Angels caught shorthanded with Iannetta's injury
The Angels have traded away two major league catchers in the last two years -- Mike Napoli and Jeff Mathis. They'd take either one of them back right now.
Chris Iannetta underwent a 40-minute procedure to remove the pisiform bone in his right wrist Friday. The small bone was fractured on May 2 when Iannetta was hit by a pitch. The projected recovery time is six to eight weeks.
Iannetta was acquired in a trade with the Rockies last winter to be their primary catcher and inject some offense into the position. With him out, the Angels will turn to Bobby Wilson and John Hester, neither of whom has ever been a front-line catcher in the majors.
"Being without your starting catcher for six to eight weeks is not an easy thing to internalize, but we'll make the best of it," GM Jerry Dipoto said. "Left-handed bullpen and catchers are particularly difficult commodities to find. With Chris Iannetta, Bobby Wilson and Hank Conger going into the season, we felt like we were in pretty good shape. As it works out, you can't really draw it up where you have two of those three down at the same time.
"We'll work from within for now."
Conger would have been an option for promotion but he is on the Triple-A DL with an elbow injury. He is in the initial phases of a throwing program at the Angels' minor league complex in Arizona and is at least a couple of weeks away from playing.
