The Angels lost a big part of their lineup when it was announced that Left Fielder Justin Upton would be out for the next 8-12 weeks. The injury had occurred when Upton was fielding a ball in an exhibition game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Upton went to field the ball and he was running full speed into the wall and tried to avoid hitting the wall. He instead kicked the concrete with his big left toe just below the padding on the left field wall. Upton was originally diagnosed with a sprained left toe and the Angels were hoping he would be out 2-3 weeks.
Justin Upton did not feel well the following day and they decided to get an MRI and those results revealed that it was much worse than being out for 2-3 weeks like the Angels had hoped. The Angels announced that he would be out for 8-12 weeks with Turf Toe and would start the season on the Injured List. This is not ideal for the Angels as they now have lost 2 of their best 3 power bats in the lineup to start the season. Those two being DH/RHP Shohei Ohtani and Justin Upton. Ohtani is more than likely going to be back earlier than Upton as he is scheduled to be back in early-May. Ohtani and Upton were scheduled to be the power bats hitting behind Mike Trout and so far the Angels have only hit 1 home run through the first 5 games.
The Angels will have a combination of Peter Bourjos and Brain Goodwin (who the Angels claimed off of waivers from the Kansas City Royals). Neither of them is power hitters and they will likely be a split platoon at the corner outfield spot with Bourjos being a righty and Goodwin a lefty.
The Angels will certainly miss Upton’s bat in the lineup and they will need some guys to step up in Upton’s place.
Featured Image: Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press
