LA Angels lose Zack Cozart possibly for the season due to a torn labrum

The news for the LA Angels keeps going from bad to worse it seems.  The team got a ray of hope on Shohei Ohtani.  He is responding well to PRP treatment for his UCL grade 2 strain. However, Zack Cozart may be done for 2018.

Although I don’t want to belabor this point, but the LA Angels have been cursed with the injury bug once again in 2018.  Add Zack Cozart to the list of players who are done for the season as the Angel third baseman will undergo surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder.  The surgery requires at least a four to six month recovery time essentially ending Cozart’s first season in Anaheim.

Zack Cozart was signed to a three-year 39 million dollar contract during the off-season and was coming off a career year in 2017 with the Reds.  Cozart hit 24 homers and drove in 63 runs while batting .297. Cozart was converted from shortstop to third base this season to fill a major void the Angels have had since David Freese left after the 2015 season.

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Freese originally went on the disabled list in early June with basically a separated shoulder.  He was expected to miss a few weeks, but his shoulder was not getting any stronger which caused the Angels to do an MRI and the torn labrum was diagnosed.

So far this season Cozart has been the jack of all trades for the Angels filling in at shortstop and second base for Andrelton Simmons and Ian Kinsler.  Now the Angels will use a few players in attempt to fill the void Cozart’s injury has left.

Luis Valbuena will get the majority of the time at third base for the time being.  David Fletcher, who is also a middle infielder like Cozart, will also try to make the transition to third base for the Angels.

Cozart was batting .219 this season with five homers and 18 runs batted in this season.  Jefry Marte and Kaleb Cowart, who are both on the disabled list right now, could also provide some depth at third base for the Angels.

Next: Shohei Ohtani may be back soon

Cozart will hopefully be ready to resume baseball activities during the off-season.