LA Angels loss to Twins could prove to be costly

The LA Angels have been showing signs of life recently, and have been slowing getting healthy.  However, that all changed in one fateful eighth inning.

In the LA Angels eighth inning first Shohei Ohtani was hit on the hand by a 94-mph fastball and had to leave the game after being checked out by the Angels medical staff.  This only two weeks since Ohtani had come back from Tommy John Surgery. X-Rays on Ohtani’s hand came back negative, but he will still be listed as day-to-day.

Ohtani was starting to come around recently hitting two home runs in the past six games.  He is the protection in the line-up that Mike Trout has needed this season.  Ohtani has provided that recently, but he may be out for up to a week.

The very next batter for the Angels was the most versatile hitter on the team, Andrelton Simmons.  Simmons has batted in five different spots in the line-up.  Simmons is hitting .303 with three homers and 21 RBIs.

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IN the bottom of the eighth inning Simmons was trying to beat out an infield hit and he went down after tripping over the first base bag and falling awkwardly.  Simmons rolled around on the ground and clutched his ankle.  X-Rays came back negative on SImmons’ ankle, but according to Angels manager Brad Ausmus he will be out for an extended period of time with a sprained left ankle.

“More concerned about Simba’s injury than Shohei’s,” Ausmus said in a post-game interview aired on Fox Sports West. “Shohei’s injury by all indications, he should be fine, quicker time frame. We don’t know what Simba’s time frame is. That’s the bigger concern right now. We don’t want to lose either one, but the injury to Simba seems to be more dire . But we will know more tomorrow. We don’t want to guess as to be what the final diagnosis will be.”

Here is the video of Simmons’ injury courtesy of Fox Sports West and Fabian Ardaya.

If Simmons indeed goes on the injured list and misses some significant time the Angels will be hard pressed to find a replacement for Simmons.  The most immediate solution is to move either Zack Cozart or David Fletcher.  The Angels will most likely call up Luis Rengifo from Triple-A to help fill the void.  A longshot to be called up would be Wilfredo Tovar.

Hopefully Simmons’ injury is not as bad as it appeared to be and he will just need the minimum 10 days on the injured list.  Stay tuned tomorrow for more information on both Ohtani and Simmons as I will be at Angel Stadium to interview Brad Ausmus and get an update on both Ohtani and Simmons.