The Los Angeles Angels suffered an early scare with their starting rotation when Chase Silseth felt some discomfort in his elbow after leaving his start against the Boston Red Sox on Sunday. Jose Soriano quickly took his place in the rotation when he was placed on the Injured List on Monday, but it wasn’t clear how long-term the situation might be.
And perhaps no one was more scared than Silseth. He has watched as a number of elite starting pitchers have suffered significant elbow injuries in the early part of the 2024 season, and felt he might possibly be another to succumb to that fate. Instead, two different doctors diagnosed him with non-severe elbow inflammation and he could return within the next few weeks.
This is massive news for both the Angels and Silseth, as he was expected to be a consistent member of the team’s five-man rotation this season. He still has a chance to return quickly and make up for lost time. Silseth was solid on Sunday, allowing three runs on three hits with seven strikeouts in five innings of work. He gave up three runs in three innings against the Miami Marlins in his 2024 debut.
Now, he’ll take a look at his mechanics to see if there’s a way he can avoid the elbow inflammation returning in the future, according to Dan Greenspan of The O.C. Register:
“Maybe mechanics is what was causing that, and we’ll go into a deep look and see if that’s changed at any bit,” he said. “See if I have to make adjustments on that part because, you know, I’ve never had elbow problems. It must have been something that just kind of mechanically came about.”
The Angels feel confident in the five-man rotation of Patrick Sandoval, Reid Detmers, Tyler Anderson, Griffin Canning and Soriano that they will have in the meantime. But ideally, the sooner Silseth can return, the better.
Angels vs. Red Sox probables
The Angels now travel to Boston to take on the Red Sox for the second time this season already. Below are the probable starters for both sides as the Halos begin a six-game East Coast road trip in Boston and Tampa Bay.
Friday, April 12: Reid Detmers vs. Tanner Houck (4:10 p.m. PST)
Saturday, April 13: Griffin Canning vs. TBD (1:10 p.m. PST)
Sunday, April 14: Tyler Anderson vs. Brayan Bello (10:35 a.m. PST)
