Angels Pitcher Matt Shoemaker Cleared to Pitch in 2017
One of the scariest injuries of the 2016 baseball season occurred on Sept. 4. Angels starting pitcher Matt Shoemaker suffered a fractured skull when a line drive off the bat of the Mariners’ Kyle Seager hit him in the head. Shoemaker’s neurologist has cleared him to pitch again.
According to MLB.com writer Jason Beck, Matt Shoemaker‘s neurologist cleared him to pitch in the upcoming 2017 season. Beck claims that Shoemaker will start throwing off a mound a few weeks prior to Spring Training. The early approach is to see how Shoemaker reacts on the mound after the frightening injury. Shoemaker is ready to succeed again, as he did in 2016.
Measured by MLB’s Statcast, the line drive struck Shoemaker at 105 MPH. It caused him to go straight to the ground and his head to start bleeding. Medics rushed Shoemaker to the hospital, and doctors determined that Shoemaker had a fractured skull and needed immediate brain surgery to prevent further internal bleeding.
The week of the injury, Shoemaker was in and out of hospitals in both Seattle and Anaheim. He didn’t return to the Angels for the rest of the season.
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Shoemaker broke into the big leagues in 2014 as a 27-year-old rookie. In 27 games pitched, he went 16-4 with a 3.04 ERA and 124 strikeouts. He finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting, just behind White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu.
The following season didn’t bode well for Shoemaker. His ERA shot up to 4.46 and he finished with just seven wins. In 0.2 fewer innings, he allowed 10 more home runs and 19 more earned runs.
Then in 2016, Shoemaker struggled again in April and the Angels decided to send him down to Triple-A Salt Lake. Due to the many injuries to the Angels starting rotation, they called him back up in May.
The move fueled a fire under Shoemaker. He dominated from May to August, and finished the season with a 3.88 ERA and 143 strikeouts. He also emerged as the Angels’ ace in 2016 because of a depleted pitching staff.
The injury was quite a disappointing way to end what was an impressive and successful season. If Shoemaker can come back and pitch the way he did in 2016, not only would it be a great individual achievement, but it would also boost the Angels’ rotation immensely.
