Los Angeles Angels: C.J. Wilson likely done in LA
Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher C.J. Wilson is set to have shoulder surgery next week.
The Los Angeles Angels are having a forgettable 2016 season. The club enters Wednesday with the fourth-worst overall winning percentage in all of Major League Baseball, with 50 losses compared to just 34 wins.
The Angels were American League West champions in 2014, but the franchise that invested so much in the likes of Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton and C.J. Wilson has not had the continued success that was expected.
Hamilton is no longer on the team, and some recent news may mean Wilson will not appear in another game as a member of the Angels either.
Today, the #Angels Organization released the following statement regarding the medical status of LHP C.J. Wilson: pic.twitter.com/MM4G6rWZuf
— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) July 5, 2016
Wilson’s injury has kept him out of action this entire season, while elbow surgery limited him to only 21 starts in 2015.
This is the last year of Wilson’s five-year contract he signed back in 2012 during the big spending spree by the Angels’ front office, meaning he will likely never play another game in an Angels uniform.
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Wilson will enter 2017 as a 36-year-old pitcher who has not played in a professional game since July of 2015. A pitcher coming off both elbow and shoulder surgeries is a tough sell, but Wilson should find his way into a team’s rotation as the fourth or fifth starter, given he is fully recovered from his surgeries by the time Spring Training begins.
The Angels signed Wilson to a five-year, $77.5 million deal in 2012, and he had some success as a member of the team. He went to the All-Star Game in 2012 and followed that up with a 17-7 record and a 3.39 ERA in 2013.
2014 was a great year for the Angels, but that is when Wilson began to struggle. He only logged 175.2 innings, which was his lowest total since becoming a full-time starting pitcher in 2010.
He was given a chance to redeem himself with the team down 2-0 to the Kansas City Royals in that year’s ALDS, but Wilson managed to give up three runs and only get two outs before he was pulled from the game.
Wilson only started 21 games last year before his elbow surgery, so his potential going forward is a mystery due to his long absence from the game. But some time off could be a good thing for someone who has only been a starting pitcher since 2010. Being away from the game for so long could allow Wilson to pitch for four or five more years, as long as the surgeries don’t do too much damage to his abilities.