Los Angeles Angels’ bullpen’s key left-hander Jose Kihada (28) is away due to elbow ligament reconstruction surgery (Tommy John surgery).
On the 4th (Korean time), Angels coach Phil Nevin announced the news of Kihada’s season out in an interview with local media such as ‘CBS Sports’.
Kihada felt elbow pain after the match against the Oakland Athletics on the 28th of last month. After that, he underwent two hospital examinations, and it was confirmed that he had damage to his elbow ligaments, so surgery was decided. The expected period until his return is 14 to 18 months, and he is expected to be unable to play for half of the 2024 season as well as this season.
Kihada is the core of the Angels bullpen. He appeared in 42 games last year and was active with 12 holds and 3 saves in 40⅔ innings. He served as the team’s closer ahead of this season, showing impressive performance at the beginning of the season and collecting 4 saves.
Kiha, who had been smooth, faltered slightly from the bottom of the 4th inning. He was sluggish with 2 hits, 4 walks and 5 runs in ⅔ innings against the Kansas City Royals on the 23rd, and 3 hits and 2 runs (1 earned run) in ⅓ innings against Oakland on the 28th. After that, he had to go through surgery, which ended his season.
‘Major League Trade Rumors (MLBTR)’, which deals with news of major league transfers, said, “The Angels have to spend the rest of the season thinking about Kihada’s gap. However, Matt Moore (34), Aaron Loop (36), and Tucker are in the bullpen. Davidson (27), etc. In the short term, there will be no big impact,” he explained.
The Angels lost their closer, but they’re keeping the bleeding to a minimum. Carlos Esteves (31), who was in charge of the temporary finisher, is filling the void well by playing an active role with an average ERA of 1.23 in 14 games and 6 saves as of the 3rd. However, the loss of a key member of the bullpen that could be available,메이저놀이터 and the fact that the bullpen could weaken that much, remained a concern for the Angels.
