OC Register: Angels right-hander Chris Rodriguez to miss much of 2022 after shoulder surgery

[AngelsWin.com]

CARLSBAD — On the first day that the Angels could officially begin adding pitchers, they revealed that they lost one.

Chris Rodriguez, who had emerged as a promising option either as a starter or reliever in 2021, will be out for most, if not all, of 2022 after undergoing right capsule surgery.

General Manager Perry Minasian said on Monday, the first day of the annual GM Meetings, that Rodriguez had exploratory surgery on his shoulder last month, and doctors saw “some things that needed to be repaired.”

“I’m not giving a timeframe, but it’s probably the majority if not the whole season,” Minasian said.

Rodriguez, 23, was one of the feel-good stories of the first half of the Angels’ 2021 season. After missing most of the past two years with back problems and eventual surgery, Rodriguez made the Angels’ Opening Day roster, despite never having pitched above Class-A.

He had a 3.66 ERA as a reliever, and then he went down to the minors to get built up as a starter. He returned for two starts, in which he allowed four earned runs in 10 innings.

COACHING MOVES

The Angels parted ways with first base coach Bruce Hines, in addition to the previously reported moves with third base coach Brian Butterfield and catching coach José Molina, Minasian said.

They are currently conducting interviews to find their replacements.

“They brought a lot to the organization,” Minasian said, “but it comes down to fit, and looking for some different fit.”

All three of the dismissed coaches were responsible for various parts of the defense, which was one of the Angels’ biggest problems last season.

“I wouldn’t blame things on coaches,” Minasian said. “I think it comes down to myself and the baseball operations staff and having better personnel. If we had better defenders, we would have ranked better defensively. If we were healthier, I think we would have showed a little better defensively also.”

SPENDING FORECAST

Minasian would not specifically say what the Angels’ payroll is going to be for 2022.

“Anything is possible,” he said when asked if the payroll would be higher than the roughly $180 million the Angels spent for 2021.

If the Angels keep their budget about the same as last year, they would have about $50 million to spend this winter.

“I wouldn’t rule us out of anything,” Minasian said, adding “I’m looking forward to this offseason. I think we’re going to be able to do some things to help this team improve.”

NOTES

A day after the Angels made the qualifying offer to closer Raisel Iglesias, Minasian said “we’d love to keep him, and the qualifying offer doesn’t deter a longer-term deal in any way. He’s mentioned he’d like to be here and we would like to keep him. So we’ll see where it goes.” …

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Center fielder Mike Trout missed most of last season recovering from a calf injury that took months longer than expected to heal. Minasian said he talked to the three-time American League MVP last week and he “is doing well. He’s running. He’s working out. I think he’s pretty excited with how he feels. He gave himself more time off than he did in the past. He let his body heal.” …

The Angels are likely to re-acquire right-hander José Soriano, who was taken out of their organization by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Rule 5 draft last year. A former top 10 prospect with the Angels, Soriano was designated for assignment by the Pirates on Sunday. After he clears waivers, he will be offered back to the Angels for $25,000. Soriano still could get claimed on waivers, but that’s not likely because he is four months into the rehabilitation from a second Tommy John surgery. He won’t be able to pitch until 2023, but the Angels could keep him on a minor league deal. …

Minasian said newly hired Chris Carpenter will work with minor league pitchers, mostly on the mental side. Carpenter pitched for 15 years in the majors and he had spent several years in the St. Louis Cardinals’ front office, but his job was one that was cut during the pandemic. “We couldn’t be more excited to add a guy like that to the organization,” Minasian said.

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[BTH]

1 hour ago, AngelsWin.com said:

“They brought a lot to the organization,” Minasian said, “but it comes down to fit, and looking for some different fit.”

That sounds to me like they didn't "fit" with the new school way of coaching.

[BTH]

Any word on whether they are gonna make changes to the training staff?

[SlappyUtilityMIF]

Looking for more analytics guys....

[jsnpritchett]

 

 

[Angel Oracle]

7 minutes ago, jsnpritchett said:

 

 

Time running out for him to continue on?

How many pitchers have missed as much time as he has, and gone on to solid MLB careers?

Edited May 24, 2022 by Angel Oracle

[Halo in Chicago]

Bummer

[Angel Dog and Beer]

Of course. I mean, why not? 

Hope its nothing major. 

[Inside Pitch]

28 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

Time running out for him to continue on?

How many pitchers have missed as much time as he has, and gone on to solid MLB careers?

The Blum tweet made it sound like it was by design and an effort to keep him from red assing himself into more injury.

[Angels 1961]

29 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

Time running out for him to continue on?

How many pitchers have missed as much time as he has, and gone on to solid MLB careers?

He is still young but would not think many. Halos hope to get a few years out of him.

[Angel Oracle]

34 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

The Blum tweet made it sound like it was by design and an effort to keep him from red assing himself into more injury.

It did kind of sound like it.

[Warfarin]

3 hours ago, Angel Oracle said:

Time running out for him to continue on?

How many pitchers have missed as much time as he has, and gone on to solid MLB careers?

I think there's still time.  I don't think he will ever be a SP, but he could still be an effective reliever.  He's still rather young, so despite all the injuries, he can still right the ship.

[Inside Pitch]

When people talk about Chris Rodriguez many injuries they are aware that it is in fact TWO injuries in 7 years as a pro, right?   A back injury that they tried to do the rest and rehab thing and eventually ended up doing the surgery anyway costing themselves two years and then last year the shoulder capsule.  We aren't talking Steven Ontiveros/Butch Henry here or for that matter, Griffin Canning.

If they shut him down to avoid him pushing it too far, great.  It means they know they need to protect him from himself.  If it's a set-back..  hopefully we get more info.

[tdawg87]

He's 24 and he's under club control for 5 more years (after this year). 

They aren't punting on him any time soon.

[Second Base]

I'm told that as far as they (one person in the organization) knows, there hasn't been any setback. He wasn't going to pitch before February 2023 anyway. The plan is for him to have as normal of an off-season as possible. 

[Angel Oracle]

So far, 6 years after being drafted, he’s pitched just 127 total MiLB/MLB innings.

They do admittedly need to be cautious because of that.

[Jeff Fletcher]

11 hours ago, Second Base said:

I'm told that as far as they (one person in the organization) knows, there hasn't been any setback. He wasn't going to pitch before February 2023 anyway. The plan is for him to have as normal of an off-season as possible. 

He felt some soreness in his shoulder and was shut down, according to Angels head trainer Mike Frostad. 

[Angel Oracle]

Anytime I hear shoulder, that’s a red flag for a pitcher.

[Jeff Fletcher]

1 hour ago, Angel Oracle said:

Anytime I hear shoulder, that’s a red flag for a pitcher.

The red flag was when he had shoulder surgery last October and they said he’d probably miss all of this season. 
 

All that happened now is probably went to definitely (although they haven’t used that word but it seems obvious).

[Vegas Halo Fan]

1 hour ago, Angel Oracle said:

Anytime I hear shoulder, that’s a red flag for a pitcher.

Yeah, usually not a good sign. It is difficult to recover from.

[DMVol]

2 hours ago, Angel Oracle said:

Anytime I hear shoulder, that’s a red flag for a pitcher.

Elbow is one thing, TJ surgery can fix it, but shoulder is a different ballgame....

[failos]

6 minutes ago, DMVol said:

Elbow is one thing, TJ surgery can fix it, but shoulder is a different ballgame....

Taylor Ward….

[m0nkey]

On 5/25/2022 at 10:06 AM, Inside Pitch said:

When people talk about Chris Rodriguez many injuries they are aware that it is in fact TWO injuries in 7 years as a pro, right?   A back injury that they tried to do the rest and rehab thing and eventually ended up doing the surgery anyway costing themselves two years and then last year the shoulder capsule.  We aren't talking Steven Ontiveros/Butch Henry here or for that matter, Griffin Canning.

If they shut him down to avoid him pushing it too far, great.  It means they know they need to protect him from himself.  If it's a set-back..  hopefully we get more info.

[Inside Pitch]

1 minute ago, m0nkey said:

Well played..  Very very well played.   

[Jeff Fletcher]

1 hour ago, failos said:

Taylor Ward….

His injury isn’t to the shoulder joint. It’s more of a nerve thing in the neck as it goes to the shoulder. The anatomy of the shoulder joint is fine.