Angels News: Taylor Ward carted off, rotation stalwart's injury could end LAA tenure

The Angels are eight games below .500 and 8.5 games out of a Wild Card spot with four teams between the Seattle Mariners and them, so they are effectively eliminated from the postseason. When a team's season is over with a month to go, the last thing they need is a serious injury to a core member. So, with that in mind, everybody held their breath when Taylor Ward fell in a heap after running into the outfield wall on August 31st.

Angels News: Taylor Ward carted off after collision with left field wall

In perhaps the scariest moment of the Angels' season, the team's 30+ home run, 30+ double hitting left fielder collapsed after running face-first into a metal scoreboard in Daikin Park. Taylor Ward immediately began gushing blood, and waved at the training staff in the dugout to go onto the field and treat him. Andrew Chafin and Kenley Jansen beat Mike Frostad and Co. to the punch, and provided Ward with towels to cover the bleeding coming out from above his right eye. Interim manager Ray Montgomery told reporters that he was perhaps going to get stitches at a local hospital after the incident, which Sam Blum of The Athletic later confirmed that he did. Ward left the stadium in an ambulance.

A facial injury for Ward caused Angels fans to put their faces in their hands out of fear. Ward was famously hit in the face with a pitch in 2023 and missed the final two months of the season. He will miss the series finale due to the laceration, but is still on the lineup card.

Daikin Park, formerly known as Minute Maid Park, has always had some of the most unique features in all of sports. Tal's Hill is no more, but the gigantic centerfield hill was always a marvel when players had to traverse the monument to chase down a fly ball. The Astros also have a train that runs back-and-forth after a member of the home team hits a home run. The train runs above the left field wall, that has a metal scoreboard that's now coming under fire. Hopefully, like Tal's Hill, the scoreboard is removed.

"There should be no out-of-town metal scoreboard anywhere on the baseball field. It’s the big leagues. This (expletive) is ridiculous. A guy goes back to make a play, and he’s got to worry about a metal fence. That’s crazy. So that’s my honest opinion about it. He did everything he could to make a play, and he gets beat up by something that’s beyond controllable," said fellow Angels outfielder Jo Adell. “I pulled an oblique on it. I hit my head. I missed a month and a half of the season. At what point is it just not acceptable anymore? I don’t know. In my opinion.”

Angels News: Rotation stalwart's injury could end LAA tenure

Tyler Anderson is the longest tenured starting pitcher the Angels have, since Reid Detmers is now a full-time reliever. The southpaw signed a three-year, $39 million contract before the 2023 season, and made an All-Star Game as a member of the Angels last season. Anderson had his moments with the Angels, but his 2025 season largely hurt a lot of good will he had with fans from the previous year. After a pair of promising starts, the impending free agent is now hitting the injured list with a strained oblique that will likely end his season...and possibly his time in Anaheim. Jose Ureña was signed to fill-in for Anderson for September.

The starting rotation has long been an issue for the Los Angeles Angels, and Anderson's 2025 and 2023 seasons are a large reason why the team's success was not up to par. In his final 15 starts of 2025, which are presumed to be the last of his year due to the oblique strain, he accrued just one quality start. For the season (136.1 innings pitched), he had a 2-8 record, 4.56 ERA, 5.63 FIP, 1.41 WHIP and 6.87 K/9. In 2023 (141.0 innings pitched), he had a 6-6 record 5.43 ERA, 4.92 FIP, 1.49 WHIP and 7.60 K/9.

The Angels have shown that they will not bring back long-tenured players if they are hitting a down-swing of their career. Despite Anderson and the organization having a great working relationship (both sides have been laudatory in their comments about one-another), it appears likely that the Angels will seek outside help to augment their rotation next season and beyond around Yusei Kikuchi and José Soriano. The soon-to-be 36-year-old Anderson will be a cheap free agent after his lackluster season, but it's relatively clear that the Angels should explore other options besides Anderson and Kyle Hendricks to build out their starting pitching. They need more stuff, more youth and more upside than what the two veterans can offer.

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