The Baseball season is coming to a close with less than 2 weeks left and the Angels will not make the post-season for the 5th consecutive year, but they would still like to finish the year strong.
The Angels will have to finish strong without their top 3 hitters in Designated Hitter Shohei Ohtani, Left Fielder Justin Upton, and Center Fielder Mike Trout for the rest of the season.
Shohei Ohtani
The Angels announced on September 12th, that DH Shohei Ohtani would be undergoing surgery to address a Bipartite Patella in his left knee. The expected recovery time for the surgery is 8-12 weeks and he is expected to be ready to go as both a pitcher and hitter for Spring Training.
Ohtani, missed the first month of the 2019 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery and served as the team’s DH for most of the year and proved that his rookie season was not a fluke and that he is a force at the plate despite having knee trouble for most of the season. Shohei’s final numbers through 106 games look like .286/.343/.505 while scoring 51 Runs, hitting 20 Doubles, 5 Triples, 18 Home Runs while driving in 62 runs in 384 at-bat’s. He also stole 12 bases in 15 attempts and drew 33 walks in his sophomore season.
Justin Upton
LF Justin Upton, whose season ended on September 13th, will receive a PRP (Platelet-Rich Plasma) injection for Patella Tendinitis in his knee. He is expected to be out for 6 weeks and then will be able to work out for the off-season. Upton, who is in the 2nd year of his 5 year deal with the Angels dealt with injuries for most of the season after missing most of Spring Training with a knee issue then injuring his toe in the Freeway Series before the season started. Upton ended up missing the first two and a half months of the season and struggled to get into a groove at the plate in 63 games as produced a slash line of .215/.309/.416 while scoring 34 Runs, hitting 8 Doubles, 12 Home Runs while driving in 40 runs in his 219 at-bats. He also drew 32 walks and was 1 for 2 in the stolen bases department.
Mike Trout
On September 15th, it was announced that CF Mike Trout would be having surgery to remove the Morton’s Neuroma in his right foot after having pain in his right foot for the past month. Trout, who was in what was likely the best season of his career will end the season with a slash line of .291/.438/.645 in 470 at-bat’s in 134 games played. Trout ended up scoring 110 Runs while hitting 27 Doubles, 2 Triples, 45 Home Runs while driving in 104 runs. He also drew 110 walks and stole 11 bases in 13 attempts and he seems to currently be the front-runner for the American League MVP even though he will miss the rest of the season.
Featured Image: Brian Davidson/Getty Images North America
