Latest Yusei Kikuchi injury update only adds to Angels' ongoing uncertainty

The list of things that have gone wrong for the Los Angeles Angels is getting rather long at this point. The bullpen has been a disaster, the offense looks anemic outside of (sometimes) Mike Trout, and they are still owned by Arte Moreno. However, losing Yusei Kikuchi to a shoulder injury was particularly painful, as he represents one of the few recent cases where the Angels actually invested real dollars in their roster.

Kikuchi's first season in LA was fine, if unexciting. While he only managed a 3.99 ERA across 33 starts, Kikuchi was incredibly reliable and gave the Angels 178.1 quality innings when the team could barely get any production from their pitching staff at all. However, something was clearly wrong from the get-go with Kikuchi, and now it is unclear exactly when Angels fans can expect to see him take the mound again.

In order to provide some clarity, Kikuchi himself went on the record to explain his injury situation. While he did share some information regarding his potential return timeline, that info seems to create even more uncertainty for the Angels this season.

Yusei Kikuchi seems optimistic about his injury return, but the Angels' actual plan is much more up in the air

Kikuchi actually went pretty in-depth in explaining what is going on with his shoulder. He mentioned that this was the first time he has ever had to deal with a potential major injury concern, but that all of the scans seem to indicate that it looks like he dodged a major issue and that the inflammation in his shoulder seems to be under control.

However, it is his comments on his return timeline that were the most interesting when he said, "There was a conversation where I might get back quicker, but considering this is a very long season, and I’m with the Angels next year too, I had a conversation with people and decided to kind of take it step-by-step in terms of this rehab right now.”

This is intriguing on a number of levels. First, it does seem to back up Kikuchi's contention that there was at least some thought that he could have been put on an aggressive rehab schedule, but that Kikuchi opted against doing so. One wonders if that push for a quick return may have come from a specific front office executive who is currently under siege. Even with that clarification of his plans, all that we really know now is that Kikuchi is expected to return at some point in the second half and nothing more.

Unfortunately, this is the best we are going to get at this point. Kikuchi doesn't have an injury with a set and known rehab schedule, and we probably won't know when he is coming back until he starts a rehab assignment. Hopefully, the Angels' season isn't completely lost by the time that happens.

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