Smith's ankle sprain puts rest of Angels' bullpen on alert
The Los Angeles Angels may be without setup man Joe Smith for the foreseeable future. Smith took a tumble on a flight of stairs at the team's Minnesota hotel on Saturday, spraining his ankle and putting him out of action for a while.
Jeff Fletcher of the O.C. Register noted that the club isn't certain if Smith will be able to make it back to the mound this season, as ankle injuries can be frustrating.
Closer Huston Street, meanwhile, is ready and willing to step up in Smith's absence and pitch more, perhaps with two-inning saves. “To me, that’s September baseball,” Street told Fletcher. “All the normal rules go out the window… You get to September, it becomes a little bit easier on the body to just force it to do things because you know I’m only going to have to play another two weeks, at most. And if you do make the post-season, they give you plenty of rest to get your health back.”
As for Mike Scioscia's eighth-inning plans with Smith out, he told Fletcher it's an 'all hands on deck' situation, with pitchers Fernando Salas, Trevor Gott, Mike Morin, Wesley Wright, Cesar Ramos and Jose Alvarez all in the mix as specific matchups allow.
