{"id":536484,"date":"2026-03-14T19:25:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T19:25:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/536484\/"},"modified":"2026-03-14T19:25:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T19:25:21","slug":"robert-stephenson-sidelined-with-possible-ucl-damage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/536484\/","title":{"rendered":"Robert Stephenson Sidelined With Possible UCL Damage"},"content":{"rendered":"

11:41AM: In what Stephenson described as \u201cheartbreaking\u201d news to Fletcher<\/a>, the setback is related to possible UCL damage.\u00a0 Another surgery certainly appears to be a possibility, but Stephenson will first visit Dr. Keith Meister to discuss any non-surgical methods that would allow the reliever to pitch at some point in 2026.<\/p>\n

9:52AM:\u00a0Robert Stephenson<\/a> is dealing with yet another injury concern, as Angels manager Kurt Suzuki told reporters (including Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register<\/a>) that the right-hander has sustained some type of unspecified setback during his throwing sessions.\u00a0 Suzuki described the issue only as \u201ca little setback,\u201d but Stephenson will undergo tests to determine the extent of the matter.<\/p>\n

Given the timing of this apparent injury and Stephenson\u2019s checkered health history, it now seems very possible that he\u2019ll begin the season on the Angels\u2019 15-day injured list.\u00a0 Even if this current issue is just a speedbump and Stephenson is back throwing in a few days\u2019 time, his throwing progression could be scaled back a bit, plus the reliever has yet to pitch in any Cactus League games.<\/p>\n

In his own words, Stephenson already went into Spring Training \u201ca little bit behind everybody<\/a>\u201d after receiving an injection during the offseason to deal with some symptoms related to thoracic outlet syndrome.\u00a0 Still, it was just a week ago<\/a> that Stephenson was feeling confident about his chances of making the Opening Day roster, as he had progressed to facing hitters during live batting practice sessions.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an unwelcome start to Stephenson\u2019s third season with the Halos, as the right-hander has barely pitched over the first two seasons of what was initially a three-year, $33MM contract.\u00a0 As per a clause in the contract, the Angels gained a $2.5MM club option for 2027 because Stephenson suffered a major elbow ligament-related injury \u2014 namely the Tommy John surgery that sidelined him for the entirety of the 2024 season.<\/p>\n

Stephenson returned to appear in two games in May 2025, but a nerve-related biceps problem forced him back to the IL for almost three more months.\u00a0 He made it back to pitch in 10 more games for Los Angeles before a bout of elbow inflammation ended his season.\u00a0 Stephenson\u2019s Angels resume consists of just 10 innings in 2025, with a 2.70 ERA, 23.8% strikeout rate, and 7.1% walk rate.<\/p>\n

While a small sample size, Stephenson\u2019s solid numbers provided some hope that he could again flash the high-leverage form he showed (albeit on an inconsistent basis) in past seasons with the Reds, Rockies, Pirates, and Rays.\u00a0 On the other hand, the TOS symptoms provided a new injury scare, and it remains to be seen what imaging might reveal about this latest situation.<\/p>\n

In better news for the Angels\u2019 relief corps, Fletcher writes that Ben Joyce<\/a> has added sliders to his throwing repertoire during bullpen sessions, and minor league signing Nick Sandlin<\/a> is expected to soon move into game action after a pair of live BP sessions.\u00a0 One of the highest-velocity pitchers in baseball, Joyce had a seeming breakout season in 2024, but missed almost all of 2025 due to shoulder surgery.\u00a0 Sandlin also barely pitched in 2025, as a lat strain and elbow inflammation limited him to 16 1\/3 innings with the Blue Jays.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"11:41AM: In what Stephenson described as \u201cheartbreaking\u201d news to Fletcher, the setback is related to possible UCL damage.\u00a0…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":536485,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[191412,49,48,462,104743,44469,82],"class_list":["post-536484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-ben-joyce","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-mlb","tag-nick-sandlin","tag-robert-stephenson","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=536484"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536484\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/536485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=536484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=536484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=536484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}