Angels' Sandoval recovers after COVID-19

ANAHEIM -- Angels left-hander Patrick Sandoval said Monday that he contracted COVID-19 last month and it was the reason for his late arrival to summer camp on Thursday.

Sandoval, speaking via Zoom, is the first Angels player to be publicly identified as having tested positive for the coronavirus. He said he tested positive on June 22 and believes he likely contracted it while golfing with a friend three days prior to when his symptoms appeared.

“I kind of had an idea I had it, started feeling symptoms, got tested, found out next day, was a little scary at first,” Sandoval said. “Obviously, the virus has killed many people, and that’s sad and tragic, so that’s on your mind. Just took it day by day, and once symptoms started going away, I felt confident I would be able to get back to playing baseball.”

Sandoval, ranked as the club’s No. 6 prospect by MLB Pipeline, threw a bullpen session on Sunday without any issues, but remains behind the club’s other starters in camp. Sandoval said he progressed to throwing live bullpen sessions before testing positive for COVID-19 and that he had to spend two weeks in quarantine without any throwing, which set him back. Describing the symptoms he felt, he's relieved that he’s healthy enough to return and pitch.

“The first two to three days, I had really really bad body aches in my back, unlike anything I’ve felt before,” Sandoval said. “Was pretty heavy for two days. Once that went away, it was me by myself in my house, sitting alone for however many days, not being able to do anything and missing life. That was rough, too.”

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Angels manager Joe Maddon is pleased to have Sandoval in camp, as he gives the Angels some depth in the back of their rotation. Matt Andriese and Félix Peña are the top two candidates for the final two rotation spots with Jaime Barria in the mix as well. Julio Teheran, Dillon Peters and Jose Suarez are still not in camp, which hurts the club’s pitching depth.

“I love having him back,” Maddon said. “Right now, it’s up to his personal timetable strength-wise, see what he’s able to do. You can’t push it. Now that he’s medically clear, you have to map it out as best as you can. Right now is the time you really have to listen to him.”

Maddon added that he views Sandoval as a starter and that the plan is for him to continue to get stretched out rather be moved to a bullpen role. Sandoval isn’t expected to make the Opening Day roster as a result, but he’ll get the chance to continue to train with the club. It’ll be a good experience for Sandoval, who got his first taste of the Majors last year, posting a 5.03 ERA with 42 strikeouts, 19 walks and six homers allowed in 39 1/3 innings.

“He would need to be built up. He’d be better served in a controlled environment in the beginning. You’d put him here if you were 100 percent comfortable with him being able to do that. But we’re already, mapping out next week, we’re down to a week away from actually playing a different form of this game. It’s hard to imagine he’d be ready for that timeframe.”