Angels outfielder Taylor Ward carted off field after getting in the head by pitch

Just as the Los Angeles Angels were making a charge toward a badly-needed playoff berth, they’ve suffered yet another injury in a season full of them. Outfielder Taylor Ward had to be carted off the field after being struck in the head by an Alek Manoah fastball during Saturday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Ward was down on the ground being tended for some time, while Manoah understandably needed to be consoled on the mound. The team has yet to offer an update on Ward’s condition.

After getting off to a slow start to this season, the outfielder has been a big part of the Angels’ second-half success, slashing .313/.427/.642 with five homers, seven doubles and a steal over his last 19 games. Obviously our first concern is that Ward is okay, but losing him for any amount of time would be a huge blow to L.A.’s playoff push — especially considering the current state of their injured list. The team is already without fellow outfielders Mike Trout (hamate fracture) and Jo Adell (oblique) in addition to infielders Anthony Rendon (shin) and Brandon Drury (shoulder).

It’s also particularly bad timing considering just how much the Angels have riding on the next couple of months. Their decision to hold on to Shohei Ohtani rather than trade him before the deadline was an admirable one, but it comes with obvious risk: The only chance Los Angeles has of retaining him for next year and beyond is by finally getting him to the postseason, and they still have a good amount of ground to make up despite their recent hot streak.

After a 4-1 loss in the series opener in Toronto on Friday night, the team entered play Saturday at 54-50, four games back of the Jays — and still behind the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees — for the third and final AL Wild Card spot. This was already a perilously thin roster without much of any margin for error, and a potential injury to Ward would only compound it.