The Los Angeles Angels have dealt with a snake-bitten season when it comes to injury. Fortunately, this season is coming to a merciful close, but unfortunately with the team’s playoff drought extending another year. Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon were the major injuries, but many other players spent significant time on the IL as well.
Even Jo Adell, who has been with the team for just 35 games, has now found himself on the 10-day IL with an abdominal strain after crashing into the outfield wall in Houston. At first, there was some hope he would avoid having to miss significant time, but it seems things have taken a turn for the worst.
Joe Maddon spoke about Adell’s status, saying that the injury is not too severe, but with the amount of time left in the season, it would be surprising to see him making a return, according to Ryan Herrera of MLB.com:
“I mean, those injuries are kind of weird, and they could take longer [to recover from],” he said. “What are we at, two weeks left pretty much? It’d be hard to imagine that. If I had to say, I would anticipate that he wouldn’t, but we’ll see.”
As for Trout, the writing has been on the wall for some time now that he is not returning this season. The team has not made any official statements on the matter, but Maddon added yet another piece of evidence to a growing list.
“I don’t expect him to play today or tomorrow, or anytime soon, because there’s still that process of having to get at-bats,” Maddon said. “… It’d be very difficult.”
Losing Trout, Rendon, Patrick Sandoval, and now potentially Adell to season-ending injuries is a hard pill to swallow. The Angels had real hope to make something happen in 2021 and were in a prime position to do so early in the year.
However, things simply did not break their way and they’ll have to get healthy and reload for 2022. Adell shouldn’t be an issue, but hopefully Trout, Rendon, and Sandoval are back to 100% well before the season begins. The Angels need all three at full strength to contend.
Brandon Marsh hits game-winning home run
The Angels still have young players like Brandon Marsh to develop over the final weeks of the season. Marsh took a big step in that development on Wednesday when he broke a late-game tie with an eighth-inning home run on a full count.