ANAHEIM — Chase Silseth was in that awkward waiting phase on Monday, after getting an MRI exam but before learning what it showed.
“Anytime there’s something with the elbow, I have concern,” the Angels right-hander said. “Anytime any injury happens, you want to be ahead of it.”
The Angels placed Silseth on the injured list on Monday, a day after he gave up three runs in five innings in a 12-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox. Silseth was diagnosed with right elbow inflammation pending the result of the MRI exam.
Silseth’s velocity dropped from around 95 mph in the first inning to 92 mph by the fifth inning on Sunday, but he said after the game that he didn’t think anything of it. He said he was “trying to work through some things.”
On Monday, Silseth said he felt something during the game, but it wasn’t enough to cause any alarm.
“I felt it on a couple breaking balls, but I didn’t think anything of it because it’s getting to the plate,” he said. “They’re good pitches when I threw them. I didn’t really think anything. I just thought normal stuff. Then, I came in here (the clubhouse) and did my stuff and it wasn’t going away after I did everything. So then I brought it up, just to be safe.”
In the meantime, the Angels will replace Silseth in the rotation with right-hander José Soriano. Soriano will start on Wednesday, which gives an extra two days to Griffin Canning. Canning will now start on Friday in Boston.
Soriano was a reliever last season, but he showed enough potential that the Angels gave him a try in the rotation this spring. Although Soriano did well, the Angels still felt it was best to begin the season with him in the major league bullpen, working multiple innings to remain stretched out to start.
Soriano pitched three dominant innings in his first game, and then he gave up three runs in three innings in his second game. His fastball has routinely hit 101 mph.
Soriano was stretched out to 60 pitches in spring training and he threw 43 pitches on Friday.
“We’ll just put him out there till he can’t go any more,” Manager Ron Washington said. “That doesn’t mean he’s going to reach 100 pitches. With him getting this opportunity, I think he’ll be more consistent in the strike zone. The problem he had the last time was he couldn’t land his secondary stuff. If he starts landing his secondary stuff, he’s the kind of guy get quick outs, so he could be in the eighth.”
As for Canning, his fastball has been down about 2 mph from last year’s velocity throughout both of his starts. Canning said he feels fine.
“It’s not going to hurt to get Canning an extra day,” Washington said.
The Angels also placed right-hander Guillo Zuñiga on the injured list with a right pectoral strain.
“I don’t think it’s very serious,” Washington said. “He felt something and the doctors felt that is what he needed.”
The Angels called up right-handers Hunter Strickland and Carson Fulmer to take the roster spots of Silseth and Zuñiga. Both are capable of pitching multiple innings.
For Strickland, it represents a return to the majors for the first time since 2022. He was released by the Cincinnati Reds in Triple-A early last season, and the spent the rest of the year thinking his career was over. He was coaching kids and decided to try again.
“Just kind of lit a fire and realized I can still do this,” Strickland said on Monday. “There was an unfinished business feeling in my heart. I view the game differently now. Not trying to force results. Force things to happen and just kind of love the game like those kids that I was training.”
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The Angels opened 40-man roster spots for Fulmer and Strickland by designating Livan Soto and Zach Plesac for assignment. Plesac is not likely to be claimed because he has a $1 million guaranteed contract. Soto was claimed over the winter by the Baltimore Orioles, who were at the end of the waiver claim order, so he also might clear.
NOTES
Reliever Robert Stephenson (shoulder inflammation) will throw his live batting practice session on Tuesday. He is expected to go on a rehab assignment and be back in the majors by the end of April. …
Right-hander Andrew Wantz was the pitcher of the week in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. Wantz struck out 11 in six innings last Thursday. …
First baseman Nolan Schanuel was not in the lineup on Monday. Schanuel has started the season in a 2-for-27 slump. “Just to give the young kid a break,” Washington said. “I don’t want him pressing. I don’t want him to get to the point that he thinks we don’t have confidence in him.”
UP NEXT
Rays (RHP Aaron Civale, 1-1, 1.50 ERA) at Angels (LHP Patrick Sandoval, 1-1, 6.14), Tuesday, 6:38 p.m., Bally Sports West, 830 AM
