Angels' Robert Stephenson Has No Timeline to Return After 'Rare' Injury

Los Angeles Angels relief pitcher Robert Stephenson has no timeline to return after suffering a stretched nerve in his bicep, which landed him on the injured list just two games after returning from Tommy John surgery.

“Kind of a weird injury, to be honest,” Stephenson said. “Unfortunately, I don’t really know what the timetable is, because they just don’t react the same way. You can’t treat it like a muscle or a ligament or anything, so kind of just waiting for it to settle down before I start throwing again.”

Stephenson pitched a three up, three down inning in his return to MLB against the New York Yankees, striking out two. Three pitches into his second appearance against the Cleveland Guardians, the right-hander beckoned to the dugout, and removed himself from the game.

“The treatment is essentially just kind of resting it,” Stephenson said. “You don’t want to aggravate it. But there’s not really a ton they can do for it.”

The Angels signed Stephenson to a three-year, $33 million contract after the 2023 season, though he missed all of his first season with the Angels after tearing his UCL during rehab for a separate injury and undergoing Tommy John Surgery. His two appearances this year are the only ones he has as a Halo. Stephenson insists this injury has nothing to do with his UCL or his surgery.

In the season before his injury, Stephenson was a reliable arm out of the bullpen for the Tampa Bay Rays, boasting a 2.35 ERA through 38.1 innings, during which he struck out 60 batters.

Stephenson plans to see a different doctor in the coming weeks to see if he can learn more about his injury.

“It could be something that disappears overnight, could be something that takes a couple weeks or longer,” he said. “They’re kind of tricky, I guess.”

The Angels will hope for Stephenson's injury to sort itself out as soon as possible, as they're 3.5 games out of a Wild Card spot and sit third in the AL West. With the return of Mike Trout and Yoan Moncada's near recovery, the Halos could string something together with another strong arm in the bullpen.

For more Angels news, head over to Angels on SI.