OC Register: Angels’ Blake Wood diagnosed with damaged UCL

[AngelsWin.com]

ANAHEIM — Blake Wood and Keynan Middleton both said at the time of their elbow injuries that they figured they would just miss the minimum time on the disabled list.

It hasn’t worked out for either of them.

On the day that Middleton underwent Tommy John surgery, the Angels announced Tuesday that Wood also has a damaged ulnar collateral ligament. Wood, who already had Tommy John surgery, is seeking further opinions before the team comes up with a course of action.

Wood had pitched three times for Class-A Inland Empire in the past week. His velocity showed no signs of a problem, but he wasn’t able to recover afterward, according to General Manager Billy Eppler.

“He’s throwing hard in his rehab and he just wasn’t getting the recovery,” Eppler said Tuesday. “It made us scratch our heads a little bit.”

Wood was expected to throw again on Sunday, but he didn’t. He went for an MRI on Monday that showed a tear to the graft from his previous Tommy John surgery.

Wood, 32, had allowed three runs in 11-2/3 innings before being shut down with the elbow injury.

In the wake of the losses of Wood and Middleton, Eppler was asked if he’s interested in acquiring relief help from outside the organization.

“I’m open-minded,” he said. “I’m always open-minded to help, whether it’s run-scoring or run-prevention. I don’t have any bias.”

ALSO

Shohei Ohtani is scheduled to make his next start on Sunday against the New York Yankees, who are scheduled to start Masahiro Tanaka that day. …

Matt Shoemaker, has another follow-up on Wednesday with a nerve specialist as they try to determine the cause of his repeated troubles, Eppler said. …

The Angels game on Thursday will not be televised in Southern California. It will only be available on Facebook. It is part of a series of games shown exclusively on Facebook. It will still be broadcast on the radio. …

The Angels made a handful of promotions among their top minor league prospects: moving top outfield prospects Brandon Marsh and Jo Adell to Inland Empire; infielder Luis Rengifo and outfielder Brandon Sandoval to Double-A Mobile; first baseman Matt Thaiss and left-hander José Suarez to Triple-A Salt Lake City. …

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The Angels also had decided to promote third baseman Taylor Ward to Triple-A, but Ward cut his finger while packing, requiring stitches. He is now on the disabled list at Double-A. He will move as soon as he’s able to play. …

In order to create space at Triple-A, the Angels traded Chris Carter to the Minnesota Twins for cash or a player to be named later and released Ryan Schimpf. Carter, the former National League home run champ, signed a minor league deal with the Angels at the beginning of spring training. Carter was hitting .255 with 13 homers and a .933 OPS at Salt Lake City. Schimpf had been acquired for Carlos Perez just after opening day. Schimpf had been up for two brief stints in the majors, but he was batting .178 at Salt Lake City. …

Right-hander Griffin Canning, who has started two combined no-hitters this year, is taking a break at Double-A to manage his workload. Eppler said the former Santa Margarita High and UCLA standout is scheduled to start again on Saturday, which would be 11 days rest. …

Baseball America released its latest Top 100 prospects list, with Canning added at No. 100. The Angels now have five players among the top 100: Ohtani (No. 2), Adell (43), Jahmai Jones (85), Marsh (99) and Canning. …

Angels bullpen coach Scott Radinsky is away from the team for a few days, with minor league roving pitching coordinator Matt Wise taking his place.

UP NEXT

Angels (Tyler Skaggs, 3-3, 2.88) vs. Blue Jays (Aaron Sanchez, 2-4, 4.47), Wednesday, 4 p.m., Fox Sports West, KLAA (830 AM)

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