ANAHEIM -- Shortstop Andrelton Simmons was held out of the Angels’ lineup Friday against the Rangers as a precaution with lower back stiffness suffered Thursday in an 11-4 loss at Angel Stadium.
Simmons underwent an MRI exam on Friday morning, but it revealed no structural damage. He didn’t injure his back on a specific play; it simply locked up on him while he was getting set to play defense in the second inning. Simmons left the game in the third.
"It feels good,” Simmons said. “I got looked at and everything looks good and feels good, which is even better. I thought I was going to be a little sorer with some symptoms, but it feels good. Range of motion feels good."
Simmons said he expects to be back in the lineup as soon as Saturday. If it were up to him, he would have been in the lineup on Friday.
"I feel like I can do everything," Simmons said. "If it's up to me, [I could play]. But I don't make all the rules or the lineups. I did have a strikeout yesterday, so I can't be like, 'Put me in.'"
As Simmons joked, he did go 0-for-1 with a strikeout on Thursday before leaving the game. He’s off to slow start offensively, 4-for-24 with four strikeouts and one walk in 25 plate appearances.
Manager Brad Ausmus reiterated they will be careful with Simmons but expressed relief that the injury isn’t considered serious.
“It was clean,” Ausmus said. “No strain. No edema. Nothing. He feels better today. He’s not in the lineup today, but like I said last night, he’s day to day. We’ll see how he feels tomorrow. But he does feel a lot better.”
Heaney cautiously optimistic
Left-hander Andrew Heaney, who was diagnosed with “chronic changes” in his throwing elbow, said he’s happy he didn’t suffer any structural damage but admitted it has been tough to open the season on the injured list for the second straight season. Heaney is scheduled to start throwing again next week after getting a cortisone shot in his elbow but said he’s not sure when he’ll return.
"A day at a time,” Heaney said. “I mean, I know I'm throwing soon. I don't know exactly the day. I think it’s soon. I’m the boy that cried wolf. I don't have the credibility to really dictate how I want things to go. I'm kind of on a roller coaster now, and I just got to be as calm as I can and let the ups and downs happen and, hopefully, get off the ride with a smile on my face."
Heaney said he has had to grapple with days when he feels like his body has betrayed him, as he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2016 and also missed roughly two weeks to open last year with elbow inflammation. He said his two dogs help him therapeutically and that he’s trying to find better perspective to deal with the injury, which is likely to keep him out at least another month.
“In the grand scheme of things, it’s a game,” Heaney said. “I understand that. But there's times that you get your identity tied into what you do. My identity is a baseball player, and because I have a bad game or I have a good game doesn’t make me a bad or good person. Just because I'm not healthy doesn't mean that I'm not existent as a human being. I understand the impact that I have outside of the arena of baseball -- I get that. So it’s just trying to put those things into perspective and sometimes you get lost in your own [stuff] and that’s part of it.”
Ramirez, Middleton progressing
Right-handers JC Ramírez and Keynan Middleton, who are both coming off Tommy John surgery, are continuing to rehab in Arizona without any issues, Ausmus said.
Ramirez is further along than Middleton, as he has been throwing off a mound since early February and is nearing a live bullpen session. Middleton didn't throw off a mound until March 22, but his progression will be faster because he won't be stretched out to start like Ramirez. There's a chance Ramirez could return as a reliever, but the Angels plan to stretch him out in case he's needed in the rotation. Both are expected to return in midseason.
“They are both doing well,” Ausmus said. “I don’t think either of them threw yesterday. JC, within the past five days, threw a bullpen using all his pitches. Keynan has been off a mound a few times at least.”