HOUSTON -- Left fielder Justin Upton was out of the Angels' starting lineup against the Astros on Sunday after sustaining a concussion during Saturday's 7-3 loss at Minute Maid Park.
"I feel all right," Upton said. "[Trainer] Adam [Nevala] said it's going to be a day-to-day thing. That's the plan, just to get better every day."
Upton was injured going into a hard slide to avoid a collision with shortstop Andrelton Simmons in left field during the fifth inning. The Astros had runners on second and third with two outs when George Springer skied a popup to shallow left field. Simmons ran straight back and covered 71 feet to snag the ball, but Upton hit his head on the turf while trying to get out of the way.
Upton stayed on the ground for a while, though he remained in the game and took his at-bat against Brad Peacock to start the sixth. After striking out swinging, Upton was replaced by Kaleb Cowart in left field in the bottom of the inning.
"Right away, the fall didn't feel great," Upton said. "I kind of got to the dugout and I was leading off the inning, so I just kind of threw my stuff on and went up there. When I got back after hitting, I didn't feel great, so I just came out."
Upton, 31, missed eight games with a finger laceration before being activated off the disabled list on Thursday. He is batting .265 with an .816 OPS, 26 home runs and 75 RBIs in 125 games this season. Eric Young started in left field in place of Upton on Sunday.
Upton won't be cleared to return until his symptoms subside, which he said he appreciates, given the amount of research that has surfaced in recent years about the dangerous long-term effects that concussions can have on brain health.
"Obviously, it's not that severe for me," Upton said. "But there are serious concussions, and it's not something you kind of play around with or mess around with."