The Los Angeles Angels are a franchise without its superstar player these days, Shohei Ohtani. The team finally made a move to replace to replace their Japanese American superstar on Saturday, as shared by Angels beat reporter Jeff Fletcher.
Angels GM Perry Minasian shared a major Ohtani injury update that has baseball fans in California and throughout the country talking. The baseball world reacted simultaneously to the latest Ohtani updates in a collective state of stunned disbelief.
Now a call-up has been revealed that will change the Angels’ roster as they are prepared to move on from the injured superstar Ohtani for the time being.
The Angels are activating CJ Cron (back) from the IL to take Ohtani’s spot.
(That doesn’t change their luxury tax payroll, btw, because both are still making the same salaries.)
— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) September 16, 2023
Cron is a 6-foot-4, 235 pound first baseman who is hitting above .250 with 12 home runs on the season. He throws right-handed and hits right-handed, and hails from Fullerton, California, a city where some of the best baseball in the state has historically been played.
The Golden State and Angels fans throughout California will surely miss watching Ohtani play for the time being, but Phil Nevin’s team doesn’t have any time to waste sitting around feeling sorry for itself. The Angels remain fifteen games out of first place in the AL West, and will do their best to make things interesting down the stretch of what has been a topsy-turvy season at times.
Ohtani’s season-ending oblique injury came during a season in which the 29-year-old hit .304 while leading the American League in home runs with 44. His WAR (wins above replacement) number easily led the majors according to FanGraphs’ calculations.
With Ohtani on the shelf, the unheralded slugger Cron has a chance to hone his craft in key at-bats down the stretch. Meanwhile, Minasian and the Angels’ brass will remain busy figuring out ways to help the team in any capacity it can in pursuit of a playoff appearance as soon as humanly possible in the City of Angels.
