang of MLB.com. Cozart underwent an MRI on Friday, though the results aren’t yet known. While Cozart doesn’t seem overly concerned about the injury, it has kept him off the field since May 29, and he’s not in the Angels’ lineup Saturday. Cozart, whom the Angels added on a three-year, $38MM contract in free agency, has begun his Halos tenure with a .232/.310/.395 line and five home runs in 216 trips to the plate.
  • The forearm surgery righty Matt Shoemaker underwent earlier this week was to repair a split tendon, Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times tweets. Shoemaker expects to resume throwing in six weeks, DiGiovanna adds, so it could be August before he factors in again in the majors – if he returns at all this season.

Matt Shoemaker Undergoes Forearm Surgery; Blake Wood To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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The Angels issued a pair of unpleasant health updates Tuesday, revealing that right-hander Blake Wood will require the second Tommy John surgery of his career. Meanwhile, right-hander Matt Shoemaker has already undergone forearm surgery — specifically, a nerve decompression and a pronator teres tendon repair. Wood, obviously, will be out the remainder of the 2018 season and a significant portion of the 2019 season. As for Shoemaker, the Angels merely announced that “additional information will be provided when appropriate.”

The outlook on Shoemaker looks to subtract a second rotation piece from the rotation for the foreseeable future. J.C. Ramirez has already undergone Tommy John surgery and won’t pitch again this season. For the time being, that leaves the Angels with a rotation mix of Shohei Ohtani, Garrett Richards, Tyler Skaggs, Andrew Heaney, Jaime Barria, Nick Tropeano and Parker Bridwell atop the depth chart. While those are certainly seven capable starters, there’s no shortage of recent injury issues among the group, either.

It’ll be the second straight season in which Shoemaker has undergone surgery to address a nerve issue in his forearm. While the righty has shown to be a plenty capable rotation arm at times in the big leagues — he logged a 3.80 ERA in 431 1/3 innings from 2014-16 — he’s never made more than 27 starts in a season and has never topped 160 innings as a Major Leaguer. While the Angels surely hope to see him return to the roster by season’s end, Shoemaker’s lack of durability makes it difficult to count on him for any meaningful contributions moving forward.

Wood, 32, joined the Angels via waiver claim last season and has posted a 3.77 ERA with 32 strikeouts against 11 walks in 28 2/3 innings out of the Halos’ bullpen. However, he landed on the DL with an elbow impingement late in April, which eventually prompted further testing and eventually revealed the UCL damage.

Now, with surgery to address that damage set for this Friday, it appears that the injury could ultimately spell the end of Wood’s time with the Angels. Wood entered the season with five years, 131 days of MLB service time, meaning he’ll be a free agent at season’s end. He’ll finish out the season on the 60-day DL, and while he could certainly return to the Halos on a minor league deal, he’ll also be able to gauge interest from all 30 clubs on the open market.

Injury Notes: Prado, Murphy/Goodwin, DeJong, Casilla, Trumbo, More

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It seems that Marlins infielder Martin Prado has suffered a rather significant left hamstring injury, as Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports. The 34-year-old has endured a run of significant problems with his hamstring muscles in the past year or so. Details aren’t yet known, but it certainly sounds as if Prado will be sidelined for a lengthy stretch. He’s owed $13.5MM this year and $15MM for the 2019 campaign. The long-productive infielder has struggled to a .169/.221/.180 batting line in 95 plate appearances on the season.

Here’s more on the injury front:

  • The Nationals finally got some promising injury news, as they’ll send both Daniel Murphy and Brian Goodwin on rehab assignments beginning tomorrow. Jon Heyman of Fan Rag tweeted the news with regard to the former; Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post tweeted manager Davey Martinez’s announcement on both players. Murphy has yet to appear in the 2018 campaign after offseason microfracture surgery, while Goodwin has been slow to return from a wrist injury.
  • It’s still unclear just how long the Cardinals will go without shortstop Paul DeJong, but he says he has been given a four-to-eight week estimate by the medical professionals, as Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. More than anything, it seems that broad range indicates that there’s not a lot of clarity at this point as to how long it’ll take to heal. All involved will obviously hope that it hues toward the earlier estimate, as the replacement options all have their warts as semi-regular shortstops.
  • It seems the Athletics will go without reliever Santiago Casilla for a stretch. He has been diagnosed with a shoulder strain, as MLB.com’s Jane Lee reports (Twitter links). Details of his anticipated absence are not yet available, but it’s said to be likely that Casilla will end up on the DL. At the same time, he says he does not believe it’s a serious malady. The veteran entered play today with an ugly 14:13 K/BB ratio, but had allowed eight runs on only 11 hits in his 21 innings of action.
  • Though he seemingly avoided a more concerning fate, Orioles slugger Mark Trumbo will likely head to the DL to rest his ailing right knee, as Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com was among those to report (Twitter links). Trumbo was diagnosed with a fairly significant case of arthritis, which won’t necessarily put him on the shelf for long but also probably isn’t the best news for a defensively limited player who’s owed $12.5MM this year and $13.5MM next. He has been productive thus far in 2018, though, with a .309/.317/.469 slash through 82 plate appearances. On the other hand, it’s somewhat worrisome that he has managed only a pair of home runs and a single walk in that span.
  • In other AL East news … so long as there are no surprises in the interim, Nate Eovaldi will finally start for the Rays on Tuesday, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. The Yankees announced that reliever Tommy Kahnle is back from the DL, which represents a promising development given the uncertainty that surrounded him when he went on the shelf. And while the Blue Jays still aren’t planning on a near-term return from Troy Tulowitzki, skipper John Gibbons says the veteran shortstop is at least ready to begin running, as Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca tweets.
  • While the Padres had hoped to welcome back catcher Austin Hedges in relatively short order, he’s now halting his rehab after his problematic right elbow flared up, as MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell writes. It still seems there’s little reason to fear that Hedges is dealing with a real structural problem, though surely it’s frustrating for the organization that he hasn’t yet fully turned the corner.
  • Meanwhile, the Angels provided an update on hurler Matt Shoemaker, though it mostly suggests ongoing uncertainty with regard to the root of his arm issues. As the club announced, and MLB.com’s Maria Guardado tweets, the latest examination “ruled out peripheral nerve involvement” but “showed mild edema in the forearm.” Shoemaker is also said to have undergone a bone scan. The results of that weren’t specifically cited, but it seems to suggest that the organization is looking at quite a lot of possibilities to figure out what’s really causing problems for the starter.

AL West Notes: Parker, Shoemaker, Rangers, Cook

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The Angels’ closer role has been something of a carousel all season, and just when it looked to be settling on Keynan Middleton, the 24-year-old righty was diagnosed with a UCL tear that required Tommy John surgery. As Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register notes, Blake Parker looks to be first up in line after recording a save last night and now rattling off nine consecutive scoreless innings. “It feels good to finally be back a little bit and command the zone better than I was early on,” said Parker of his recent run of success. Manager Mike Scioscia hasn’t yet re-tabbed Parker as the team’s closer, though given last night’s clean outing and his recent run of success, it seems likely that he’ll receive additional opportunities at the very least.

Fletcher also provides some health updates on Matt Shoemaker and Blake Wood, most notably reporting that Shoemaker played catch for the first time in two weeks yesterday and is headed for a followup visit with a nerve specialist today. Shoemaker was moved to the 60-day DL over the weekend when the Halos selected Ian Krol from Triple-A Salt Lake.

More from the division…

  • The Rangers are “open to anything” in terms of listening to trade offers, an exec from another club tells Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. That comes on the heels of last week’s report from Ken Rosenthal’s report that the team is telling clubs throughout the league that they’re willing to move veteran players. However, that official suggests that the Rangers will also be patient with their approach, telling Grant they’re “willing to wait to get what they deem is fair.” Grant examines several potential trade candidates in depth, specifically listing Adrian Beltre, Cole Hamels, Keone Kela, Mike Minor, Doug Fister and Jake Diekman as players that scouts figure to watch closely in the two months leading up to the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.
  • Corey Brock of The Athletic takes a look at Ryan Cook’s long road back to the Majors with the Mariners after missing two full seasons due to injury (subscription link). Once a dominant reliever in Oakland, Cook discusses a tumultuous career to date that has seen some notable highs (striking out Bryce Harper and David Wright in the 2012 All-Star Game) and some difficult lows. “The most humbling part was wondering if I could ever do it again,” said Cook, who has undergone both Tommy John surgery and ulnar nerve transposition surgery in recent years. “…Those days you come back from rehab and can’t even move your arm or feel your fingers and literally just looking at yourself in the mirror and wondering if it might be over.” Cook, it seems, certainly can do it again. He posted a 2.03 ERA with a 17-to-3 K/BB ratio in 13 1/3 innings of Triple-A ball this year and has already tossed two shutout innings since being selected to the MLB roster in Seattle. Manager Scott Servais, who has seen setup men Juan Nicasio and Nick Vincent struggle recently, said Cook will receive “plenty of opportunities” to re-establish himself as a high-quality ’pen option.

Injury Notes: Anderson, Lamb, Giants, Shoemaker

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The A’s announced this morning that Brett Anderson has been placed on the 10-day DL with a left shoulder strain. Anderson was removed from yesterday’s game before the second inning even began. He’d had an ugly showing so far this season at the MLB level, pitching to a 7.63 ERA with just eight strikeouts across four starts. As Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle notes, it’s the 11th time in the 30-year-old lefty’s career that he’s gone on the disabled list. Anderson has only pitched more than 100 innings once in the past eight seasons; it was a 2015 campaign with the Dodgers in which he worked to a 3.69 ERA and 3.94 FIP. In a corresponding move, the A’s have recalled Ryan Dull, who was technically optioned to Triple-A Nashville yesterday but never left Toronto.

Other injury notes from around baseball…

  • Yesterday, the Diamondbacks officially announced the activation of slugging third baseman Jake Lamb from the disabled list. After hitting the 10-day DL with a sprained right AC joint and subsequently having his return delayed by elbow tendinitis, has finally completed a rehab assignment and is ready to return. It’s a welcome sight for the Diamondbacks, who recently lost team WAR leader A.J. Pollock to the DL. They’ll hope Lamb can repeat the 30-homer power he showed last year and help propel an offense that currently ranks 27th of 30 MLB teams with a wRC+ of just 83.
  • Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports provides a pair Giants injury updates via Twitter. Joe Panik is reportedly doing well in his recovery from left thumb surgery, and could begin a rehab assignment as soon as the end of this month. Meanwhile, Mac Williamson served as a DH in Triple-A last night. None of the rehabbing Giants, however, will be called upon at the major league level for at least another week, a group that includes rookie Alen Hanson and veteran outfielder Hunter Pence.
  • There’s still no real answer to the nerve issue in Matt Shoemaker’s forearm, according to Jeff Miller of the Los Angeles Times. The Angels right-hander reportedly visited a specialist in St. Louis earlier this week, and the next move in his recovery isn’t quite clear at this time. The oft-injured Shoemaker landed on the DL after just one start this season; he allowed three earned runs in 5 2/3 innings while striking out four.

Quick Hits: Undrafted Free Agents, Urshela, Aledmys

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J.J. Cooper of Baseball America recently answered a question from a Twitter fan about undrafted free agents in MLB. It turns out that there were eight undrafted free agents on MLB rosters at the start of the year, and all eight of them were right-handed pitchers. Unlike football, where there are plenty of UDFA success stories, it’s exceedingly rare for a UDFA to produce significantly at the MLB level. Some outliers include Matt Shoemaker, Miguel Gonzalez, Darren O’Day and Kirby Yates. Of the UDFA’s currently in the majors on opening day, Tigers reliever Joe Jimenez (23 years old) and Rays pitcher Andrew Kittredge (28) are the only players below the age of 30. There are a few more fun facts in Cooper’s piece, making it well worth a full read.

Other items of note as the Tigers and Mariners prepare for a remarkably cold double-header…

  • The Blue Jays announced earlier today that they’ve activated infielder Gio Urshela and optioned outfielder Dalton Pompey to Triple-A Buffalo. Urshela, 26, was recently acquired for cash (or a player to be named later) after the Indians designated him for assignment earlier this month; he’d been on the DL since the start of the season. While acclaimed as somewhat of a defensive wizard, Urshela carries an anemic bat and has posted a wRC+ of just 57 throughout the course of his major-league career.
  • In other Blue Jays news, shortstop Aledmys Diaz has begun throwing, says Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca. He’s expected to begin hitting later this week. Diaz left last Sunday’s game after spraining his ankle, but it doesn’t appear as though the injury will keep him sidelined for much longer than the ten-day minimum at this point. Diaz was acquired from the Cardinals this offseason in exchange for outfielder J.B. Woodman; the shortstop has hit .216/.273/.431 so far with his new club.

Matt Shoemaker Shut Down Indefinitely

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Angels right-hander Matt Shoemaker has been shut down indefinitely after suffering a setback in his rehab from a forearm strain, he told reporters Thursday (Twitter link via Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times). Shoemaker is headed to see a nerve specialist in Missouri next week in an effort to better determine the cause of his discomfort.

“It’s extremely frustrating,” the right-hander said. “I’m pissed off. Everything felt great until I ramped up with bullpen on Sunday. Then the symptoms came back.”

The setback is the latest in an ongoing string of health issues for Shoemaker, who has pitched in just 83 1/3 innings dating back to Opening Day 2017. Shoemaker has had three separate trips to the disabled list in the past year due to forearm injuries and underwent surgery on his right forearm last August. A season prior, he was struck by a line-drive and suffered a skull fracture that ultimately required surgery to alleviate internal bleeding. As Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register explains, though, while both last year’s forearm injury and the current injury are nerve related, the current injury seems to be different than the one that plagued him in 2017.

It’s yet another tough loss for an Angels pitching staff that is currently without Nick Tropeano due to a shoulder injury and has seen J.C. Ramirez’s season cut short by Tommy John surgery. The Halos also lost righty Alex Meyer and lefty Nate Smith for the 2018 season long before it even began due to shoulder surgery (Sept. 2017 for Meyer, Jan. 2018 for Smith).

[Related: Los Angeles Angels depth chart]

Shohei Ohtani, Garrett Richards, Tyler Skaggs, Andrew Heaney and Jaime Barria are currently in the Angels’ rotation, with Parker Bridwell on the 40-man roster as a sixth option when necessary (though he’s currently in Triple-A). Former Reds lefty John Lamb is off to a nice start with their Triple-A club as he looks to put his injuries behind him, though he’s not on the 40-man roster.

The Angels already have one open spot on their 40-man roster, and at this point, Shoemaker has been on the disabled list for 40 days and clearly won’t be activated before hitting the 60-day mark. As such, the Angels should be able to make two depth adds whenever they see fit — be they internal or from outside the organization — by using their vacant spot and by transferring Shoemaker to the 60-day disabled list.

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