ANAHEIM ― Taylor Ward’s collision with the right field wall kept him out of the starting lineup Saturday. The Angels hope that will be the extent of Ward’s absence.

Ward passed concussion protocol and is expected to avoid the injured list, Manager Joe Maddon said. He was not available off the bench for Saturday’s game against the Oakland A’s, and his status for Sunday’s game is to be determined.

Angels head athletic trainer Mike Frostad said Ward has a stinger, an injury to the brachial plexus bundle of nerves that runs between the neck and shoulder. Stingers are common in contact sports in which the head and neck are vulnerable to collisions.

A stinger, Frostad said, “starts in the neck, works its way down the arm, you get that burning sensation. That’s what (Ward)’s dealing with a little bit but he’s feeling pretty good.”

The Angels needed to rule out the possibility of a concussion after Ward caught a warning-track fly ball off Tony Kemp’s bat, then bodysmacked the padded wall in the ninth inning Friday. Ward was feeling well enough to take batting practice indoors Saturday afternoon.

Maddon finalized his lineup without Ward a couple hours before Saturday’s game against the A’s. Ward began the day leading all of Major League Baseball in batting average (.370), on-base percentage (.481) and slugging percentage (.713).

Tyler Wade got his first start of the season in right field. Shohei Ohtani batted leadoff for the first time since April 24.

CANNING’S CHOICE

Pitcher Griffin Canning will meet with a back specialist Monday to determine the next step in his treatment for a stress reaction in his back.

Canning has been shut down from throwing since he faced live hitters in a simulated game May 9. The next day, he reported soreness in his back, an injury that originally felled him last July.

Now, the choice is Canning’s whether to rehabilitate the injury conservatively or undergo surgery. The recovery period for surgery depends on the scope of the procedure.

“A stress reaction creates a false joint in the back,” Frostad said. A surgical procedure would “pretty much put a screw through that false joint in the back to stabilize it, so it doesn’t move anymore.”

Canning, 26, was well into the process of building up arm strength for a potential return to the Angels’ starting rotation. The two-inning simulated game at Angel Stadium was his first action against live hitters in that process.

INJURY UPDATES

The Angels activated catcher Kurt Suzuki from the injured list and reassigned Austin Romine to Triple-A Salt Lake. Suzuki, 38, did not use a minor league rehabilitation stint after he was placed on the COVID-19 IL, which cost him 13 games.

Related Articles

Romine, 33, went 2 for 8 with three strikeouts in three games with the Angels. Suzuki, 38, is hitting .179 with a .273 on-base percentage.

Right-hander Archie Bradley (left abdominal strain) and left-hander Jose Quijada (right oblique strain) began their minor league rehabilitation assignments with Class-A Rancho Cucamonga. The two relievers are expected to throw “two to three games each,” Frostad said.

Bradley and Quijada each threw a perfect inning Saturday. Bradley struck out one and Quijada two.

Catcher Max Stassi will join the two pitchers for what’s likely to be a shorter rehab assignment. He’s missed 10 games since being placed on the COVID-19 injured list. In his first game, Stassi hit a home run and a double in four at-bats, driving in two runs.

ALSO

Outfielder Justin Upton, whom the Angels designated for assignment April 2, signed a major league contract with the Seattle Mariners. Upton had one year and $28 million remaining on his contract at the time of his DFA. The Angels are responsible for paying Upton all but the prorated portion of the major league minimum salary ($700,000). … Catcher Matt Thaiss was reinstated from the minor league injured list and remains on option with Salt Lake.

UP NEXT

Oakland (LHP Cole Irvin, 2-1, 2.93 ERA) at Angels (LHP Patrick Sandoval, 2-1, 1.91 ERA), Sunday, 1 p.m., Bally Sports West