The Los Angeles Angels have lost yet another starting position player to injury. On Sunday, the Angels placed left fielder Taylor Ward on the 10-day injured list with facial fractures, the team announced. He was hit in the face by a pitch from Toronto Blue Jays righty Alek Manoah on Saturday. Infielder Kevin Padlo was called up to fill Ward's roster spot.
Here is Ward's injury. He was released from the hospital Saturday night but will not travel with the team following Sunday's game.
"There are a lot of tests to be run," Angels manager Phil Nevin told MLB.com after Saturday's game. "You guys saw the replay. It got him pretty good. It compounds things right now with the loss. But our thoughts are with him."
The 29-year-old Ward is hitting .253/.335/.421 with 14 home runs this season. He slashed .304/.424/.623 with five homers in 20 games this month prior to the injury. The Angels have not announced a timetable for Ward's recovery, though it does not figure to be a swift return from facial fractures. He suffered serious injuries and will need time to recuperate.
Ward joins a long list of injured Angels regulars. They were already without their top two catchers (Logan O'Hoppe and Max Stassi), three infielders (Brandon Drury, Anthony Rendon, Gio Urshela), outfielder Jo Adell, and of course the great Mike Trout. Trout began taking swings earlier this week, though he is still weeks away from returning from hamate surgery.
The Angels are five games back of a wild-card spot entering play Sunday and they're going for it. They're keeping Shohei Ohtani and they traded for Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo López late Wednesday. The trade deadline is 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday and the Halos now figure to seek an outfielder to replace Ward. Here are a few possible outfield targets now that Cody Bellinger is off the market.
Thomas is having a breakout season, one that looks better on the surface than it does under the hood, and the Nationals could look to cash him in when his value is at its highest. The thing is, even if Washington does make Thomas available, it's hard to see the Angels winning a bidding war. Their farm system is thin and they traded their top two prospects for Giolito and López. Hard to see them being able to make the winning offer for Thomas at this point.
The Mets are selling, the Max Scherzer trade confirmed it, and Canha and Pham are their two most obvious remaining trade chips. The Angels and Mets already hooked up for the Eduardo Escobar trade a few weeks ago, so New York has done its homework on the Halos' farm system. That could speed up the process. Unless the Cubs decide to trade Bellinger despite clawing back in the race, Pham is the best rental outfielder on the trade market. He's having a strong season.
Duvall is no stranger to being traded at the deadline -- he was dealt at the 2015, 2018, and 2021 deadlines -- and he's expendable to a Red Sox team that has lefty masher Rob Refsnyder to complement its all-lefty hitting outfield (Jarren Duran, Alex Verdugo, Masataka Yoshida). The asking price should not be high, which works well for an Angels team with few quality trade chips. Duvall has picked it up at the plate the last few weeks after missing time with a wrist injury earlier this season.
This might be the best, most realistic option for the Angels. Grichuk's numbers are inflated by Coors Field -- his OPS is nearly 200 points higher at home -- and he's a platoon guy against lefties more than an everyday player, but he's very available and the cost should be minimal. With limited trade chips, Grichuk may be the only bidding war the Angels can win between now and the trade deadline. He'll help with Ward sidelined, but is a role player more than a difference-maker.
