Posts tagged KelvimEscobar at FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

As is often the case this time of year, the Los Angeles Angels have been toying with the idea of adding another bat to their anemic offense for the stretch run. General manager Tony Reagins has come out and said that he's happy with the team he currently has, but that doesn't mean he'd turn down the right offer if it was presented to him.

The general consensus being that since the Angels have a surplus in starting pitching, they could move an arm or two to bring a bat like Mark Teixeira in. The thought process was that once Kelvim Escobar returned to the rotation, the Angels would have more than enough pitching.

There's been a wrench thrown in the plans, though, because it doesn't look like Escobar is going to be coming back this season.

After suffering a serious setback in his rehabilitation from a shoulder tear, it appears doubtful the 32-year-old right-hander will pitch at all for the Angels this season.

"I woke up [Tuesday] and it was like, wow, it's painful," said Escobar, who threw three innings for Class-A Rancho Cucamonga on Monday night. "It's not the normal soreness you feel after you pitch. It's pain. It's hurt. And it's in the same spot."

Escobar chose to skip any surgery and just rehab the injury back in the spring, but he's likely to undergo an MRI on his shoulder again today. Considering the pain he's still feeling, I don't think anything on the MRI is going to come back very positive, and I wouldn't be surprised if he finally chooses the surgery option this time around. Doing so would obviously end his season.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups

Kansas City Royals (14-16) vs. Los Angeles Angels (20-13) - 8:10PM Est.

Who the hell needs John Lackey and Kelvim Escobar? It's a question that many Angels fans have probably been asking themselves a bit the last few weeks. I mean, those two were only the two best starters on the Angels staff last year, winning a combined 37 games.

Who needs those 37 wins when you have Joe Saunders and Ervin Santana? Those two have pitched back-to-back all season long, and neither have bothered to try losing a game yet. Yesterday Saunders improved to 6-0 on the year with a win over the Orioles, and today Ervin will try to join his teammate at 6-0.

It's been almost a month since Angels starter Kelvim Escobar suffered a setback in his recovery from a tear in his shoulder, and he's scheduled to start throwing again today in Arizona. Now, normally this would be just another step in the recovery process for a rehabilitating pitcher, but the Angels are going to be keeping a close eye on Escobar.

If he suffers another setback today, or at any time in the future, he's going to need surgery on the shoulder that could cost him the entire 2008 season. (third item)

Angels pitcher Kelvim Escobar, sidelined by a shoulder tear, will begin throwing again today in Arizona, about a month after he discontinued his previous throwing program because of pain.

If Escobar, who went 18-7 with a 3.40 earned-run average last season, experiences another setback, he probably will undergo surgery that would knock him out for the season.

Though I suppose that if Kelvim does miss the season, that's a lot better than his initial fears that his career may be over. The good news for the Angels is that they have enough starting pitching on the roster to get them through this season without Escobar should their worst fears be met, and with John Lackey scheduled to begin a rehab assignment on Thursday, it shouldn't be too much longer until he returns to the rotation as well.

Yesterday I told you about the latest setback to an Angels pitcher when Kelvim Escobar had to be shut down during his shoulder rehab, and would likely miss another month because of it. Still, Kelvim's manager Mike Scioscia remained optimistic that Escobar's latest setback wouldn't be that big of a deal, and that the Angels would be able to deal with his absence if they had to.

Well, Mike, you may have to deal with that absence for a lot longer than you thought. You might have to wait forever if you ask Kelvim.

Angels right-hander Kelvim Escobar disclosed today that he has a tear in his pitching shoulder and is concerned that it is a career-threatening injury. Surgery, he said, is a possibility.

"I'm concerned -- I don't know what's going to happen," Escobar told reporters. "I don't even know if I'll be able to pitch again."

"I'm still young," he said. "I'll be 32 in two weeks, but retirement is getting into my head, because it's hard to rehab. I want to be out there playing, and I've done everything I can do to be healthy."

For now, Escobar's plan is to continue to try and strengthen the shoulder through rehab, but he's aware that he may need surgery to repair it. If he does have to undergo surgery, I don't think the Angels will be seeing him on the mound this season.

What would really worry me though if I were the Angels, is Escobar's attitude towards the whole thing. He's already thinking of retiring because it's hard to rehab? That doesn't sound like the sentiment of somebody who's going to try his hardest to get back on the field. Considering that Kelvim just signed a $28.5 million deal before last season, the team might want to take some extra steps to "motivate" him to work through the pain.

And the hits just keep on coming for the Angels.

This spring has already been hard on the Halos as they've already put four pitchers on the disabled list (Kelvim Escobar, John Lackey, Scot Shields, and Chris Bootcheck) and they'll probably be putting Gary Matthews Jr. on it as well in the coming days. It seems that every day the Angels are hit with bad news.

That didn't change this morning. Kelvim Escobar, who was expected to be back in May, had a setback in his shoulder rehab on Tuesday and is going to miss even more time.

As if the Angels didn't have enough problems, there was more disturbing news Tuesday: A week into his throwing program, the second phase of his rehabilitation from a sore shoulder, Escobar has been shut down because of discomfort, a setback that probably will push the right-hander's return to June.

"When you're activating your arm, sometimes you have little glitches," Scioscia said. "He started to throw, felt a little discomfort, and now he's trying to get some of the inflammation out of there. It's nothing unusual in a rehab scenario to have to take a step back."

I don't know if I agree with Mike Scioscia's diagnosis of this being a "little glitch" in Escobar's rehab. Losing the 18-game winner for another month doesn't really qualify as "little" in my book. Kelvim stubbing his toe and having to miss a day is a little glitch. This is a bonafide problem.

If there's any good news for the Angels, it's that they didn't trade away any of their excess pitching this offseason because they need it now more than ever. Of course, it's even better news for the Mariners, as this can only help their odds of wrestling the AL West away from the Halos.

The Angels disabled list is filling up rather quickly this spring. It seems like everyday they're having to place another player on it. So far, it's been an affliction that's only affecting their pitching staff as the Angels have four pitchers on the disabled list in John Lackey, Kelvim Escobar, Scot Shields, and Chris Bootcheck. Luckily for the Angels, if there's an area of the team where they have enough depth to shoulder such losses, it's the pitching staff.

The other area where the Angels are extremely deep is in the outfield where they currently have six players they can plug in. Actually, make that five at the moment, because Gary Matthews Jr. may soon be joining all those pitchers on the shelf.

Outfielder Gary Matthews Jr. left Monday's game against the San Diego Padres in the first inning after rolling his right ankle while running the bases. Matthews was helped to the clubhouse by Angels trainer Ned Bergert and then taken for X-rays. The X-rays were negative and the preliminary diagnosis is a sprained right ankle.

His status will be re-evaluated today but even before the injury he was not scheduled to play again until Thursday's one-game Freeway Series in Anaheim.

You never want to have injuries in the spring, but if you're going to have them, you don't want them to be during the final week before the season starts. As I already said, though, with Torii Hunter, Vlad Guerrero, Garrett Anderson, Juan Rivera, and Reggie Willits, there are plenty of Angels in the outfield to keep the team afloat if Matthews has to miss any times.

Coming into the spring, the Angels had one of the best problems a baseball team could have. They had more Major League ready starting pitchers than they had spots in their rotation. It's the real world equivalent of having too much money.

There was a lot of talk in the offseason that the Angels were thinking of using that excess pitching to help land another big bat in the lineup, like the annual Ervin Santana to Chicago for Paul Konerko deal, but instead landed Torii Hunter through free agency. So the Angels were able to hold on to all their pitchers(and added Jon Garland to boot), and given injuries to both Kelvim Escobar and now John Lackey, they're lucky they held on to all those arms.

There was some talk that with Lackey out, the Angels might consider signing a free agent like Horacio Ramirez, or even Jeff Weaver, but why do that when you already have better options on the roster? Like one Dustin Moseley who will be taking Lackey's spot in the rotation for the time being.

Dustin Moseley probably will replace the injured John Lackey in the rotation to start the season, but even Moseley knows he can't replace the intangibles Lackey brings.

The Red Sox announced today that Daisuke Matsuzaka will get the ball on Friday for Game 2 of their series with the Angels. Because the Red Sox opted to play the longer of the two ALDS schedules, it also means that the rookie righthander would be back on the Fenway mound for a potential Game 5. Both choices, Matsuzaka and the longer series, are odd ones from the AL East champions.

By taking the longer series the Sox have given the Angels two starts each for John Lackey and Kelvim Escobar and helped them avoid making a tough call on a Game 4 starter. The Red Sox have the offensive advantage in this series and it would be exacerbated if the Angels had to find two starters from the group of Bartolo Colon, Jered Weaver and Joe Saunders. The Red Sox would have had a pitching edge in Games 3 and 4 after being even to slightly below in the first two games.

As for Matsuzaka, I'm surprised that the Sox went with him over Curt Schilling. Perhaps the finest postseason pitcher of his generation, Mr. Bloody Sock will get just one start when he could have had two. When the Sox held him out of his final regular season start it was assumed he was going to be slotted for Games 2 and 5 but now they are saying they want him to rest and boost his velocity.

How much difference is two days going to make? Schilling was very sharp, whatever the speed of his pitches, over his last six starts while Matsuzaka closed the season on fumes. Anaheim is a bigger, more forgiving park than the bandbox at Fenway and that may have helped influence their decision to save Schill for Game 3. I'd bet on the playoff hero over the rookie the league figured out every day of the week and twice in the ALDS.

Making history, or falling prey to it? Fall Down or Fall Classic looks at the reasons each playoff team could win it all -- or could become a mere footnote in 2007's MLB yearbook.

Postseason baseball is becoming a bit of a habit for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Some of Southern California Including Orange County Some Of The Valley A Little Bit Of Malibu But None Of East Los Angeles. Since the Angels celebrated a World Series championship in 2002, they've made the playoffs in two of four seasons, making it to the ALCS in 2005 when the lost to the White Sox.

So how will the story end in 2007?

The Angels took over first place back in April and they never let it go. Sure, the Mariners provided some excitement at the beginning of September, but the Angels responded by letting us all know who the cream of the crop really is in the AL West. When it was all said and done, the Angels finished 94-68, five games ahead of the Mariners.

So will 2007 end up the same way 2002 did, or are the Angels on the verge of another early exit from the playoffs? I'm of the opinion that the Angels may officially take over the city of Los Angeles this fall, but that's just my opinion. Let's all take a deeper look.

We here at the MLB FanHouse will be musing twice a month until the end of the season on who we think leads the AL and NL Cy Young award races.

American League: C.C. Sabathia, Cleveland Indians

Last time if you remember, the A.L. Cy race was too close to call. This time ... well, it still is. But I can't cop out twice in a row. Since our last Cy snapshot, C.C. Sabathia (17-7, has thrown 17 innings in two starts and has only given up one run, helping the Tribe to a healthy lead in the A.L. Central. Josh Beckett is right there too, having won his last two starts as well. But after Sabathia has passed Beckett in ERA, a category he had been lagging behind by a big margin all season, I have to give the edge to Sabathia this week. With John Lackey, Kelvim Escobar, and Fausto Carmona also lurking, it's going to be a very tight race down the stretch.

Also in the mix:
Josh Beckett (18-6, 3.27 ERA)
John Lackey (16-8, 3.18 ERA)
Kelvim Escobar (16-7, 3.04 ERA)
Fausto Carmona (16-8, 3.20 ERA)
J.J. Putz (1.43 ERA, 37 saves)
Chien-Ming Wang (18-6, 3.69 ERA)