TEMPE, Ariz. -- Luis Valbuena, the Angels' top free-agent acquisition, is disappointed he will not be able to begin the season with his new teammates.
"I feel so bad because I want to start the season healthy," Valbuena said Friday. "We'll see what happens. I wanted to start the season, try to win and help my team. Right now I feel so bad because it's my first time here. A new team, and this happens to me."
Valbuena, who signed a two-year, $15 million deal with the Angels in January and was projected to be the club's Opening Day first baseman, was diagnosed with a Grade 1 right hamstring strain on Thursday and will miss 4-6 weeks.
Valbuena said he suffered the injury in the first inning of the Angels' 7-4 loss to the Rangers on Wednesday while scoring from second base on Danny Espinosa's two-run single. Valbuena initially stayed in the game and took his second at-bat in the third inning, but the discomfort lingered and he exited after speaking with a team trainer.
"Before I touched home plate, I felt it a little bit, but I didn't think what happened was so bad," Valbuena said.
Valbuena, 31, was enjoying a career year for the Astros in 2016 before having season-ending surgery on the same hamstring in August. He finished the campaign batting .260 with an .816 OPS, 13 home runs and 40 RBIs over 90 games. The Angels had hoped his left-handed bat would help balance their right-handed-heavy lineup.
With Valbuena out, the right-handed-hitting C.J. Cron is now expected to open the season as the Angels' primary first baseman.