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Tommy Hanson leaves game early with triceps injury
So, this just happened in the Angels' Spring Training game today:
#Angels Tommy Hanson is leaving the game after 3 innings with an unknown injury. He had not thrown a pitch in the inning.
— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) March 20, 2013
Now excuse me for a minute while I try and find the nearest panic button.
OK, I'm back. And while I was out Fletcher followed up claiming he has tricep tightness. That sounds minor, but any kind of injury to Hanson is cause for alarm given his history of shoulder and back problems. In fact, I've written extensively the last two days about Hanson's health as it relates to his reduced velocity (and he supposedly was in the 89-91 range today), so even a minor injury is cause for long-term concern even if it isn't to his troublesome shoulder. Besides, the triceps issue is just the preliminary complaint and could lead to a more serious diagnosis once the Angels trainers check him out.
If it is a short-term thing, the Angels have internal options to fill his slot in the form of Jerome Williams or, more likely, Garrett Richards. If this ends up being serious, those two could also be called upon, but there will undoubtedly also be speculation that the Halos could pursue Kyle Lohse (and one can only assume Scott Boras used his dark powers to sense the disturbance in the force when Hanson left the game and already has a call in to Jerry Dipoto) or maybe inquire on Rick Porcello.
For now, we just have to sit back and await further word from the Halos. Stay tuned.
UPDATE: Step back from the ledge and stop staring at Kyle Lohse's Baseball-Reference page, Hanson says he is just fine
No MRI for Hanson. Says tightened up for only two pitches and he's planning on making his next start.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 20, 2013
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Richards is showing v a high OppQual that he is only inches from being a #2 SP in the MLs. I really hope the Angels scouted Hanson's tape last year and saw he is still crafty and can get through 4 or 5 IP unscathed, but when not pulled gets smashed. I'd love to see a Hanson/Richards 8 IP scenario.
