Josh Hamilton Injury: Updates on Angels Star's Status and Return

Updates from Wednesday, Oct. 1 

Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register provides an update on Josh Hamilton's status: 

Updates from Tuesday, Sept. 30

Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times provides an update on Josh Hamilton's injury:

Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register confirms Hamilton is ago:

Updates from Monday, Sept. 29

Jeff Fletcher of the OC Register reports on what Josh Hamilton must do before being able to play in the playoffs:

"

Hamilton, who has been dealing with tightness in his rib cage, had not taken batting practice on the field since Sept. 16, the day he came back from a shoulder injury. Since then he's been fighting the rib cage issue, including at least seven cortisone injections, he said.

Hamilton is expected to have a similar workout on Tuesday. Manager Mike Scioscia said over the weekend that Hamilton will need to see live pitching in some type of simulated game before his status for the division series can be determined.

"

Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com passed along a statement from the team on Hamilton's condition:

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports also commented on Hamilton:

Updates from Sunday, Sept. 28

Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com updated Josh Hamilton's status:

Updates from Saturday, Sept. 27

Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times has an update on Hamilton:

"

Left fielder Josh Hamilton, who has missed all but one game since Sept. 5 because of right shoulder, chest and rib cage injuries, threw, ran and did defensive work on Friday and is schedule to resume hitting on Saturday.

Hamilton said he has “no doubt” he will play in the division series, but Scioscia said Hamilton will first need to “see some velocity,” whether that’s in a simulated-game environment or in an Arizona instructional league game.

"

Updates from Wednesday, Sept. 24

Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com and Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reported on Josh Hamilton's status:

Updates from Monday, Sept. 22

Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com provides the latest rehab update on Josh Hamilton as the playoffs inch closer:

Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times reports on his status for the upcoming week:

Updates from Saturday, Sept. 20

Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register provides an update on Josh Hamilton's recovery:

Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times provides an update on Hamilton's injury:

Updates from Thursday, Sept. 18 

Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times has the latest update on Josh Hamilton's shoulder:

Updates from Wednesday, Sept. 17

Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times provides an update on Josh Hamilton's status:

Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com passes along the official lineup:

Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times explains why Hamilton is out of the lineup: 

Updates from Tuesday, Sept. 16

Angels Director of Communications Eric Kay has the latest on Hamilton's return:

Updates from Monday, Sept. 15

Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com updated Josh Hamilton's status:

Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times provided more information following Hamilton's batting practice:

Updates from Friday, Sept. 12

Angels Director of Communications Eric Kay has the latest Angels lineup without Hamilton:

Updates from Thursday, Sept. 11

Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com confirmed that Josh Hamilton was not in the lineup for Thursday's game:

Gonzalez and Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times provide updates on Hamilton's status from manager Mike Scioscia:

Updates from Wednesday, Sept. 10

Josh Hamilton is still out of the Angles lineup according to Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register:

Fletcher had more detail on Hamilton as well:

Updates from Tuesday, Sept. 9

Josh Hamilton's status for tonight's game against the Rangers has been confirmed with the Angels posting their lineup: 

Following that, manager Mike Scioscia spoke about Hamilton's status (via Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register):

Updates from Monday, Sept. 8

Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times confirms Josh Hamilton's status for today's game:

"

#Angels at #Indians. No Josh. pic.twitter.com/V5ymeN0uD8

— Mike DiGiovanna (@MikeDiGiovanna) September 8, 2014"

Updates from Sunday, Sept. 7

Despite being placed into the lineup for today's game, Josh Hamilton has been scratched (via Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com):

Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times had more on Hamilton's injury:

Earlier, DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times confirmed Hamilton's return to the Angels lineup for Sunday's game:

"

#Angels at #Twins pic.twitter.com/fhE7dv6NqL

— Mike DiGiovanna (@MikeDiGiovanna) September 7, 2014"

Updates from Saturday, Sept. 6

Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register provides an update on Josh Hamilton's status:

Updates from Friday, Sept. 5

Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register has the latest on Hamilton:

MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez had more on Hamilton:

Original Text

The Los Angeles Angels are in a battle with the Oakland Athletics for first place in the American League West, but that was of secondary importance for a moment Thursday. Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com provided some of the details regarding the health of outfielder Josh Hamilton:

Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register had more from Hamilton after the game:

"

Hamilton said he will miss at least one more game with a sore AC joint that has been bothering him since Tuesday.

Hamilton said he got a cortisone shot after leaving Thursday’s game in the eighth inning. That will prevent him from playing Friday.

“It’s sore, real sore,” Hamilton said. “We’ll give it a day.”

Hamilton said it affects him hitting, playing defense and even running. When he made a quick throw back into the infield after taking a ball off the wall in the second, it particularly bothered him.

"

It is probably smart for Hamilton to take a couple days off considering the Angels were five games clear of Oakland as of Thursday evening. They will need him at full strength entering the stretch run of the season and in the playoffs more so than the rest of the week.

Pat Sullivan/Associated Press

Hamilton sports a .263 batting average with 10 home runs, 44 RBI and a .746 on-base-plus-slugging percentage. It hasn’t been the type of monster year baseball fans saw from Hamilton when he was a member of the Texas Rangers, but he did miss the entire month of May and a large portion of April.

Still, he hit only .222 in August and was 1-for-8 in the early going in September. Perhaps a couple days off with this latest ailment will help him regain his form before the postseason.