Headlines swarmed around Haren as he was traded from the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday and received his first start in an Angels uniform the following evening. The Angels traded four players for the starter– who became a hot commodity in trade-deadline talks — but saw their hopes and dreams fading fast with one swing of Kevin Youkilis' bat.
In the top of the fifth inning, Youk smacked a line drive off Haren's throwing arm that ricocheted just below his elbow. Though he scrambled for the loose ball, Haren fell to the ground in pain after Youkilis made it safely to first. He was taken out of the game to be fully evaluated by team doctor, Lewis Yokum.
After elevating his arm through the night, Haren was evaluated Tuesday afternoon where X-rays showed no break or fracture in the arm. The righty should be on schedule to pitch in his next outing against the Texas Rangers on Saturday.
Before that start, however, the soreness and swelling will have to go down, and Haren will wear a compression sleeve in his workouts in hopes that his arm will be ready for Saturday. Haren told reporters that he was angry to come out of the game like that, as it was his first time ever leaving a professional game due to injury, but he's happy to be on the mend.
"I guess I got lucky," Haren said. "Dr. Yokum said that if it had hit an inch lower it would've been on the bone and that wouldn't have been good, obviously. But I've never come out of a game in my professional career like I did yesterday. I was really frustrated, but I guess I got lucky too so I can't be too mad."
