Angels outfielder Juan Rivera’s vision problem said to be stress-related
Juan Rivera needs to chill out, doctor’s orders.
Otherwise, the blurred vision troubling the Angels outfielder could trouble him further, forcing him to miss more than the four consecutive contests he has already sat out.
“It’s stress, a lot of stress, man,” Rivera said at his locker before Saturday’s game.
Rivera said he visited an eye doctor Thursday for the ailment, which he said began in late June during the Angels’ series in Chicago against the Cubs. He hasn’t heard the results, but he was told it’s stress-related.
“He said, ‘Take some rest, the more rest you take, the more you’ll be OK,’ ” Rivera said. “He said it happened because I’ve got a lot of stress.”
So, what’s eating Rivera? “Nothing really.”
Has he dealt with this before? “This is my first time.”
He said on the days it bothers him, his vision kind of fades in and out at times — and he doesn’t appear to be alone in this issue, perhaps giving credence to the idea that something is going around.
“The same doctor said he’d seen three people in a week with what I’ve got — the going, come back, going, come back,” he said.
But Rivera said he’s feeling better. His left eye still looked bloodshot Saturday, but an eye exam taken earlier in the day showed he has 20/20 vision, which Manager Mike Scioscia was pleased to hear.
“We’ll get a read on him the next couple days on how he feels to see when he can get back in there,” Scioscia said.
As for his morale, Rivera, who is batting .239 this season, seemed happy Saturday. It was his 32nd birthday, after all.
Relief via trade unlikely
A routine intentional walk in the Angels’ 2-1 loss to Kansas City on Friday typified their bullpen’s up-and-down season.
It came in the 10th inning: Scott Shields on the mound, David DeJesus at the plate.
Shields threw ball one so high catcher Jeff Mathis had to leap to catch it, and he threw ball four so low Mathis had to fall to his knees to stop it.
“It wasn’t your fundamental intentional walk, I’ll put it that way,” Scioscia said Saturday.
Shields told reporters after the game it was probably his worst intentional walk ever, and though it technically worked, the shakiness of its execution spoke to the season-long questions about the effectiveness of the Angels’ bullpen.
Entering Saturday, the relievers had a posted a 4.78 earned-run average, ranking them 27th out of 30 Major League teams.
But even with the trade deadline coming at the end of this month, Scioscia said he’s confident the Angels don’t need another reliever.
“ Brian Fuentes is throwing the ball much better,” Scioscia said. “Fernando Rodney, even though at times he has been a little erratic, is still getting the job done. Kevin Jepsen has really filled in the middle and later innings.
“We have confidence these guys are going to hold leads.”
Go time for Bell
Scioscia said right-hander Trevor Bell, who was optioned to triple-A Salt Lake on Friday so he could work as a starter, will start for the Angels on Monday in Chicago against the White Sox. Bell is 1-1 with a 6.38 ERA in 14 appearances this season.
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