Two more players exited the last two games with injuries on a team already missing several starters including superstar Mike Trout. They got swept by the Dodgers, again. They went into the break with a losing record for the first time since April.
The Angels seemed to be in decent shape last month after rookie shortstop Zach Neto suffered an oblique strain and third baseman Gio Urshela was lost for the season with a pelvis fracture because they traded for veteran infielders Eduardo Escobar and Mike Moustakas to provide reinforcements. They remained in the thick of the playoff hunt in part because of Shohei Ohtani’s historically hot June.
But the Angels went into the break having lost five games in a row and nine of 10, with 14 players on the injured list and three more not healthy enough to play.
The Angels (45-46) will resume their season Friday at home against the defending champion Houston Astros with their work cut out for them, to say the least.
“I keep telling you I’m not going to make excuses, but we are going through a hard time,” manager Phil Nevin said last week. “We’ve had two weeks where it’s been, for a lot of reasons, rough. We’ve had our share of injuries but we just have not played well.”
Here are five things to look for as the Angels resume their season, including whether Ohtani’s days in Anaheim are numbered: