Ward can hit, but still not ready to return to outfield
ANAHEIM » Taylor Ward’s full return to the Angels is going to have to wait.
Ward still isn’t able to throw after suffering a nerve injury in his shoulder when he had a collision with the right field fence on Friday night, but he is available to hit.
“The full strength isn’t back yet,” Ward said. “But I have enough to hold my positions hitting. Throwing, the concern is putting stress on the other areas of my arm. They don’t want to put any stress on those areas. So that’s why I can’t really start throwing yet. But the way things are progressing, it’s going slowly but it is improving, so we’re going to continue to take this day by day.”
Ward underwent an MRI exam on Monday and the results were clean, head athletic trainer Mike Frostad said. Frostad and manager Joe Maddon both said Ward is definitely available to pinch-hit for now, but they aren’t sure when he’ll be able to throw.
“It’s a day-by-day thing,” Frostad said. “Honestly, when you’re dealing with an injury like this, they can resolve very quickly or they can take their time and we just don’t know which way this one is going to go yet so we’re going to give him as much opportunity as he needs.”
Ward has been one of the best offensive players in all of baseball so far this season, so the nature of his condition begs the question of whether the Angels could still find a way to get his bat in the lineup without requiring him to stress his arm throwing.
Could he play outfield and simply just lob the ball in, with the team accepting that deficiency in exchange for getting his bat in the lineup?
“If I go out there and something happens, runs score because of my inefficiencies, then I’m not cool with that,” Ward said. “That’s where I’m at with it. That’s the conversation I’d have with them and we’d be honest with each other.”
The other option would be for Ward to be the DH, which would mean Shohei Ohtani would get a day off.
“I haven’t ruled that out, but Shohei is a pretty good DH too,” Maddon said.
How about Ohtani playing in the outfield with Ward at DH?
“I like that idea, but I don’t think it’s reasonable to ask him right now,” Maddon said of Ohtani in the outfield.
In the meantime, having an outfielder unable to play the outfield puts the Angels in a roster bind. The only healthy true outfielders on the roster are Mike Trout and Brandon Marsh. Tyler Wade, who is mostly an infielder, was starting in right on Tuesday night.
The Angels could call up another outfielder, even without putting Ward on the injured list, if they went with one less reliever.
“For right now we like to pitching the way it is,” Maddon said. “And I’m OK with the lesser bench in order to keep more pitching. I’m a believer in that.”
No surgery for Canning
Griffin Canning opted to continue a conservative rehab program with his fractured back instead of having surgery. Canning was at one of the final steps before beginning a rehab assignment when he had a setback earlier this month. On Monday he saw a specialist and they determined to stay the course.
“We had multiple people involved yesterday when he saw the doctor and everybody was in agreement with the plan,” Frostad said.
There is no timetable for Canning to resume throwing. He has been dealing with back issues since last July.
Notes
Ohtani’s next start on the mound will be on Thursday, the opener of a series against the Toronto Blue Jays at Angel Stadium. The Angels’ rotation is not set for the remainder of that series . ... Right-hander Chris Rodriguez (shoulder capsule repair surgery), who was already expected to miss most or all of the season rehabbing from surgery, had a setback a couple of weeks ago and was shut down from throwing, Frostad said. Frostad said Rodriguez has improved since, but he is being evaluated week-to-week, now . ... Left-hander José Quijada was scheduled for a second rehab outing on Monday night with Class-A Inland Empire . ... The Angels’ game against the New York Mets on June 12 has been added to the ESPN “Sunday Night Baseball” schedule, so it will now start at 4 p.m. If the Angels stay in a six-man rotation without making any changes between now and then Noah Syndergaard would start against his former team in that game . ... Third baseman Anthony Rendon was out of the lineup for a routine day off on Tuesday. Maddon said he wanted to give Rendon a chance to have two straight days off, including the scheduled off day on Monday.