Categoria: Sports

TEMPE, Ariz. — Chris Rodriguez is finally ready to take the next step in his rehab from shoulder surgery.

The Angels’ right-hander said he’s set to face hitters in live batting practice on Tuesday. It will be the first time he’s faced hitters since he was injured in 2021.

“I’m really excited with how things have come along,” Rodriguez said. “It’s great. I’m feeling really good. Taking steps in the right direction.”

It’s been apparent for a couple weeks now that Rodriguez wasn’t going to be ready in time to compete for a spot on the Angels’ Opening Day roster, and it now seems certain that he’ll be on the injured list and not even able to pitch in the minors when that season starts.

If all goes well on Tuesday, though, he could begin pitching in simulated games or other exhibition games next week.

The Angels had high hopes for Rodriguez, 24, after the way he performed in his debut season in 2021. He had a 3.64 ERA in 29-2/3 innings, including two starts.

Rodriguez had shoulder surgery in October 2021, and then he had a setback last summer. Although the Angels have not characterized anything since then as a setback, his progress has been slow.

MARTE HURT Right-hander José Marte, who hasn’t pitched in a game all spring, underwent imaging that showed a stress reaction in his right elbow, an injury that will cost him at least a couple months. It’s a bone injury, not a problem with any of the ligaments in his elbow, according to manager Phil Nevin.

Marte will be shut down from any throwing for four weeks.

“It’s unfortunate,” Nevin said. “We were real excited about the way he was throwing, but he got ahead of it letting us know there was some discomfort in there before it got any worse.”

Marte is on the 40-man roster, so he becomes a candidate to move to the 60-day injured list to create a spot if the Angels want to add any of their non-roster players before Opening Day.

NOTES Left-hander José Quijada and infielder Luis Rengifo returned to camp on Monday, a couple days after they played for Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic. Venezuela was eliminated by the USA on Saturday night. …

Infielder Brandon Drury was still not in the lineup on Monday. He bruised his calf on a foul ball on Friday, and he’s been out as a precaution since. Nevin said that Drury has not been happy that Nevin is keeping him out of action. “He wants to play,” Nevin said. “I’m trying to explain it’s spring training. I get it. That’s how he’s wired. He wants to be out there with the guys. No problem with that. I’d rather have that than somebody I have to push onto the field.”

TEMPE, Ariz. — When manager Phil Nevin was watching the USA-Venezuela game on Saturday night, he had an idea what was going to happen.

Angels left-hander José Quijada struck out Kyle Tucker to help Venezuela escape the seventh inning with a lead, leaving the mound on an emotional high. Venezuela then brought Quijada back out for the eighth.

“We’ve seen Q pitch before, and you saw what he did afterward,” Nevin said Sunday, referring to Quijada’s on-field celebration after the strikeout. “Putting him back in the game the next inning was not the best idea.”

Quijada walked two and hit a batter in the eighth, loading the bases just before Trea Turner hit a game-changing grand slam against Silvino Bracho.

Nevin suggested that Quijada has trouble getting back to the same level after such an emotional moment. Last year, Nevin said Quijada tended to be less effective in less electric moments — like pitching in front of a small crowd in Oakland.

Obviously, a big league reliever needs to be reliable in any atmosphere, and Nevin said Quijada is getting there.

“I think he did a better job of it at the end of the season last year,” Nevin said. “Then early this spring a couple games he pitched here, the velocity was up. I like the way he went about his business and he threw well. … I think he’s going to be fine. He’s learning what he needs to do to prepare to get outs when he leaves the bullpen.”

Quijada, 27, had a 3.98 ERA for the Angels last season, throwing almost entirely fastballs. This season he is trying to add more changeups to his repertoire.

EJECTION FOLLOWUP A day after the first time Ryan Tepera was ever ejected from a spring training game, the Angels right-hander was eager to explain what happened.

Tepera had allowed a pair of runs in the fifth inning against the Texas Rangers, including a Marcus Semien two-run homer. He was walking off the mound when plate umpire Bill Miller approached him to check for foreign substances.

“Obviously frustrated with my outing a little bit,” Tepera said on Sunday. “Give up four hard hit balls and walking off the mound. I get checked. He checks my hand, like most umpires do. I take a couple steps to the dugout and he says, ‘Hey, come back here, son.’ So I’m like ‘What?’

“He proceeds to check my hand again. Check my glove. Like every inch of my glove. Every lace. He put his hand inside of it. And I said ‘Is this necessary?’ And he says, ‘I’m the head chief crew umpire, I can do whatever the (expletive) I want.’  I said ‘Oh, is that right?’ And then he says, ‘Let me see your hat.’ So he checks my hat.

“Then he says, ‘While you’re at it, let me check your belt.’ So I started taking my belt off and he says ‘Son, if you take your belt off, I’m going to throw you out of this game.’ I took my belt off and hand it to him and he tossed me.”

Umpires have been checking pitchers for foreign substances since 2021, but last season they were quick, perfunctory checks only of the pitcher’s hands. Major League Baseball reportedly sent teams a memo this week letting them know the checks would be more thorough this season.

Tepera didn’t appreciate a check, in that manner, at that time.

“It’s being disrespectful honestly, man to man,” Tepera said. “It has nothing to do with me being checked. It’s the way he did it and what he said to me. I’m a grown man. Don’t treat me like a child. That’s my problem with it.”

FLETCHER RETURNS David Fletcher was back in the Angels clubhouse on Sunday after playing for Italy in the World Baseball Classic, including a matchup against Shohei Ohtani in Italy’s loss to Japan in the quarterfinals. Fletcher had a hit in two at-bats against Ohtani.

“It was fun facing him,” Fletcher said. “He was definitely competing out there and giving everything he had. He was into it. Getting to be on the other side of him was definitely something that I was kind of looking forward to.”

NOTES Infielder Brandon Drury was not in the lineup for a second straight day because of a bruised calf. Nevin said that Drury was ready to play, but the manager opted to have him take one more day off. Drury still hit and did defensive drills in the morning. …

Nevin said Patrick Sandoval may not pitch as scheduled next Sunday in the Freeway Series at Dodger Stadium. Nevin said the Angels may decide that Sandoval needs a less intense atmosphere — like a minor league game — in between pitching for Mexico in the semifinals of the WBC on Monday and his first regular season start, on April 2.

TEMPE, Ariz. — The question of Jared Walsh’s performance against lefties once again hangs over the Angels’ first baseman.

The Angels now have more answers, though.

Walsh has a career .834 OPS against righties and a .600 OPS against lefties. Even though he’s struggled most of the time against lefties, he has had enough big moments — like a grand slam against Aroldis Chapman — to support the idea that he will hit lefties if given enough opportunity.

Walsh certainly believes that. Manager Phil Nevin also expressed confidence in Walsh, although he added that they have alternatives.

“I think he’s capable of hitting (lefties),” Nevin said. “We’re going to put our best lineup out each day that gives us the best chance to win. If we feel the matchup is right for Jared to face those guys then he will. We certainly have an abundance of right-handed hitters that have a history and a track record of being very successful against lefties.”

Brandon Drury, who played 48 games at first in his career, will start at first for the Angels on Saturday. Gio Urshela has never started a game at first in his big league career, but he’s played there in winter ball, and Nevin said he’s confident in his ability to do it because he “knows what kind of athlete he is.”

Drury has a career .770 OPS against lefties, including .955 last season. Urshela has a .764 OPS against lefties.

Walsh shrugged at the suggestion that there are now more challengers that could send him to the bench against lefties.

“I’ll cross that bridge when I get there,” Walsh said.

For now, Walsh said he’s just focused on hitting, period.

This spring Walsh is 8 for 25 (.320) with a .934 OPS. He is 3 for 7 against lefties. After striking out in his first four at-bats against lefties, he has three straight hits.

“I’m just going to get squared away against any pitcher, and get to the lefty thing,” he said. “I work regularly on angle flips against righties and lefties. I think if I stay through the ball more against lefties, there will be more hits in there.”

RENGIFO’S ROLE One certainty in the way the Angels construct their lineup against lefties is that Luis Rengifo will be playing.

“I would anticipate him being out there all the time against lefties,” Nevin said.

Rengifo, a switch-hitter, produced a .909 OPS against lefties last season, compared with .629 against righties.

Where Rengifo will play remains to be seen. He could play second or short, with Drury and Urshela joining him in the infield. Nevin also said he wants to see more of Rengifo in the outfield, including center field.

For now, the Angels would just like to see Rengifo play. Nevin conceded that he is concerned that Rengifo has played in just two of Venezuela’s games in the World Baseball Classic, coming to the plate just five times.

Nevin said he understands that Venezuela is going with its best lineup, and not as concerned with getting Rengifo ready for the season.

“I know that’s part of it,” Nevin said. “They are trying to win games. I’m a little partial. I think he should be out there. Of course when he comes back we’ve got to get him a lot of at-bats, which we can do.”

Venezuela is playing Team USA in a quarterfinal game on Saturday in Miami, so the soonest Rengifo is likely to be back in Angels camp is Monday.

NOTES Nevin said the Angels will use their sixth starter for the first time on April 12, which is their 12th game of the season. He said that they still have four candidates for the role: left-hander Tucker Davidson and right-handers Jaime Barría, Griffin Canning and Chase Silseth. Davidson and Barria are both out of options. Nevin said any of the four could pitch out of the bullpen when he isn’t starting, even though Canning and Silseth haven’t done that yet as professionals. “It’s a difficult decision,” Nevin said. “They are all pitching well.” …

Left-hander José Suarez is scheduled for the Angels’ fifth game of the season. Shohei Ohtani and Patrick Sandoval are pitching the first two games, at Oakland on March 30 and April 1. That leaves the uncertainty surrounding Tyler Anderson and Reid Detmers. Anderson pitched the day before Detmers this week, so presumably the Angels are lining up Anderson to start April 3 in Oakland and Detmers the next day in Seattle.