Angels reliever could have experienced a setback 2 days after a "special" moment

Mike Trout and the Los Angeles Angels were able to inspire hope in fans during their series opener against Cleveland. Trout had just returned from the injured list and looked like himself, which is obviously a huge win. The Angels finally got off the schneid -- breaking their five-game losing streak that dated back to May 24th. However, not everything was so rosy in Cleveland for the Halos.

Robert Stephenson was activated off the 60-day injured list and made his Angels debut nearly a year and a half after Perry Minasian initially signed him to a three-year, $33 million deal. On May 28th, Stephenson lived up to the billing against the New York Yankees -- he was deployed in the 6th inning and promptly recorded back-to-back strikeouts before inducing a pop-out. Stephenson threw two four-seams at 98.5 and 97.9 MPH and diced up Jasson Domínguez, DJ LeMahieu and J.C. Escarra with his cutter/slider hybrid offering.

"I was thinking about this the other day and, honestly, it’s up there with making my debut for me,” Stephenson said to MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger about his first appearance since 2023 with Tampa Bay. “I feel like it’s pretty special for me.”

However, just two days after that moment, Stephenson was called upon against the Guardians and tossed three cutter/sliders that were all roughly four miles an hour slower than they were against NYY. He was promptly escorted off the mound by Mike Frostad, the Angels head athletic trainer.

Angels reliever could have experienced a setback 2 days after a "special" moment

“The last couple pitches out in the bullpen started grabbing on me and then I went out to the game mound and was hoping it would kind of go away and it just kind of kept getting worse each pitch,” Stephenson said in front of Jeff Fletcher of The OC Register. “The velo dropped a little bit too. It’s pretty uncomfortable. I felt like, probably a good time to stop throwing.”

Stephenson downplayed the severity, given that the discomfort had nothing to do with his still-recovering UCL. The Angels undoubtedly will do the same. Fans have done this song and dance to know that the organization always preaches optimism initially after a potential injury. That's not to say that this is definitely a disaster, but a second arm injury for a ramping up pitcher is always scary. The reliever told reporters he is going to try to play catch today and see how it goes. He also said the doctors exams went well.

Even if his biceps discomfort is benign, it feels incredibly probable that Stephenson will hit the injured list. Again, this is purely speculation based on the fact that he is fresh off of pitching in big league games for the first time in 13 months.

Shane McClanahan had Tommy John surgery in 2023 and experienced irritation in his triceps during a spring training start in March. The Rays' ace has yet to appear this season and does not have a firm timetable to return. It's not a one-to-one comparison, but it's hard to not draw parallels to that situation with Stephenson.

Best case scenario, Stephenson stays on the active roster and just takes a few days off to ease his workload. Perhaps he hits the 10-day injured list and stays on it for the minimum amount of time? Fans do not have the full scope of Stephenson's potential setback, but everybody involved is hoping for the best.

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