In the bottom of the 8th inning versus Minnesota Twins, left-handed pitcher Taylor Rogers on May 20th, The Angels two-way player Shohei Ohtani was hit on the right hand and went down to the ground in pain. Ohtani was expected to be taken out of the game from his DH spot, but there was another injury on the next play to a position player.
The following at-bat with Shortstop Andrelton Simmons up to the plate versus Rogers, Simmons grounded out to the first baseman Willians Astudillo who was playing far off from the first base bag. Astudillo, immediately threw the ball to Rogers to get the out at first base while Simmons was trying to beat out the throw he landed awkwardly before hitting the first base bag. Simmons immediately went down to the ground and he would eventually need help to the dugout.
The Angels would eventually lose this game, but the feeling was much worse as two of the top players on the team left the game injured. Angels Manager Brad Ausmus after the game confirmed that both Ohtani and Simmons had X-Rays done and confirmed that there was nothing broken for either player.
Manager Ausmus said, “I feel like Shohei, by all indications he should be fine. Quicker timeframe. We don’t know what Simba’s time frame is. That’s probably the bigger concern right now. We don’t want to lose either one of them. But it seems like the injury to Simba at this point might be a little bit direr. But we’ll know more tomorrow, we don’t want to guess as to what the final diagnosis will be.”
Ausmus, also confirmed that Simmons had a sprained ankle, but would be getting an MRI to see the extent of the sprain.
UPDATE: Andrelton Simmons MRI results revealed he has a grade three left ankle sprain. He will be placed on the 10-day Injured List with Luis Rengifo taking his spot on the Angels roster.
These two injuries are definitely huge blows to the Angels team and with Simmons expected to miss some time, 2B/SS/3B Zack Cozart will likely get more playing time. The Angels also have one of their top prospects 2B/SS Luis Rengifo in Triple-A to help fill the void of Simmons.
Featured Image: AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill
