ANAHEIM — The Shohei Ohtani Watch reached Day 3 with the Angels’ two-way star still out of the lineup.
Ohtani, who is dealing with oblique tightness, was at least cleared to take some swings on Wednesday, which he hadn’t done since he first felt the discomfort on Monday.
When Manager Phil Nevin spoke to reporters about three hours before Wednesday’s first pitch, the Angels still didn’t have a lineup because they were waiting to see how Ohtani came through a pregame workout.
About an hour later, he was not in the lineup.
Ohtani had been out of the lineup just twice this season before this series.
There is seemingly no reason to push Ohtani if there’s even the slightest risk of a more serious injury, because the Angels are out of the playoff race. Ohtani is also facing an undetermined procedure on his torn ulnar collateral ligament just before he heads into free agency this offseason.
CABBAGE’S NUMBERS
Trey Cabbage had two at-bats in Tuesday’s game, with decidedly different results.
In the eighth inning, the rookie outfielder came up with two outs and yanked an RBI single into right field to give the Angels the lead.
In the 10th, the Angels were down by a run with the tying run at third and one out. Putting the ball in play might have led to a run, but Cabbage struck out.
Through his first 46 plate appearances in the majors, Cabbage had 23 strikeouts and no walks. He was hitting .222 with one home run and a .573 OPS. He drew his first walk in his 47th plate appearance, on Wednesday night.
Cabbage struck out 31% of the time in Triple-A but still produced a .967 OPS. Nevin conceded that it’s difficult for Cabbage to show improvement in his contact rate in the majors while getting limited playing time.
“Not getting consistent at-bats is not conducive to working on that up here,” Nevin said. “There are certain times, even a big guy like that who can hit it way out of here, needs to shorten up and put a ball in play. Those are things we talked about.”
As for the lack of walks, Cabbage has swung at 47% of the pitches he’s seen that are out of the zone. The major league average is 28%.
“The walk is nice,” Nevin said, “but with him, I want to see some balls land in the seats.”
NOTES
Right-hander Chase Silseth (concussion) is not scheduled to pitch at least through the weekend, Nevin said. The Angels have not decided who will pitch on Thursday. Griffin Canning, Tyler Anderson and Kenny Rosenberg will pitch over the weekend against the Cleveland Guardians. …
Shortstop Zach Neto (lower back inflammation) is scheduled to play at Triple-A through Saturday, with an off day on Thursday, and then he will be re-evaluated, Nevin said. …
Right-hander Ben Joyce (ulnar neuritis) looked “great” in his one-inning rehab outing at Class-A Inland Empire on Tuesday, Nevin said. Joyce is scheduled for “another outing or two,” Nevin said. …
All-Star Mike Trout (fractured hamate) still has not started swinging the bat, Nevin said. “That’s going to come when he feels better,” Nevin said. “Each day the pain is less and less.” …
The Angels optioned infielder Michael Stefanic to Triple-A and recalled outfielder Brett Phillips, who hasn’t been in the majors since May. Nevin said they wanted Stefanic to get more regular playing time than he was getting in the majors. Also, they wanted to have another outfielder in the majors so Randal Grichuk could get a day off. The Angels had just three true outfielders on the roster, not including Luis Rengifo. …
Grichuk was reportedly placed on waivers again. The Angels placed him on waivers before the Aug. 31 deadline for setting postseason rosters and he went unclaimed. A team could still claim him and get him simply by taking his salary, but Grichuk would no longer be eligible to play in the postseason.
UP NEXT
Guardians (RHP Cal Quantrill, 2-6, 6.16) at Angels (TBD), Thursday, 6:38 p.m., Bally Sports West, 830 AM