The Angels placed right-hander Sam Bachman on the 15-day injured list today due to thoracic outlet syndrome, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. The righty himself said he doesn’t need surgery and is hoping to avoid the 60-day IL, per Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com.
Thoracic outlet syndrome is a potentially ominous diagnosis but it’s also one that comes with a wide range of outcomes. In some of the more infamous cases, pitchers like Matt Harvey, Chris Archer and Stephen Strasburg were severely set back by the condition and never able to recover, though each of those pitchers did require surgery.
On the other end of the spectrum, Merrill Kelly underwent surgery towards the end of the 2020 season. He has since gone on to have the best seasons of his MLB career, tossing 609 2/3 innings with a 3.71 earned run average from 2021 to 2024. For those interested in a medical explanation about why the results can be so divergent, Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post took a look a couple of years ago.
At this point, it can only be guessed what the future holds for Bachman. The fact that he isn’t currently undergoing surgery is perhaps a good sign, though it will be a situation for the Angels and their fans to monitor.
Bachman, now 25, was the ninth overall pick of the 2021 draft. The Halos gave him a $3,847,500 bonus to put pen to paper. Despite some injuries in the minors, he was up in the majors by May of 2023 but hasn’t been able to build much of a track record due to further health troubles. In July of 2023, shortly after his promotion, he landed on the IL due to right shoulder inflammation and stayed on the shelf for the rest of the year. He underwent arthroscopic surgery in the fall and started 2024 on the IL as well. He was reinstated in the summer but sent to the minors.
It’s now been almost four years since Bachman was drafted but he hasn’t been healthy very often since then. He has just 146 minor league innings and only 17 major league innings under his belt to this point. He now has another serious diagnosis to deal with.
Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images
Not good, looking like it was a busted 1st round pick. Not too many players have came back from it. If any.
Mlbtv down for anyone else?
Yes.
What a joke, considering what they charge
Long time subscriber here. Every year price goes up while quality of the service goes down.
Dear Skeptical. I am now officially on Team Skeptical. I hear ya.
@tom. No it’s working maybe try a vpn.
Yeah it seems to be working now. Thx
It was down for me as well. How could they screw that up?
Yes. I have been on the phone with TMobile multiple times today. TMobile has pointed the finger directly at MLB. “Known issue”.
MLB.TV is a free gift for T-Mobile subscribers…
When it works.
Which is basically never for us Angels fans in LA. Always blacked out.
@kellin you just need a VPN, and pick a city where it’s not blacked out. It’s like 5 bucks a month.
MLBF – I had no idea T-Mobile had a free MLB.tv promo. I just activated it thanks to your comment. I feel like I owe you something but you’ll have to settle for a thanks. THANKS!
We’re now even.
@prov356. Locked on angels were talking about fanduel having a free month. I believe you have til today or tomorrow
I’ll check it out!
Has anyone ever come back from this injury to pitch well?
Merrill Kelly
@pads fan. Didn’t think so, but I saw merrill Kelly did. It’s something with the surgery, but probably not a good chance it works.
This sounds about right
He should probably shift to a low-volume, high-velocity reliever role—think 1-2 innings, 50+ appearances, max effort.
That’s basically what he’s been relegated to, anyway.
@kellin
I’m saying make it a plan, not an accident. His condition might sap stamina but not power—his fastball’s still 96-98 mph, top-tier for relievers. Short bursts could even push him past 100 mph if trained right, something starters can’t do.
@old york. You can’t sleep because of extreme migraines, and dizziness. I believe the body breaks down. That’s why players don’t recover because teams move on. Strasburg pitched 40 innings on his big deal, and never came back. I’m sure the nationals were pushing for his return. Maybe it has levels of severity, don’t know just seems like it hasn’t been figured out
Billy Apple took Sam Bachman in the first round sports analyst were saying his delivery wasn’t fluent . he had a violent delivery and probably be a relief pitcher but the Angels tried to make him a starter picture.
@OldYork That’s what the scouting report said when he was drafted. But Angels thought they knew better.
Sam (won’t be Bach)man.
Sigh. 3-0 White Sox. Angels gonna Angel…
Bachman Thoracic Overdrive???
That’s a shame cuz I was hoping he’d be traded to the Phillies so he could reunite with Turner and get things into Overdrive.
I’d say he’s done at this point. Very few come back from this diagnosis.
This is a, “We don’t actually know what’s wrong with you. So we are just going to start cutting parts out of you and hope it works surgery”.
Angels burn through pitching prospects like it’s a competition.
How do you figure what news sports station are you from?
Is it too soon to start chanting Arte sell the team Arte Sell the Team ARTE SELL THE TEAM!
ARTE SELL THE TEAM!!
Nope.
Bad news. No pitcher comes back from that one and is effective.
Not a pitcher, but Jared Walsh had the same issue.
Big decline in 2022, had surgery in September of that year, and has never been the same.
Walsh’s neurological issues in 2023, which included headaches, insomnia, and other symptoms (feeling hungover every day), are believed to be related to his thoracic outlet syndrome surgery and the subsequent nerve compression.
Regardless of Bachman’s draft pedigree, this is terrible news for the guy.
This is unfortunate news. I hope that he is able to recover.
Quite a bit of discussion about where he drafted and that he’s a first round bust. I am fairly certain that there are more first round busts than there are successes so I won’t spend much time trying to understand how a 1st round draft didn’t translate to the most elite level of the sport. That just seems silly to me. Besides having the skill set or raw talent to be considered a 1st rounder, you still have to navigate injuries to not just have a shot but to have a long lasting career. It’s a physical sport that requires an athlete to be at his very best all the time just to have a chance to stick. It’s extremely difficult to do as we as fans have seen repeatedly over the years.
As far as Arte is concerned. He hasn’t been cheap and there are other MLB fans that would be greatful for his willingness to dish out the dough. He spends and has shown a desire to win. Have those decisions to spend worked out… not necessarily, but to suggest that they were all guaranteed misses would be wrong. I wasn’t happy with the Wells,Cozart or Mathews signings for sure but I was excited over the Rendon signing and if he had stayed healthy and played anywhere close to his track record, and Trout stayed healthy, and Walsh had stayed healthy, the team would have played for a spot in the play offs.
Some things just happen and it sucks. Owners and managers can’t control it all.
I see steps being taken to improve the team, and to improve the organization. It can’t turn on a dime though and it takes time. Huge financial commitment to players that haven’t performed has caught up to this organization and that’s why so many of us want to point fingers. Give the organization credit for not running out and spending 100s of millions in Long term commitments this past off season just to try to compete or be relevant or put more butts in the seats. Things are moving in the right direction…
Oldhalo: “As far as Arte is concerned. He hasn’t been cheap and there are other MLB fans that would be greatful for his willingness to dish out the dough.”
Lot’s to unpack here:
1) The big market team payroll is middle of the road for MLB teams, and about half (52%) of the Dodgers payroll.
2) The reason the payroll is even ranked that high is because of stupid marketing signing for players like Rendon. Moreno loves to overpay for past performances as long as he thinks there is enough name recognition to sell tickets. What he won’t do is eat these contracts when they go bad, which they do more often than not.
3) Moreno cuts corners everywhere else. And this business model works great for him. His net worth has skyrocketed as the organization has declined into one of the worst in baseball. This is bad for Angels fans, but also bad for the MLB in general
So, I guess I’m not in touch with my feeling of gratitude for Mr. Moreno. I’m not sure how anyone outside of his PR department could be suggesting such a thing.
Oldhalo: “Things are moving in the right direction…”
A big market team with the longest steak of losing seasons in the MLB. . The longest post season drought in the MLB. 14 seasons without a playoff game win. Despite all the losing, the farm system is consistently ranked last or near last in the MLB. You and I have a different idea about what constitutes “the right direction.”
@ Sealbeach We all look through different lenses and I can see your points too.
On a side note, many years ago I would skim board the South Side of the Seal Beach pier at high tide 4-5 times a week and every Friday afternoon was fishingwith my dad on that pier. I have some great memories there.