foxsports
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) -- Los Angeles Angels pitching coach Mike Butcher is recovering after surgery to remove a cancerous module on his thyroid gland.
The team said in a statement Sunday that the 45-year-old Butcher had surgery Thursday in Arizona, where he lives and the Angels are in spring training. The surgery was scheduled after Butcher complained of neck discomfort and a biopsy revealed the cancer.
Angels manager Mike Scioscia said Butcher's absence is expected to be "short term."
Butcher joined the Angeles as pitching coach following the 2006 season. The team is coming off a season in which the Angels missed the playoffs for only the third time in nine years.
Their first spring training game is Feb. 26 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
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