Angels’ Fowler out for season after tearing ACL

04/11/2021

Joined ESPN in 2016 to cover the Los Angeles Rams
Previously covered the Angels for MLB.com

Dexter Fowler, the Los Angeles Angels’ starting right fielder, has a torn ACL that will require season-ending surgery, the team announced Sunday.

Fowler, 35, injured himself while sprinting into second base on an attempted forceout in Friday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays in Dunedin, Florida. Fowler beat the throw from Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette and didn’t slide, prompting him to arrive awkwardly and crumple to the ground in pain.

The Angels initially diagnosed Fowler with a sprained left knee, but a follow-up MRI revealed that it was far more serious. The team said Fowler is expected to need six to nine months to recover after surgery.

Angels manager Joe Maddon plans to replace Fowler with Juan Lagares and Jose Rojas, the latter of whom is currently serving as the team’s utility infielder. Rojas started at third base Sunday in place of Anthony Rendon, who was dealing with soreness in his left groin that resulted from a throw Saturday.

Fowler, acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals in early February, was 5-for-20 with six strikeouts to begin the 2021 season and has batted .218/.320/.370 over the past three years. But Maddon, who previously managed Fowler with the Chicago Cubs, said he believed the outfielder was just starting to get going offensively and will miss his presence on the team.

“He’s one of those glue guys, man,” Maddon said. “He really makes a difference. He does. You talk about it all the time with clubhouse guys, but this guy really is one.”

Fowler’s injury creates an immediate opening for the Angels’ two most promising young players, Jo Adell and Brandon Marsh, both of whom are working out at the team’s alternate site in Tempe, Arizona, before the minor league season begins. Adell struggled as a rookie last year, and Marsh has yet to play above Double-A after spending the coronavirus-shortened 2020 season playing mostly intrasquad games.

Maddon said he would defer to the Angels’ minor league development staff on when Adell and Marsh are major league ready.

“It’s hard for me to imagine that they’ve tightened up their game [from spring training] to the point where you want to bring them up yet,” Maddon said.

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