Angels Place Taylor Ward On 10-Day IL With Facial Fractures

The Angels introduced this morning that outfielder Taylor Ward has been positioned on the 10-day injured listing with facial fractures. In a corresponding transfer, the membership chosen the contract of infielder Kevin Padlo. Padlo will take the 40-man roster spot vacated by left-hander Tucker Davidson, who was designated for task earlier within the week.

Ward’s harm stems from a scary second in the course of the membership’s loss towards the Blue Jays final night time. As famous by MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger, Ward was struck within the face by a sinker from right-hander Alek Manoah. The 29 12 months outdated needed to be carted off the sector after the incident and was evaluated at a neighborhood hospital. Per The Athletic’s Sam Blum, Ward has since been launched from the hospital however won’t journey with the staff to Atlanta for the collection towards the Braves, which begins tomorrow.

In 409 journeys to the plate this season, Ward has posted a strong .253/.335/.421 slash line, 8% higher than league common by measure of wRC+. Whereas that slash line is a departure from the 137 wRC+ Ward supplied final 12 months, he’s caught hearth in July, slashing a whopping .304/.424/.623 in his final 85 plate appearances. The lack of Ward for what figures to be an prolonged interval is a crushing blow to an Angels membership that’s already coping with accidents to Mike Trout, Logan O’Hoppe, Gio Urshela, Anthony Rendon, Brandon Drury, Max Stassi, and Jo Adell amongst its place participant corps.

With Ward on the shelf, the membership figures to depend on an outfield of Mickey Moniak, Hunter Renfroe, and Trey Cabbage in the meanwhile. Between the membership’s important harm woes on the place participant aspect of issues and their current blockbuster deal to accumulate right-handers Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez from the White Sox, it appears affordable to count on the Angels to research additions to the membership’s offense. They’ve already mentioned a Jeimer Candelario take care of the Nationals, and it’s potential that Ward’s harm may push them to discover the outfield market as effectively. Tommy Pham, Mark Canha, and Adam Duvall are among the many outfielders who may probably be on the transfer forward of the commerce deadline on August 1.

Ward’s journey to the IL makes room on the energetic roster for Padlo, a 27-year-old journeyman who has performed for 5 groups within the majors since making his huge league debut in 2021. Padlo briefly got here as much as the large league membership earlier this season, slashing .125/.125/.250 in simply eight plate appearances earlier than being designated for task to make room for veteran infielder Mike Moustakas after he was dealt from the Rockies to the Angels. Except for that brief stint within the majors, Padlo has spent this season primarily with Anaheim’s Triple-A affiliate in Salt Lake Metropolis, the place he’s slashed a strong .257/.385/.464 in 51 video games. Padlo, who has expertise at first base, second base, third base, and left subject, figures to offer a bat-first utility choice to the Angels for the nook spots, complementing the glove-first work of Andrew Velazquez up the center.