The Los Angeles Angels finish a three-game series against the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday night in Anaheim, Calif., but will have to do so without another relief pitcher.
Right-hander Archie Bradley suffered a fractured right elbow when he fell while jumping over the dugout railing in his haste to join the fight between his teammates and the Seattle Mariners on Sunday.
As a result of the fight, the Angels also lost relievers Andrew Wantz, Raisel Iglesias and Ryan Tepera. They were suspended, not injured. Wantz has served two games of his three-game suspension, while Iglesias (two games) and Tepera (three) remain active pending appeals.
Neither Iglesias nor Tepera pitched in Tuesday’s 11-4 loss to the White Sox.
“With the way he’s been throwing the ball recently and what he brings to the clubhouse, it’s a huge loss,” Angels acting manager Ray Montgomery said of Bradley. “In the short term, guys are going to have to step up. I think we’ve done a good job all year of picking up other guys. We’ll miss him, for sure, but the guys down there know what they need to do.”
Bradley, who is 0-1 with a 4.82 ERA and two saves in 21 games, is expected to miss up to two months.
“It won’t have any long-term effects,” Angels head trainer Mike Frostad said. “He won’t even be in a cast. With this injury, the biggest thing is to keep it moving and keep that range in the elbow. It’s a well-documented injury in orthopedics. It happens with a fall with an outstretched hand.”
Right-hander Shohei Ohtani (6-4, 2.90 ERA) will be on the mound for the Angels on Wednesday after one of his best starts of the season — he shut out the Kansas City Royals on two hits over eight innings while striking out a career-high 13 in the Angels’ 5-0 win last Wednesday.
Ohtani has one career start against the White Sox, getting a no-decision after throwing 4 2/3 innings and allowing three runs (one earned) in a game last season.
Right-hander Michael Kopech (2-4, 2.59) will make his 14th start of the season for Chicago. He’s coming off a loss against Baltimore in which he gave up three runs in six-plus innings on Friday and has been dealing with right-knee discomfort.
Kopech began feeling the discomfort on June 12 against the Rangers, so the Orioles thought they could take advantage of his lack of mobility by dropping down a bunt or two.
Cedric Mullins bunted on Kopech’s first pitch of the game and beat it out for a hit. In the second inning, Jorge Mateo squared to bunt on the first pitch to him. Then on a 1-2 pitch, Kopech hit Mateo in the back with a 99-mph fastball.
“Just part of the game,” Kopech said.
Kopech is 1-1 with a 2.25 ERA in two career appearances against the Angels, both coming last season.
–Field Level Media
