11:20 am: DiGiovanna provides further updates on Simmons (via Twitter). The star shortstop has a bone bruise and left ankle sprain (in a different area of the ankle which sidelined him earlier in the season) and will be out “a least a couple of weeks,” according to manager Brad Ausmus.
10:36 am: Peña and Canning each have worrisome prognoses, DiGiovanna relays. Peña tore his ACL and is out for six to nine months, ending his season and putting his 2020 start in jeopardy. Canning, meanwhile, has inflammation in his throwing elbow. Fortunately, DiGiovanna adds that Canning’s UCL does not appear to be injured, so it seems he’ll avoid an especially serious absence.
9:38 am: The Angels have lost three key contributors, announcing the IL placements of Andrelton Simmons, Griffin Canning and Félix Peña, reports Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register (via Twitter). To replace that trio on the active roster, the club has recalled Wilfredo Tovar, Jared Walsh and Luke Bard, tweets Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times.
The news represents a devastating series of blows for the Halos, particularly the loss of the unmatchable Simmons. The defensive whiz was scratched from yesterday’s lineup with foot soreness, which has evidently proved more serious than initially hoped. It’ll be the second IL stint of the season for Simmons, who has otherwise put together a decent season. His .274/.315/.382 slash (88 wRC+) is unremarkable, but even that is reasonable when coupled with his otherworldly glove. Simmons also boasts one of the league’s lowest strikeout rates and had been a slightly above-average hitter over the past two seasons, so there was reason to believe he could offer even more offensively. That’ll be on hold for an undisclosed amount of time.
Peña left yesterday’s start with a sprained right knee, so it’s unsurprising to hear he’ll hit the shelf. He’s been serviceable in a swing role for the club this season, logging 96.1 innings with a 4.58 ERA. Peña’s strikeout, walk and ground ball rates are all solid but unremarkable.
The Canning news comes most surprisingly, as he just polished off a strong start against the Tigers Tuesday, although it explains the upcoming call-up of prospect Patrick Sandoval to start tomorrow night in his place. Canning, a former first-rounder, had some injury concerns as a draft prospect stemming from a heavy workload at UCLA, but his professional health record had been spotless until today. Regarded as a potential #3 starter as a prospect, Canning hasn’t been quite that good as a rookie but has nevertheless been dependable. Like Peña, Canning’s strikeout and walk numbers have hovered around average, although his 37.3% ground ball rate has led to some home run worries. Canning’s injury and prognosis aren’t yet clear.
Tovar is a utility infielder who can offer some shortstop assistance in Simmons’ absence. He’s never hit much, but he’ll be on hand to back up David Fletcher, who seems likely to handle the position in the near term. Walsh is a two-way player, a power bat who has raked in Triple-A this season and has come out of the Angel bullpen four times this year. He’s a uniquely versatile asset for the club. Bard, meanwhile, is a more traditional, fastball-slider reliever who’s been up-and-down during a challenging season.
I’m definitely not an Angels fan but it seems like Simmons gets injured quite a bit.
Pretty durable on the Braves. I think its just his playing style. He gives 100 all the time even when he (or the organization) should let up a bit
Another wasted year of Trout in his prime.
is that all you can say when injuries are the only reason? it tells a lot about you.
he chose to stay there
The moment he signed that extension this trope of Trout being wasted should have ended. He knew what the Angels are and he still decided to play there for the rest of his career. He’s happy and fine where he is.
besides, with all the prospects that are going to be in the bigs, angels future looks better. 2019 was not the year the team was planning to contend. young position players got some chances to prove and have played better than anyone expected.
This year has been filled with tragedy and so many injuries
please for the sake of everyone who plays on your team completely overhaul your medical, coordinating, and conditioning staffs
Should try and get the yankee medical staff.
at least the Yankees didnt have a terrible injury history entering this year. (in comparison, at least) probably from sharing the same city with Angels East
They hired a completely new team 2 season ago.
They tried that.
i always kinda root for the Angels to succeed, but man they just can’t seem to catch a break for whatever reason
It’s just part of being an Angels fan. Appreciate the support for the Halos!
I like Atlanta and hope you guys get a bit further this post season.
30 years ago people were Talking about a Angels curse Anaheim Stadium was built on Secret Indian burial ground players death like Nick Adenhart Tyler Skaggs Lyman Bostock Donnie Moore Preston Gomez getting hit by a truck at a gas station coming from New York Angels team bus crashes New Jersey Turnpike veers off the road tons of injuries it goes on and on
Attempts have been made to counter the curse. During a team slump in 1977, Dick Miller, a reporter for the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, called Louise Huebner, “head of the Magic Circle of 4,000 witches nationwide, the largest coven in America She gave Magic Circle medals to owner Gene Autry, general manager Dalton, and the players just before they played the Yankees on August 3.
The Angels won six straight games before Huebner had a change of heart, saying, “Some of the players were very insulting. I wasn’t too thrilled being involved with them. I felt I shouldn’t have used the energy of the Magic Circle, because the Angels were not sincere and honest. They didn’t participate or give anything back. I’m not Mary Poppins. I don’t have to help anybody. So I just pulled out. I put the Curse back on
what I recall back then some of the players were reluctant to wear The Medallion one player said I don’t want to mess around with voodoo
Solid.
wow, hope everyone comes back healthier and stronger!
Really want to know what happened to Griff. Hopefully it’s a workload precaution and just a good time to give him a breather.
Inflammation in his pitching elbow. Could be something, could be nothing. At least it wasn’t structural, but inflammation could be a sign of potential structural damage elsewhere in the arm.
That’s pretty damn concerning. I read a pretty amazing article about Nolan Ryan’s off-season workout program and when he started it. I’ll post it if anyone is interested in reading it. That man never got hurt.
Injuries have been the story with the Angels for years now. I think it might be time to take a serious look at how the org is handling conditioning and medical treatments with these guys, it’s too much of a trend at this point to be completely due to bad luck.
Simmons looked real bad when he hurt his ankle first time this year and ppl expected him to be out 6-8 weeks. He came back only a few weeks later, but that may have been a mistake, I wonder. Some people take themselves to be medical wonders who can beat prognoses all the time and that’s probably a mistake in the long run.
Canning was actually a second rounder: he was widely expected to be a first rounder, but wound up being available in the second round, due to, among other things, how much he pitched in college.
also, when the youngsters come up they want to impress and may over-exert themselves.
injuries just don’t stop.
This year has been lost since late May. The Halos haven’t been very competitive against the best teams in MLB (Dodgers excluded).
TheHalos have to be a bit aggressive on the pitching market this offseason, they do that and pair it with a healthy ohtani they have a strong enough contingent of position players to make a real run in 2020.
So, play the long game. Get everyone healthy for opening day 2020. That’s a better year for us.
Now I think my Halos non activity earlier in the week makes sense. This isn’t about “wasting Trout” or “how our medical staff sucks”. It is injuries are part of baseball. They made the right “non moves” in letting the season play out and keep your minor league players and youth and plan and hopefully build for a competitive 2020. With what the Astros have lost the last few seasons I feel our window is opening more and more each season. Hoping a quick and healthy recovery for all our players on the IL. Let’s just hope Trout gets his MVP award and then gets some damn starting pitching this off season….
Jared Walsh has come pretty far for a 39th round draft pick!
This team has one Star and a bunch of injured players
Two things…
BASEBALL GODS, please give the 2020 Angels the fewest days on the IL. We need a healthly season, it’s been awhile.
EPPLER/MORENO
Sign not 1 but 2 ALL-STAR caliber STARTING PITCHERS! You owe it to the fan base and greatest player in the planet to spend at or slightly above the luxury tax. You will easily recoup the additional spending in increased season ticket sales, jersey sales, concessions, parking, etc. Enough with the bandaid 1 yr signings of washed up players.
Can we get Simmons a new leg…
Hoping the Halos go all in on Gerrit Cole in the off-season. FA pitching signings the past few years have been a dumpster fire, starting with Joe Blanton and Tommy Hanson and continuing on with Lincecum and the rubbish they signed and DFA’d last off-season
I dont get the writers of this site. The player evaluations are wildly different. On one hand they will say a player putting up 88 wRC+ is decent, yet on another player they say wRC+ of 106 is avg or worse. Which is it?
A 106 wRC+ is objectively better than an 88 wRC+, of course. On O’Neill, my point was it’s difficult to imagine him sustaining those passable results unless he improves his approach. Simmons isn’t a great hitter, but he’s also maybe the best defender in baseball, so he doesn’t need to hit as well as a corner outfielder to be valuable.
Yogi says it’s not over til it’s over, but this season is over for LAA. expect to see some long losing streaks the rest of the season. will finish in last place at 70-92. it’s over Yogi.