ANAHEIM — Brandon Drury is making progress with an upper respiratory illness that has worked its way through the clubhouse, yet he still missed his seventh consecutive game on Thursday.
Manager Ron Washington confirmed that the illness has affected multiple Angels players, with Drury seemingly taking it the hardest. The infielder went through a full workout Thursday that will determine the course of action moving forward.
“If he doesn’t have a relapse and we’re going in the right direction,” Washington said about Drury, who last played June 18. “If you come out here and have a full day of workout and have a relapse, then we go into a different direction.”
Had the Angels placed Drury on the IL immediately, he would have been eligible to return Sunday. Any IL move made now would only be retroactive for three days.
“It’s been throughout the team,” Washington said. “Some of us just haven’t had it as bad as other guys.”
Washington said he also went through an upper respiratory issue recently.
“I got it but I don’t have to try to hit a fastball or a slider,” he said.
Drury is batting just .173 with a .233 on-base percentage through just 32 games. He also missed 34 games with a left hamstring strain.
Left-hander Patrick Sandoval underwent successful surgery Wednesday for a high-grade flexor tear and torn UCL in his pitching elbow. Out for the remainder of the season, Sandoval was in the clubhouse Thursday with a brace supporting his left arm.
Specifics on the extent of the surgery were not revealed.
Sandoval, who departed his start last Friday after 2⅓ scoreless innings, was 2-8 this season with a 5.08 ERA in 16 starts, his highest ERA in any of his six seasons with the Angels.
Third baseman Anthony Rendon, who has been out for more than two months with a torn hamstring, remains in line to face live pitching for the first time this upcoming weekend but Washington did not have a specific day of the hitting session.
On Thursday, right-hander Jose Soriano threw off flat ground as he works his way back from an abdominal infection. In five of his last eight starts, Soriano had allowed two runs or less, including a season-best eight-inning outing June 12, his last before going on the IL.
Soriano is eligible to come off the IL next week but has yet to progress to throwing off a mound.
Also making progress is left-hander Jose Quijada, who made a rehab outing Wednesday in the Arizona Complex League and delivered a perfect inning with one strikeout against the ACL Dodgers.
Quijada, 28, underwent Tommy John surgery just over 13 months ago after making 10 relief appearances last season.
To get right-hander Davis Daniel on the roster Thursday for his first major league start, the Angels optioned right-hander Guillo Zuniga to Triple-A Salt Lake. Zuniga was officially optioned after Thursday’s victory over the Oakland A’s.
Daniel, 27, pitched 12⅓ innings over three relief appearances in the majors last season, with a 2.19 ERA. He has a 5.33 ERA in 76 innings at Triple-A this year.
The Angels have right-handers Zach Plesac and Griffin Canning and left-hander Tyler Anderson set to pitch the final three games of the series against the Detroit Tigers.
Tigers (RHP Kenta Maeda, 2-4, 6.00 ERA) at Angels (RHP Zach Plesac, 1-1, 8.68 ERA), Friday, 6:38 p.m., Bally Sports West, 830 AM
