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The Angels are coping with a little bit of a scare involving offseason signee Robert Stephenson. The righty reliever departed Saturday’s Triple-A rehab outing after going through one hitter (whom he walked). Whereas particulars are nonetheless sparse, the group instructed reporters this afternoon that he’s headed for additional testing after experiencing soreness in his throwing elbow (X link by way of Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com).
Stephenson has spent your entire season on the injured listing, however the elbow concern appears to be new. His unique IL placement got here on account of some shoulder discomfort that arose throughout Spring Coaching. The abbreviated rehab look was his first official recreation motion as a member of the Los Angeles group.
The Halos signed Stephenson to a three-year, $33MM pact that represented their largest funding of the winter. Whereas they kind of overhauled your entire bullpen, Stephenson was the one participant to whom they made a multi-year dedication. They envisioned him stepping in as a high-end setup arm in entrance of Carlos Estévez, however his Angels tenure has gotten off to a rocky begin. Stephenson was arguably the perfect reliever in MLB for the ultimate few months of the 2023 season. After being traded from the Pirates to the Rays in early June, he threw 38 1/3 innings of two.35 ERA ball with a large 42.9% strikeout price.
It’s far too quickly to know whether or not he’s at risk of lacking vital time. If there’s a long-term elbow concern, nevertheless, it might have an effect on Stephenson’s contract standing. His three-year deal features a provision that the Halos would obtain a $2.5MM membership choice for the 2027 marketing campaign if he suffers an elbow ligament damage that knocks him out of motion for 130+ days.
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