Los Angeles Angels: Injuries begin in the outfield with Justin Upton’s toe

It’s usually the Los Angeles Angels pitching that racks up the injuries during the season, but this time, the first official injury of the season belongs to a position player.

Even though, technically, the injury happened during one of the final preseason games between the Los Angeles Angels and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

While making a catch at the wall, Justin Upton hyper-extended his left big toe and will miss between 8 to 10 weeks according to Rhett Bollinger with MLB.com.

Angels GM Billy Eppler reported that the injury is rare with baseball players and said:

"“It’s an injury that’s way more common in the NFL. It’s suffered by offensive and defensive linemen a lot because they have their foot in that position.”"

Upton joins Shohei Ohtani on the injured list. Ohtani had Tommy John surgery in the fall and is not expected to pitch this season. He is expected to join the team soon to DH. Eppler reported good news about Ohtani, who has been taking various forms to BP for most of Spring Training:

"“He’s moving along. A lot of the plan is derived off of him. It’s not made in a back room somewhere. It’s more of how he feels as he goes through each kind of new layer of progression.”"

The expectation is that Ohtani will join the Angels in May. This is good news, but not for the Angels outfield. If Upton is out for 8 to 10 weeks, this put his return around the end of May, beginning of June.

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Prior to his injury, Upton only had seven at-bats during Spring Training. He hit .143/.500/.573 with one home run. In 2018, he hit .257/.344/.463 and played in 145 games. He’s an asset in the left field. He took home a Silver Slugger Award in 2017.

The Angels top prospect, outfielder Jo Adell, is also out with a leg injury that he sustained in March. Adell sprained his right ankle and strained his left hamstring. Another farm-system outfielder in the Angels system, Jarrett Parker is also injured and is therefore unable to pick up Upton’s spot for a few weeks.

This forced the Angels to step outside of the organization to fill left field. They claimed Brian Goodwin off of waivers. He will platoon with Peter Bourjos, who will face lefties. Goodwin will see right-handed pitching. In Friday’s game against the A’s, Goodwin went two for four with two runs scored. In 2017 with the Washington Nationals, he hit a slash of .251/.313/.498 with 13 home runs in 74 games. Goodwin could be a satisfactory replacement for Upton.

Upton’s injury forces a few changes to the batting order. To protect Mike Trout from a plethora of walks, Upton often protects him in the three-hole. Brad Ausmus will have to use his other heavy hitters in that spot to keep Trout’s bat in the game.

Hopefully, this is the last of the bad news for the Los Angeles Angels who should be celebrating the Mike Trout extension rather than looking for replacements for their All-Star left fielder.