Oh No… Escobar Hurt

The Angels suffered a huge blow today, as it was revealed that Kelvim Escobar may have re-injured his right shoulder during his rehab start last night with the Quakes.

That sound you just heard was the air being sucked out of Anaheim.

According to Escobar, he could tell during his bullpen warm up sessions that something was wrong, but he decided to ignore it and pitch anyway, thinking that the pain would just subside. He admitted later on that pitching was probably the wrong idea, but he thought it may have been just the pains of loosening up.

“It’s hard to make that call because this is kind of like Spring Training for me,” Escobar said. “Sometimes you go through a process where you are getting loose and I thought it was one of those things. But I shouldn’t have pitched last night, because when I tried to get loose I felt like I was pushing the ball.”

While this is a significant blow to the Angels and their playoff hopes, this is a bigger blow to Escobar, who has worked incredibly hard to get back with the big club. Angels team physician Dr. Lewis Yocum will have a meeting with Escobar tonight to determine how bad the injury is, and whether or not Kelvim will have to shut down his entire season.

So what to do now… well, the Angels are no worse off now than they were yesterday. As of Monday, Kelvim wasn’t on the roster, he wasn’t pitching for the Angels and it was still going to be weeks before his return. As of today, he is still not on the roster or pitching with the club. The only thing that has actually changed is Escobar’s return date, if there will actually be one.

Obviously, this takes out any possible trade involving Angels’ starting pitching. The Halos, if they are going to make a trade, will have to look at moving different pieces and possibly minor league pitchers. The starting rotation will remain in tact, and the Angels will continue to rely on John Lackey, Joe Saunders, Ervin Santana, Jon Garland and Jered Weaver to get them to the playoffs.

All in all, while this is not good news for the club, the Angels are really no worse off now than they were before. If pitching were their weakness, this would be a huge setback for the team. Luckily, our Halos aren’t built that way, and the pitching should continue to carry the club. The Angels, I’m sure, will continue to look at ways to improve the offense, and that’s not something that Escobar could’ve helped with anyway.

I’m sure I speak for all of us when I say: Get well soon, Kelvim. We’re going to need you next year.