Erick Aybar's MRI reveals left oblique strain - MLB

The Angels might be without shortstop Erick Aybar for the next several days.

According to Kevin Baxter of the Los Angeles Times, Aybar underwent an MRI on his left side Wednesday that revealed an oblique muscle strain.

The Angels have not yet placed Aybar on the 15-day disabled list and are obviously hoping that he won’t need to go, but time will tell on that matter.

If he’s not feeling any progress by this weekend, the Halos will have no choice but to pull the trigger and bring in more infield depth from the minors.

“We’ll evaluate it,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said Wednesday. “He’s only been able to bunt. We’ll see how he is Friday, if he can maybe be part of the game a little bit more if we need him to do something.”

For now, the Angels will rely on Maicer Izturis and Brandon Wood as their primary fill-ins at shortstop.

Roger Clemens will be an analyst for ESPN when the defending World Series champion Houston Astros host the Chicago White Sox on opening day.

Clemens made four appearances on last year’s KayRod Cast with Michael Kay and Alex Rodriguez. He will be stepping in on March 30 for David Cone, who will be doing the New York Yankees opener against the San Francisco Giants on YES Network.

“Roger has been sort of a friend of ours for the last year, so to speak, he’s in. He’s been engaged, knowledgeable and really present,” said ESPN Vice President of Production Phil Orlins. “You know, whatever past may be, he’s still tremendously engaged and he really brought that every time he was with us.”

Clemens was a seven-time Cy Young winner but his career after baseball has been tainted by allegations of performance-enhancing drug use. He is a Houston native and pitched for the Astros for three seasons.

Orlins said that with the rules changes and pitch clock, it is important to have a pitcher in the booth with Karl Ravech and Eduardo Perez.

“We don’t feel like we have to have the dynamic of Eduardo with a pitcher, but we certainly think that works. Throw in the added factor of rule changes and it is better to have a batter-pitcher perspective,” Orlins said.

Orlins did not say if this would open the door for future opportunities for Clemens as an ESPN analyst.

Erick Aybar’s MRI reveals left oblique strain

Roger Clemens will be an analyst for ESPN on opening day