Los Angeles Angels player Dexter Fowler, who started the right football field, has a torn ACL that will require end-of-season surgery, the team announced Sunday.
Fowler, 35, was injured while traveling to second base to try to force Friday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays in Dunedin, Florida. Fowler hit Bo Bichette’s throw to the Blue Jays playing field and did not slip, causing him to arrive uncomfortably and sink to the ground in pain.
The Angels initially diagnosed Fowler with a sprained left knee, but a follow-up MRI revealed that he was much more severe. The team said Fowler is expected to need six to nine months to recover after surgery.
Los Angeles manager Joe Maddon said he plans to replace Fowler with Juan Lagares and Jose Rojas, the latter of whom currently serves as a utility provider. Rojas started Sunday at third base instead of Anthony Rendon, who had pain in his left groin caused by a throw on Saturday.
Fowler, acquired at St. Louis Cardinals in early February, was five for 20 with six tackles to start the 2021 season and has hit .218 / .320 / .370 over the past three years. But Maddon, who previously led Fowler with the Chicago Cubs, said he believed the camper was starting to come out offensively and would miss his presence on the team.
“He’s one of those glue guys, man,” Maddon said. “It really makes a difference. Yes. You talk about it all the time with guys from the club, but this is really one.”
Fowler’s injury creates an immediate opening for the Angels ’two most promising young players, Jo Adell and Brandon Marsh, both working at the team’s alternate spot in Tempe, Arizona, before the minor league season begins. Adell struggled as a rookie last year, and Marsh has yet to play above the double A after spending the 2020 coronavirus-reduced season playing mostly intrasquad games.
Maddon said he would defer Angels minor league development staff when Adell and Marsh are ready for the major league.
“I can hardly imagine them hardening the game [from spring training] to the point where you still want to educate them, ”Maddon said.