Sprained ankles are a concern for Angels' Rodriguez
ANGELS REPORT
The All-Star closer doesn't look like the same pitcher of the last three seasons.
Francisco Rodriguez's arm is fine, but some cracks are showing in his foundation -- namely, the closer's ankles, which are both sprained, heavily taped, and, in the words of Manager Mike Scioscia, a cause for "concern."
Rodriguez injured his left ankle when he landed in a hole in the mound last August. He twisted the right ankle while skipping down the dugout steps after batting practice before Friday night's game against Texas.
Though he saved Saturday's 2-1 win over the Rangers, it was a chore, a 19-pitch inning he winced and grimaced his way through.
Monday night against Cleveland, it was clear Rodriguez was hurting -- he gave up three runs on two walks and two hits, consecutive doubles by Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez, for his first blown save of the season.
After his second walk, to Ryan Garko, Scioscia and trainer Adam Nevala came to the mound, and Rodriguez was pulled from the game.
"His motion looked OK, but it looked like he was grinding through some stuff; we noticed that," Scioscia, speaking of Saturday night's outing, said before the game.
"That's a major concern . . . and why we're very cautious with any player like that. He feels well enough to pitch, and on a daily basis, he's going to let us know."
Rodriguez insisted before the game he was "fine," but he doesn't look like the same reliever who led the major leagues with 132 saves from 2005-07. His fastball, normally about 94 mph, has hovered around 91 mph, and his usually nasty slider hasn't been that sharp.
The right-hander acknowledges feeling pain -- "You sprain your ankle, "you're going to feel it," he said -- and is trying to block it out.
"It's not affecting me," Rodriguez said before the game. "When you have the adrenaline going, you don't feel it. You feel it afterward. Then, it's no fun."
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The agent for pitcher Kelvim Escobar, who has a tear in his shoulder, said the right-hander "will decide within the next week or so" whether to travel to New York to see David Altchek, an orthopedist who is one of the New York Mets' team physicians.
Altchek reviewed Escobar's MRI test results in February "and concurred with Angels doctors to try the rehabilitation route," agent Peter Greenberg said. "Since he had some hiccups, we're reevaluating whether to see the Mets' doctor."
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