Los Angeles Angels: Dillon Peters injures ankle falling down staircase

The Angels might need to plastic wrap their starters until the season begins, as Dillon Peters stumbles into another injury.

Dillon Peters was scratched from his start on Wednesday after spraining his ankle coming down the staircase in Surprise, Arizona last Friday. [Insert your jokes here: Peters surprised by gravity on staircase]. Fortunately, the injury isn’t considered serious. Jose Suarez will start in his place.

Peters is off to a strong start this spring, having allowed only one earned run over 7.1 innings of work. He has struck out six while walking only one batter.

The 27-year-old is hoping to make an impression on new manager Joe Maddon as he battles for a spot in the back in the back of the rotation. He started 12 games for the Halos last season, stringing together a few decent starts in August before struggling en route to an ERA over five.

Peters has been developing a slider to use against left-handed hitters this season. The southpaw has been inconsistent against like-handed batters over his career, allowing an opponent batting average of .283.

The left-hander is competing with Jose Suarez, Jaime Barria, and Matt Andriese for a big league rotation turn. Barria was recently roughed up in an outing after a solid first week facing Cactus League competition. Andriese, acquired over the winter from the Diamonbacks, has allowed only one earned run over nine innings of work.

Peters has one minor league option remaining, so the Angels could have him continue to work on his craft in AAA before calling him up to the big club. His injury status is listed as day-to-day so we will see if the ankle sprain lingers or if he can quickly return back to work.

Peters was originally acquired from the Marlins in 2018 as part of a swap that sent Tyler Stevens to Miami.

This story is developing, so check back for more details later.