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Angels shortstop Andrelton Simmons has landed on the 10-day disabled list with a sprained ankle, according to Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register.
Andrelton Simmons is not on the lineup card and Kaleb Cowart is back so Simmons must be on the DL (sprained ankle). #Angels
— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) June 6, 2018
Simmons suffered the injury while stepping down the dugout steps at Angels Stadium on Tuesday night before the Angels toon on the Royals. The 28-year-old veteran of seven major league seasons played two innings and walked in his only plate appearance, but came out after he was struggling to play on it.
”Nothing is broke, but I sprained it pretty decent,” Simmons told reporters after the game. “I tried to stay in the game, but they just thought it was smarter not to let me stay out there and have a chance of making it worse.”
Losing Simmons for any length of time is a tough pill to swallow for the Angels.
Other than Mike Trout, Simmons has hit the cover off the ball this year, slashing .330/.399/.460 with four home runs and 34 RBI in 59 games this year. He has also produced a 3.3 WAR and scored 32 runs through the first two months of the season. These results come a year after producing a career-best 7.1 WAR while finishing eighth in the AL MVP race and earning his third Gold Glove award of his career.
In the meantime, Zack Cozart will take over the shortstop position — a place he played full-time when he was with the Reds before he signed with the Angels in the offseason and started playing at third base — and Kaleb Coward, Luis Valbuena and Jefry Marte will share time at third base.