Chase Silseth likely to replace injured José Suarez in Angels’ rotation

ANAHEIM — Although Phil Nevin said he liked what Chase Silseth brought to the Angels’ bullpen, necessity is going to bring him back to the rotation.

After the Angels placed José Suarez on the injured list with a left shoulder strain on Monday, the Angels manager said that Silseth is likely to take Suarez’s spot in the rotation on May 17 in Baltimore. Since the Angels don’t need a sixth starter until next week, it’s possible they change plans before then, depending on how the games go in the days prior.

Suarez might have been bounced from the rotation even if he didn’t hurt his shoulder while he was allowing seven runs on Sunday, ballooning his ERA to 9.62.

The Angels don’t have to answer questions about the quality of Suarez’s pitches for now, because they are still waiting to see how seriously he is hurt. He underwent an MRI on Monday afternoon, and the Angels hadn’t heard the report from doctors when Nevin addressed the media.

Suarez will be out for a minimum of 15 days, which provides an opportunity for Silseth.

The Angels recalled Silseth two weeks ago because they were desperate for innings out of the bullpen, and he’d been starting in Triple-A. After he pitched three scoreless innings in his first two relief outings, Nevin said he felt that was Silseth’s best role for now. As a starter, Silseth had issues with declining velocity and poor performance once he got past around 50 pitches.

Nevin also said he felt Silseth’s velocity would go up even from his normal 96-97 mph in short relief outings.

All of that is on hold now, though.

The Angels could have moved left-hander Tucker Davidson into the rotation and left Silseth in the bullpen, but it’s now been more than a month since Davidson was stretched out to start.

The Angels had to use Silseth, Davidson and Jaime Barría in blowout losses on Saturday and Sunday, so they called up right-hander Cesar Valdez to provide bullpen coverage on Monday. He replaced Suarez on the active roster.

Valdez is a 38-year-old soft-tossing journeyman who Nevin said “can throw just about every day, as many pitches as you want.”

The Angels moved left-hander José Quijada to the 60-day injured list to create a spot on the 40-man roster for Valdez.

LESSON FOR SUAREZ

Suarez said after Sunday’s game that he began to feel pain in his shoulder in the second inning, but he didn’t tell anyone until the third, after he’d allowed seven runs.

Nevin said it was regrettable, but understandable, that Suarez kept his mouth shut.

“For somebody that’s never had an injury, and has pitched through some soreness before, you don’t quite understand what injured is,” Nevin said. “It’s not a knock on anybody. It’s not a knock on any player. You know your body more than anybody. But until you’ve had an injury that sets you back for a long time, you probably don’t know what that feels like.”

NOTES

Catcher Chad Wallach has been bothered by a stiff neck for the past two days. The Angels brought catcher Chris Okey to Anaheim in case they needed him. …

Nevin said he “went back and forth” on whether he should put Taylor Ward back in the leadoff spot or continue with Zach Neto, but he decided to go back to Ward. “I think when we’re at our best, when Wardo is going well, is to have him there,” Nevin said. “Neto really in that nine spot is kind of almost another leadoff spot once we start rolling through this.” Ward hit .306 with a .906 OPS last week, but for the season he’s still hitting .233 with a .680 OPS. Neto is hitting .236 with a .621 OPS. …

The Angels are expected to detail the plan for Jared Walsh’s rehab on Tuesday. Walsh, who has been out with headaches and insomnia, has been working out at Angel Stadium.

UP NEXT

Astros (LHP Framber Valdez, 2-4, 2.60 ERA) at Angels (RHP Shohei Ohtani, 4-0, 2.54), Tuesday, 6:38 p.m., Bally Sports West, 830 AM

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