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Robert Stephenson’s tenure with the Angels bought off to an unwelcome begin when the reliever needed to begin the season on the 15-day injured listing resulting from proper shoulder irritation. The righty supplied MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger with an replace, saying that his hope is to be obtainable earlier than April is over, although he’ll first want to finish a rehab project.
The shoulder soreness first arose earlier than the Angels’ spring camp even opened, and consequently, Stephenson wasn’t capable of pitch in any respect within the Cactus League. Stephenson will due to this fact want some additional ramp-up time to try to simulate the Spring Coaching expertise, although he has already began to select up his throwing progressions. The fitting-hander had his first bullpen session on Thursday and one other is deliberate for Monday.
Los Angeles signed Stephenson to a three-year, $33MM free agent deal in January, because the 31-year-old was handsomely rewarded for a significant in-season turnaround. With a penchant for inconsistency each as a starter after which after he turned a full-time reliever in 2019, Stephenson had a 5.14 ERA in 14 innings for the Pirates earlier than the Bucs dealt him to Tampa in a considerably under-the-radar deal. Stephenson then turned the most recent within the Rays’ lengthy line of pitching reclamation initiatives, as he broke out with a 2.35 ERA, eight p.c stroll fee, and a implausible 38.3% strikeout fee over 38 1/3 innings in a Tampa Bay uniform.
Whereas the shoulder damage isn’t the very best begin to a $33MM deal, the Angels are betting that Stephenson can preserve the magic going to change into a lockdown member of their bullpen. The Halos invested closely of their aid corps (and never a lot else) this winter, including Stephenson, Matt Moore, Luis Garcia, Adam Cimber, and Jose Cisnero as a part of an intensive bullpen overhaul.
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