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Tommy La Stella has been a revelation this season. During a journeyman career that has been highlighted by a strong ability to make contact, but had little power production to speak of. Before this season, he had a CAREER total of 10 home runs to his name and saw time mostly as a utilityman/bench bat rather than an everyday player.
All of that changed for La Stella in 2019 as he has slugged 16 homers while slashing .300/.353/.495 in 78 games for the Angels. He had performed so well that he had just been named to his first All-Star Game and everything was pointing upward for him.
Unfortunately, that all changed during at-bat against the Rangers on Tuesday when he fouled a ball off his leg. La Stella immediately went down and it was clear that he was in a great deal of pain....more than one would expect from the typical foul off the body. The Angels and La Stella got the bad news shortly thereafter.
#Angels say All-Star Tommy La Stella has a broken leg and will miss 8-10 weeks.
— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) July 3, 2019
La Stella’s injury is another blow to a reeling Angels’ team whose playoff aspirations were already fairly scant. The team was already grieving the sudden death of pitcher Tyler Skaggs and will now have the be without the on the field presence of one of the season’s best surprises.
The current expectation for La Stella is for him to miss 8-10 weeks, although with the extended absence he could have a lengthy rehab stint to get back into game shape and make sure his leg is fully healed before sending him back out on the field.