The Los Angeles Angels are set to have their roster depth tested following a few injuries to their infield options in Zach Neto and Gio Urshela.
Neto is set to miss a bit of time after feeling his left oblique flare up. The 22-year-old rookie shortstop noticed it while making a warmup throw in the first inning of Wednesday’s game.
Thankfully, his strain isn’t feared to be significant, but Urshela is dealing with something much worse. The 31-year-old was involved in a bang-bang play, and unfortunately, it resulted in a left pelvis fracture.
The injury occurred in the first inning of the Angels’ 5-3 win over the Texas Rangers, per Sarah Valenzuela of the L.A. Times:
Urshela got hurt trying to outrun a throw to first base and Rendon stayed in the game after getting hit in the first inning.
There’s a lot of unknown with the initial evaluation of Urshela’s injury, mainly because pelvis fractures range from small cracks, to extreme cases, such as massive fractures. Dr. Neel Anannd, an orthopedic spine surgeon and co-director of spine trauma at Cedars-Sinai Spine Center in Los Angeles, told the L.A. Times that there could be a wide range of outcomes:
That Urshela was able to remain in Thursday’s game another half inning and walked off the field on his own could suggest he could have a minor, but stable pelvic injury, Anand inferred. A stable pelvic injury, Anand explained, means that a patient “can still bear weight on it.” Patients with minor pelvic injuries, such as a strain, could heal in three to six weeks, Anand said.
Manager Phil Nevin now has to shuffle his cards with infield options around Neto’s absence, but Urshela as well. Both are huge blows to their lineup as the Angels continue to play solid, inspiring baseball:
Though the Angels said they are still trying to figure out how much time Urshela could miss, Nevin said he would be out “a significant amount of time.”
The severity of the injury, coupled with how much unknown there is with the area, is enough to bank on Urshela missing a few months of the season. Now in his eighth year in Major League Baseball, this is the most significant injury in his career.
How has Gio Urshela performed this season
In his 214 at-bats this season, Urshela has logged a .703 on-base plus slugging, but his steady .299 batting average looms very large in an Angels lineup filled with a good number of slug from a few areas.
Although Urshela had been struggling as of late, he’s logged games at both corner infield positions, with a handful of games at shortstop for Nevin.
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