Angels’ Upton dealing with turf toe, to start on IL

Angels outfielder Justin Upton will open the season on the injured list because of a sore right big toe.

Manager Brad Ausmus announced the injury Tuesday. He says Upton has “turf toe” and that no timetable has been determined for his return. Upton was injured in Sunday’s exhibition game against the Los Angeles Dodgers when he bumped into the left field wall while chasing a flyball.

“It’s actually an injury you see a little more with offensive linemen and defensive linemen in the NFL,” general manager Billy Eppler said, according to the Los Angeles Times. “It’s caused when you’re essentially in a loaded position and you’re pushing and you kind of get pushed backwards, and your toe hyperextends.

“He was using his foot as a braking mechanism, and his toe hit the wall. We’re still gathering all of the imaging and getting it looked at by a bunch of experts. We can’t talk about a timeline, but he will start the year on the IL.”

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Upton previously was slowed this spring due to right knee tendinitis. The 31-year-old veteran is coming off his third consecutive year with 30-plus homers. He hit .257 last year with 30 home runs and 85 RBIs in 145 games.

In a 12-year major league career, Upton has a .268/.348/.478 batting line with 286 homers and 897 RBIs in 1,634 games.

A possible left field replacement for Upton, Michael Hermosillo, also might start the year on the IL as he recovers from groin surgery. As a result, Peter Bourjos probably will be the regular in left field during Upton’s absence, according to Ausmus.

The Angels also optioned right-hander Jaime Barria (10-9, 3.41 ERA in 26 starts in 2018) to Triple-A Salt Lake and released non-roster left-hander Dan Jennings. With the Brewers last year, Jennings went 4-5 with one save and a 3.22 ERA in 72 appearances (one start).

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