Slugger Jorge Soler exited immediately’s Angels sport within the second inning, and the Angels later introduced that it was because of groin tightness. Soler was already identified to be day-to-day because of the groin concern in current days, however evidently it flared up throughout this night’s sport in opposition to the Mariners. An replace on Soler’s standing will seemingly be out there after the sport, however the concern is made a bit extra difficult than it could be in any other case because of the standing of Mike Trout.
Soler has usually served as Anaheim’s DH this season, though he’s hit a lackluster .217/.291/.377 (88 wRC+) up to now within the yr. In newer weeks, nevertheless, Soler has turn into the membership’s on a regular basis proper fielder whereas Trout returns to the lineup because the on a regular basis DH. As famous by Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register earlier immediately, Trout is working his manner again in direction of a return to the outfield by performing some drills on the grass. Supervisor Ron Washington relayed that Trout was feeling good after these drills, however they’ve nonetheless been “minimal” and haven’t “actually challenged” the veteran star. That would appear to point Trout remains to be at the very least a number of days away from returning to proper discipline frequently in video games.
A return to DH’ing frequently would absolutely be much less strenuous on Soler’s ailing groin, however that received’t be potential till Trout returns to the outfield. The three-time MVP is 10-for-25 with three walks, a double, and a homer since coming back from the injured record and clearly received’t be sitting in deference to Soler. If Soler isn’t wholesome sufficient to play the sphere, that might depart the Angels with little alternative however to position him on the injured record. Ought to that come to go, some mixture of Matthew Lugo, Chris Taylor, and maybe Scott Kingery might see time within the outfield, assuming the Angels don’t name up one other outfield possibility like Kyren Paris.
In different information across the membership, MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger writes that right-hander Robert Stephenson has undergone two MRI exams since being positioned on the injured record because of irritation in his proper biceps. Bollinger notes that these exams revealed no structural harm, and relays that Stephenson instructed reporters that he’s coping with a stretched nerve, which he described as a “freak damage.” The bizarre nature of Stephenson’s damage implies that he has no clear timetable for return, and the right-hander added that there’s no remedy for the difficulty aside from relaxation.
That means he might be unable to throw for fairly some time, which might be an extremely irritating flip of occasions for a pitcher who missed your complete 2024 season because of Tommy John surgical procedure and made it again to pitch only one inning earlier than he as soon as once more hit the shelf. The 32-year-old turned in 38 1/3 dominant innings for the Rays throughout his most up-to-date wholesome marketing campaign in 2023, pitching to a 2.35 ERA and placing out a whopping 42.9% of opponents confronted. That displaying was spectacular sufficient that the Angels awarded him a three-year, $33MM deal that offseason, although they’ve but to get a lot of something out of it because of Stephenson’s damage woes.
