Angels skipper Joe Maddon provided an update on the injury situations of shortstop Andrelton Simmons and starter/DH Shohei Ohtani. Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times was among those to cover the chat (Twitter links).
In the case of Simmons, who is nursing an ankle injury, he’s not going to be activated as soon as eligible. Fortunately, it isn’t as serious as the one he suffered last year, but there’s still some healing left to be done.
Simmons is “still pretty sore,” Maddon explains, and will likely not be back in the “real immediate future.” Maddon continued: “From what I read today, it’s progressing but not as quickly as it could.”
Meanwhile, tantalizing talent Shohei Ohtani is expected to be back in lineup tomorrow. That’s a consoling development after the recent news that he’ll be sidelined from mound work for the foreseeable future after suffering a forearm injury.
Ohtani, who didn’t pitch last year due to Tommy John surgery, spoke to media members including MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger (Twitter link) this evening. The injury isn’t that severe, by Ohtani’s reckoning, which at least seems to indicate he’s not at risk of another procedure.
When asked about the possibility of ultimately focusing only on one side of the game, Ohtani said he’d rather keep trying to do both. At the same time, he indicated he’d be open to considering that possibility if the team made such a request. It seems unlikely at this point that the Halos would forgo a chance to see Ohtani reemerge on the mound.
we can definitely stop hyping ohtani now.
above average hitter and pitcher when healthy ? yeah theres just so many of them out there .
You’re right. The “when healthy” part there is a lot of in baseball, though. Ohtani can be an above average hitter if he gives up pitching, but as long as he keeps thinking he can do both he’s going to struggle to live up to his potential on either end.
Explain the above average part, and please use MLB experience as the backup. We haven’t seen enough to know he is a “good pitcher”. The hitter in him seems great, but if he has arm injustices are we talking about a life long DH?
I don’t think so. If he can’t both pitch and DH, which I don’t believe is the case, he should be moved to the outfield or 1st base. I think he played RF in Japan.
I hear that – but is there room for him out there?
Is be willing to bet a ton of MLB players could be “above avg” hitters/position players and pitchers if they do choose, but they don’t because…well you become Ohtani (mediocre at both and great at nothing)
Huh?
modesto – “(mediocre at both and great at nothing)” Ohtani won Rookie of the Year by doing both really well in his MLB debut season. You don’t win that by being “mediocre at both and great at nothing” as you described him.
He won it by being the first player to do it in a long, long time. He pitched less than 60 innings. He did it well, but by no means can we take that small sample size and say a player is above average.
Thank you Johnny Superscout
151 OPS+ in his rookie year.
122 OPS+ last year.
132 OPS+ for his career.
Pretty good if you ask me. The big question when he first came to the Angels was if he was more valuable as a hitter or a pitcher. Hitter, hands down. More likely to stay healthy enough to make an impact.
Just because of injuries? That hardly seems fair.
There were a LOT of factors working against Ohtani the pitcher this year. Not only was he recovering from TJ, but he also had a knee procedure late last September so he wasn’t even able to start his offseason program until late Nov/early Dec. Then just when he got ramped up in March, the pandemic hit and he had to go back home for an unknown amount of time. That ended up being the rest of March, all of April, all of May, and all of June. Then they got the all-clear to ramp camp back up in early July, but he was expected to be ready for regular season action – after nearly 2 full years away – in just 3 weeks. And we’re surprised he hurt himself???
Anyone who is surprised by that has no clue what goes in to prepping for a season under normal circumstances, much less in this crazy season.
Ohtani will rest it for the next 6 weeks or so, then finally get into a normal offseason program in late Oct/early Nov. Then hopefully he’ll get a full 6-week spring training next season, then we’ll see what he can do on the mound in 2021.
If, after all that, if he is still not able to get close to what he was….then, and only then, should the Angels consider asking him to give up pitching.
Stop the hype if you want. I’m sure Ohtani could care less. So could I.
Brevity….please
I’ve said since he was posted, his body would never hold up and hed never live up to hype has a 2 way player in majors. Theres too much work that goes into being a good hitter or pitcher, either one to do both. And so far hes been above avg to good but not great at either. .280 avg and 20 Homer’s as a hitter is pretty good but it’s not gonna win a mvp award. And a 3.30 era isnt gonna win u any cy young awards. Very good numbers but not superstar numbers. But the cost of those numbers… hes missed 1/3 of games played as a hitter, and his body has managed to hold up for 12 games in 3 seasons. That’s not even gonna qualify u to be on stat lists. Hes 25 or 26 yrs old, those injuries r gonna become more severe, more frequent, and take longer to heal as he ages. And with him playing 2 ways, injuries cost u 2 players a sp and ur dh. Theres a reason clubs dont let players play 2 ways ft. Hes not gonna be the miracle man that can do it.
I think the most important question becomes whether both he and the team would benefit more from giving up one or the other. He has demonstrated he can do both, but it could shorten his career significantly.
Why? Maddon left him in way too long. Twice. Efficievly ruining his pitching career. Maddon does that alot.
And he’s being paid the league minimum.
No.
honeslty, as a fan… I am fine with Simmons walking. the bat is going downhill FAST! Fletcher on the rise!
as far as Ohtani , why not keep him as 2 way? if he hurts his arm he can still hit. and moving him to the bullpen imo wont work..what if hes DH, how will he warm up? focus on hitting and closing a close game or keeping it close ?
Plus, if Simmons walks there are some top SS going to FA in the next 2-3 years.
Simmons never matured as a hitter. Fletcher has been really good. Semien is available after this year, Lindor is a free agent after 2021. Let him walk
The halos adding free agents has been a complete failure.
Enjoy being behind the Ms
Maddon should be fired. 42 pitches in one inning for a guy fresh off TJ.
So, after leading the Cubs to their first world series win in like 300 years, Maddon should be fired after 11 games into his first season as Angels manager. That’s not worth a response…so I’ll stop responding.
A little extreme, but he brings up a great point. Why would you let him throw that many pitches in one inning, especially it being his second start back and his first start was already a disaster? Pitchers usually get yanked before reaching that many, in fact, I don’t remember the last time I’ve seen that many in an inning.
It can be argued that Maddon made a mistake leaving him in that long, but it was a judgement call made by a very experienced and successful manager. Based on his 8 pitch 1st inning, it was reasonable to see how it unfolded in the 2nd. I think he waited too long but I’m no expert, just a fan.
If I was fired for every mistake I’ve made on the job, I’d be unemployable.
I don’t know how you could even begin to argue that letting him throw 42 pitches in one inning wasn’t a mistake. Do you just let things unfold into he gets out of the inning?
Like I said, I think it was a mistake so I’m not arguing the point. Someone who knows baseball more than me might, although not convincingly most likely.
I’d like to hear that argument.
Me too.
Come on man…they Angel’s Great Hype Hope just back from TJ and you think Maddon wanted to see how the inning”unfolded”?
Come on Rocky – is your eye so swollen shut that you need Mick to cut you?
Like I said, I thought is was a mistake.
A lot of hyper-sensitive people on this thread.
You’re bitter over your team losing that much you exaggerate 3x the cubs drought. 90% of the indians fans weren’t even at Jacob’s Field until late July. Same thing happened with their win streak a few years ago. For at least half the games at home the stadium was half empty. Then when they got to 18 wins in a row they should up like A Flock of Seagulls
wrek305 – I was being sarcastic when I said 300 years. I thought maybe that would be obvious considering we’ve been an independent nation for only 244 years. I ran so far away.
Maddon only let him go that long because he didn’t want to put Lester into a dirty inning. He also had Chapman on a 500 pitch count so he couldn’t go to him too early.
Hebdircks was cruising along in game 7. He still put lester in a dirty inning. If Hendricks goes 7 Lester goes 1 and chapman closes it out there’s likely no drops and 20+million people don’t simotastously have a heart attack in the 8th.
Maddon’s biggest mistake. Putting Chapman in the game with a 6 run lead in game 6.
troll are just saying they’d thought their team would get ohtani. poor mamas’ basement dwellers!
dang, maddon has a gut the size of one single millet! be patient, old man!
Come on man…they Angel’s Great Hype Hope just back from TJ and you think Maddon wanted to see how the inning”unfolded”?
This thread is littered with really horrible, ignorant takes by folks who maybe saw Ohtani play once, maybe only reviewed his stats on BRef, and made an evaluation for the man’s future.
Players who return from UCL are known to have a host of issues—among them, learning to trust their body and their healed elbow with the replaced ligament. This is completely normal and quite common—remember the player who has undergone this procedure did so because of acute pain in the arm, and the body will instinctively work to prevent causing that pain again. The player needs to trust that he can return to form, and that usually requires time, sometimes as much as a year.
Anyone who truly has paid attention to Ohtani as a player and person understands he is a machine. He is constantly studying video of himself as a pitcher and a hitter, working for ways to improve. He participates in the bullpen routines of the pitchers, and takes his BP daily as a hitter. He follows the rituals of both roles, at the same time, and daily. It requires enormous focus and concentration, which is are two of his key characteristics.
What he is dealing with now is apparently a post-surgical complication which will need to be handled once this farce of a season concludes. But anyone who follows the game as a fan (not as a partisan) and observes his as a player knows he will return in the Spring with a renewed health and determination to take the mound once a week and clobber the ball 5 of the other days of that week.
His best days are still in front of him. Doubt him at your own risk of looking like a fool.
Screw it. No took the opportunity to say this.
“Simmons is old, he should’ve been outta the game years ago, but he can’t go home because he hates his wife”
Fletcher Reede