Angels bring veteran infielder Brendan Ryan ‘home’ to help fill void at shortstop
Angels’ Brendan Ryan warms up prior to a game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Angel Stadium on Tuesday.
Brendan Ryan found out at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday in upstate New York that he’d been traded to the Angels. On Monday, his triple-A team, the Syracuse Chiefs, had lost power in the clubhouse, creating what he described as awkward postgame showers.
Now, as the Angels’ response to Andrelton Simmons’ thumb surgery, Ryan will spend nine of the next dozen nights at his own place, and play the first six games against the two teams with whom he spent the first decade of his career, St. Louis and Seattle.
“It just doesn’t get better,” Ryan said. “I don’t know why this luck has been bestowed upon me. I don’t know if I should be here or in Vegas at the moment.”
Ryan, a 34-year-old shortstop, has a .610 career on-base-plus-slugging percentage but a sterling defensive reputation. He came to know Angels General Manager Billy Eppler over three shared years in the Yankees organization, beginning in 2013.
A Los Angeles native who went to high school in Sherman Oaks and came up with the Cardinals, Ryan now makes his off-season home in L.A.’s Miracle Mile, where he’ll stay as an Angel. He went to spring training with Washington this season thinking he’d make the roster, then found himself in triple A for his first extended period in eight years.
As the Angels attempt to replace Simmons, Ryan will split time at shortstop with utilityman Cliff Pennington.
“They gotta stop getting guys hurt over here, it sounds like,” Ryan said.
Short hops
The Angels will recall right-hander Matt Shoemaker from triple-A Salt Lake to start Wednesday’s game against St. Louis. Shoemaker was sent down following his April 30 loss in Texas. He made one start for Salt Lake and permitted one run in six innings. . . . Left-hander C.J. Wilson threw his second bullpen session Tuesday, will throw again Thursday and plans to face live hitters Monday, after which he could be close to beginning a rehab assignment. Wilson has been bothered by shoulder tendinitis. He seems to be targeting a mid-June return. . . . Left-hander Tyler Skaggs did not have his scheduled strength test because of restrictions in his neck and shoulder, Eppler said. Skaggs, who had been in triple A working his way back from Tommy John surgery, has not thrown since April 20. . . . Closer Huston Street threw for the first time since straining an oblique muscle April 27.
Twitter: @pedromoura
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