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Angels reliever José Quijada has ligament damage, will get second opinion

May 3, 2023

ST. LOUIS — Jose Quijada got a discouraging diagnosis on his sore elbow, leading the Angels to concern that the left-hander might be lost for the season.

Manager Phil Nevin said the first evaluation showed “some damage to the ligament,” and that Quijada will get a second opinion to determine if he needs surgery. A damaged ligament would normally lead to Tommy John surgery, which has a 12- to 18-month rehabilitation.

“The news wasn’t great from the MRI but sometimes those can be misleading,” Nevin said. “Then you can go into further evaluations and hopefully we get better news.”

Quijada briefly emerged as one of the Angels’ ninth-inning options in April, but he struggled for a couple of outings, including one last week in which he threw an 89 mph fastball. His average is 94-95 mph.

The next day, Quijada reported that he didn’t feel right when he woke up in Milwaukee, so he was placed on the injured list and sent for further evaluation.

The Angels are also now planning to be without right-hander Austin Warren for an extended period. Nevin said they don’t yet have an official diagnosis on Warren, but he is not going to throw for four to six weeks.

“Hopefully we get better news on both of them,” Nevin said.

TEPERA ACTIVATED

The Angels activated right-hander Ryan Tepera after he missed two weeks with shoulder inflammation.

Tepera, who threw two perfect innings at Class-A Inland Empire during a rehab assignment, said he used the time off to work on his mechanics. He watched videos from how he pitched two years ago, trying to correct the issues that led to him struggling for the first couple of weeks of this season before he was hurt.

“The main thing I struggled with the first part of the season was really getting on the plate, keeping everything on the plate, especially the slider,” Tepera said. “That’s one thing I really looked into and focused on mechanically. I made some adjustments and I feel really good.”

The Angels created a spot for Tepera by optioning right-hander Andrew Wantz, who has an 0.79 ERA. The Angels had only two relievers with options – Wantz and Chase Silseth – and they chose to send down Wantz rather than designating a veteran pitcher for assignment.

General Manager Perry Minasian said the Angels can’t afford to lose any more bodies, particularly after the losses of Quijada and Warren.

“It’s a long season,” Minasian said. “We want to keep as many players as we can over the course of the year. We make tough decisions. That’s the decision we made.”

Nevin also pointed out that Wantz did have some things he needed to work on, such as his fastball command. Wantz’s ERA is also somewhat misleading because he’s allowed nine of 12 inherited runners to score.

SILSETH’S ROLE

The Angels not only opted to keep Silseth, who could have been optioned, but Nevin said he’s planning on increasing his role in the bullpen.

Silseth had only been a starter, but he has pitched three scoreless innings out of the bullpen so far, including working the seventh inning with a three-run lead on Sunday.

Nevin believes that Silseth’s velocity might go up from his current 96.3 mph average with regular use in short stints. That would be particularly helpful for the Angels because their bullpen is mostly finesse pitchers.

“The other day you saw him pitch in the seventh, and I could see him climbing even higher than that,” Nevin said. “He’s certainly going to pitch in some high-leverage situations. I want to see it. I think he’s very capable of it stuff-wise and mentally.”

NOTES

Shohei Ohtani got the day off on Tuesday, just the second time this season that he’s been out of the lineup. Nevin said it was a logical day because he got a two-for-one, including Monday’s off day, and he’s pitching on Wednesday. The Angels were also facing a lefty, so they could get an extra right-handed hitter in the lineup. …

Switch-hitter Luis Rengifo, who is much better against lefties, got the start in center field, with Mike Trout going to DH. Nevin said he is comfortable with Rengifo in center as opposed to moving Taylor Ward to center and putting Rengifo in left. “We like the way he moves out there,” Nevin said. …

Minasian said there is still no timetable for when first baseman Jared Walsh (headaches, insomnia) or catcher Max Stassi (hip) will return.