Miguel Sanó was a surprise addition to the Los Angeles Angels’ 26-man roster as another backup infield option. With uncertainty regarding Anthony Rendon’s health — who is already on the 10-day IL — and Nolan Schanuel’s youth, opportunities would certainly arise for the veteran corner infielder.
Between the designated hitter spot, first base and third base, Sanó has appeared in 20 of the Angels’ 25 games this season with 69 plate appearances. In that time, he’s slashing .271/.362/.373/.735 with a 114 OPS+, three doubles, eight walks and 25 strikeouts. He was in the lineup during Wednesday’s series finale against the Baltimore Orioles, but was removed during the fifth inning.
Angels manager Ron Washington spoke about Sanó’s status after the game, calling it knee soreness and downplaying any severity, according to MLB.com:
Sanó left Wednesday’s 6-5 loss to the Orioles after the fifth inning because his left knee soreness flared up, manager Ron Washington said. But the injury isn’t considered serious, as Sanó, who made a stellar diving play for an out in the third inning, has been maintaining his knee all season.
He could return to the lineup as early as Friday’s series opener against the Twins after Thursday’s scheduled off-day. Washington said Sanó was removed for precautionary reasons.
The Angels are off on Thursday and begin a three-game weekend set against the Minnesota Twins on Friday. Hopefully, Sanó can make a quick return to the lineup as they are still without Rendon and are down to recent call-up Ehire Adrianza as their primary third baseman.
The Angels are 5-11 in the 16 games that Sanó has started, not including being removed for injury on Wednesday.
Angels finding rhythm with Mike Trout leading off
Mike Trout had been struggling in the team’s previous games before Tuesday, directly correlating to the ongoing losing streak. Washington, in an effort to curb this, decided to move Trout to the leadoff spot for the first time since 2020. The move paid almost instant dividends, as Trout took a 1-2 fastball 392 feet to center for a leadoff home run. It was only the sixth leadoff home run of his career.
Washington, after the win, jokingly patted himself on the back for the move. But the bigger credit went to Trout for rolling with the punches and being on board to switch things up so early in the season.