Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs must wait to redeem himself after being placed on 10-day DL
Redemption will have to wait for Tyler Skaggs. The Angels left-hander was placed on the 10-day disabled list because of a left-groin strain Saturday, knocking him out of Sunday’s scheduled start against the Cleveland Indians.
Skaggs hoped to make amends for what he said was “probably the worst outing I’ve had in my life,” a 3 1/3-inning, 10-run, eight-hit effort in Tuesday night’s 10-6 loss at Tampa Bay. He expects to return next Saturday against Oakland at Angel Stadium.
“I know it’s not that serious [of an injury], but it’s extremely, extremely frustrating,” said Skaggs, who is 8-7 with a 3.34 ERA in 20 starts this season. “Words can’t describe how frustrated I am at the moment, especially after the last outing I had.
“I really want to come back and pitch the way I have been all season. I’m not happy at the moment but hopefully I’ll be back on Saturday ready to roll.”
Since Skaggs missed all of 2015 and most of 2016 because of elbow ligament-replacement surgery, his injuries seem to have migrated south.
He missed three months of 2017 because of a rib-cage strain and two weeks this past July because of a right-groin strain. He had one start pushed back in late June because of a tight right hamstring.
“My arm feels great,” Skaggs said. “It’s unbelievable, man, because I do everything in my power to be ready to go, and these things keep nagging at me. It’s the epitome of the season for us.”
Skaggs began to feel discomfort during Tuesday’s game, and his condition worsened during a 33-pitch fourth inning in which he gave up seven runs and four hits. He threw a bullpen session Friday, after which the Angels made the decision to put him on the DL.
“I think I was overcompensating for my other leg,” Skaggs said. “I threw 40 pitches [sic] out of the stretch in that last inning and fatigued myself. My left leg has been doing all of the work for a month, and now that one doesn’t feel good.”
Reliever Taylor Cole replaced Skaggs on the roster Saturday. Right-hander Deck McGuire will start Sunday.
Trout out
A sore right wrist kept Mike Trout out of the lineup for a third straight game Saturday. The center fielder was able to throw but was unable to swing the bat with enough force to play. Mike Scioscia said Trout might be available to pinch-run Saturday night.
“He’s moving in the right direction, but he’s not able to swing in a major league game,” Scioscia said. “He didn’t have a setback, but injuries heal at their own pace. We’re hopeful [he can play Sunday], but you can’t move forward until these things are at a level where he can go out and play, and he’s not there yet.”
Trout suffered the injury on an awkward feet-first slide into third base in the first inning of Wednesday night’s 4-2 loss at Tampa Bay, jamming his right hand into the ground as he tried to avoid a tag on a stolen-base attempt by sliding to the inside of the bag.
Learning curve
Jaime Barria didn’t get the win Friday night, but Scioscia liked the way the rookie shook off a rocky start in which he gave up three runs in the first two innings to blank the Indians from the third through fifth innings. The Angels won 7-4.
“As he grows and understands fastball command better, where to throw it and when to use it, he has a really wide array of things he can do against a hitter,” Scioscia said. “We love his makeup, and I think that’s why he’s going to figure a lot of this out.
“Things started to tilt the wrong way [Friday night] and he made the adjustments, reset himself and gave us a chance to win. You can’t teach that in a young pitcher, and we’re excited about that.”
UPDATES:
7:20 p.m.: This article was updated to report that Deck McGuire will be the Angels’ starting pitcher Sunday.
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