LA Angels eyeing the return of Andrelton Simmons

After missing just over a month with a torn ligament in his right thumb, LA Angels short stop Andrelton Simmons is expected to be activated as early as today if he is cleared by medical staff.

Don’t call it a come back, I’ve been here for years. Nothing gets you fired up like a player returning early from an injury. For the LA Angels, a player not being injured is enough to get you fired up these days. It would appear that the halo in the Big A is in need of a miracle and the LA Angels are hoping for some divine intervention in order to make a push towards the top of the AL West.

Last night, news broke that Andrelton Simmons was on his way back to Anaheim after a stint with the Triple-A Salt Lake Bee’s. This is great news on the defensive side of the field. Simmons defensive percentage is .980 on the season, this includes 63 putouts, 82 assists, and just three errors on the season. The LA Angels need those numbers from Simmons especially given the numbers from the pitching staff.

If Simmons does indeed make his return to an exhausted LA Angels team, it will be nothing short of a vital B-12 shot into a team that needs wins. The Angels still remain 12.5 games out of 1st place in the AL West. However, there is still plenty of time to claim the division, the All-Star game is less than a month away and the Angels could see five players return from the DL before the All-Star break.

Simmons has been out since May 10 and if he makes his return tonight; he’ll have beaten the original expected time out by almost three weeks. Simmons was expected to miss six weeks, possibly eight and he’s only missed five.

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Simmons is a huge part of this LA Angels team. In his absence, the Angels started Gregorio Petit, Cliff Pennington and Brendan Ryan, losing 19 of 33 games. Last night the Angels won just their 4th game this month, and their 3rd game in the last 10. Following the win last night, Mike Scioscia talked about the offense with the media.

Currently, the LA Angels are eyeing the return of Simmons, Cory Rasmus, Daniel Nava, Nick Tropeano, Geovany Soto, and Pennington before the end of the month. However, Craig Gentry, Garrett Richards, C.J. Wilson, and Andrew Heaney remain out indefinitely according to rotoworld.com

Next: A Rotation Dilemma?

The LA Angels are tied with the Atlanta Braves with the second most amount of players on the DL with 11. The Oakland Athletics currently have the most injured players with 12. The Washington Nationals have the least amount of players on the DL with just two.