ANAHEIM \u2014 The Angels are hoping they are approaching the day when they\u2019ll actually have some rotation choices to make again.<\/p>\n
Before right-hander Walbert Ure\u00f1a got his first chance in the No. 5 spot in the rotation on Sunday, Kurt Suzuki had encouraging updates on several of the other starters who have been unavailable lately.<\/p>\n
Right-hander Ryan Johnson, who began the season in the No. 5 spot, pitched just once before getting a viral infection, and while he was on the injured list because of the illness he tweaked his hamstring.<\/p>\n
Apparently the hamstring issue wasn\u2019t serious, because Johnson is throwing again.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s planning on throwing a bullpen here soon,\u201d Suzuki said.<\/p>\n
Right-hander Grayson Rodriguez was projected to be in the rotation before he was slowed down late in the spring with what he described as a general weakness. The designation on the injured list is \u201cshoulder inflammation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rodriguez has thrown three bullpen sessions in the past week and a half, including one on Friday. Suzuki said he expects him to face hitters \u201cwithin the next week. Maybe we\u2019ll talk after today to see how he feels, but hopefully sooner rather than later he can face some hitters and then kind of progress, if he\u2019s feeling good, more rapidly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Right-hander Alek Manoah, who has a finger contusion has been facing hitters in Arizona.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe guys working with him say he\u2019s been looking great,\u201d Suzuki said. \u201cI know the finger\u2019s feeling better, which is good.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Angels also have a new healthy option now that Caden Dana finally made up for the time he lost when he missed the beginning of spring training with mono. Dana made his season debut on Saturday at Triple-A, pitching six innings, and allowing two runs. Dana struck out seven and didn\u2019t walk anyone.<\/p>\n
Other than those pitchers, right-hander George Klassen and left-handers Mitch Farris and Sam Aldegheri are all healthy and pitching at Triple-A now.<\/p>\n
Klassen had two disappointing big league starts, and Farris and Aldegheri both held their own in limited bullpen opportunities so far this season.<\/p>\n
JOYCE UPDATE<\/p>\n
Right-hander Ben Joyce is set to face hitters again in the coming days.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s chomping at the bit,\u201d Suzuki said. \u201cI\u2019m texting him and he\u2019s texting, \u2018I\u2019m ready to go, man. I can\u2019t wait.\u2019 It\u2019s OK, settle down. It\u2019s good to hear him excited, positive with how he\u2019s feeling and all that stuff, so we\u2019re excited.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joyce only pitched 4\u2153 innings last season and then he had shoulder surgery, so the Angels are taking an extremely conservative approach to his rehab.<\/p>\n
NOTES<\/p>\n
Jorge Soler returned to the Angels\u2019 lineup after the end of his four-game suspension. The Angels were 2-2 without him. \u2026<\/p>\n
Right-hander Tyler Bremner, the Angels top prospect, struck out 10 in five innings in his third professional start on Saturday night. Pitching at Class-A Tri-City, Bremner has an 0.77 ERA with 20 strikeouts and four walks in his first 11\u2154 innings. \u2026<\/p>\n
Sunday was the 60th anniversary of the first game at Angel Stadium. The Angels will wear a commemorative patch for the remainder of the homestand.<\/p>\n
UP NEXT<\/p>\n
Blue Jays (RHP Dylan Cease, 0-0, 1.74) at Angels (LHP Reid Detmers, 1-1, 3.57), Monday, 6:38 p.m. PT, FanDuel Sports Network, 830 AM<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ANAHEIM \u2014 The Angels are hoping they are approaching the day when they\u2019ll actually have some rotation choices…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":347035,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2390],"tags":[291,5,1165,446,3223,774,56,3224,3222,4,185],"class_list":{"0":"post-679348","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-angels","8":"tag-angels","9":"tag-baseball","10":"tag-la","11":"tag-la-angels","12":"tag-laangels","13":"tag-los-angeles","14":"tag-los-angeles-angels","15":"tag-losangeles","16":"tag-losangelesangels","17":"tag-mlb","18":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116433189445757148","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=679348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679348\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/347035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=679348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=679348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=679348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}