Angels Place Jack Kochanowicz On 15-Day IL, Recall Sam Aldegheri
The Angels announced that they have placed right-hander Jack Kochanowicz on the 15-day injured list with right elbow inflammation. Lefty Sam Aldegheri is being recalled from Triple-A in place of Kochanowicz.
Kochanowicz told reporters, including Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com, that his elbow has been bothering him in his past three starts. Kochanowicz tried to pitch through it, but he’ll now head to the IL in an attempt to fully recover. He will undergo an MRI tomorrow. Aldegheri is available out of the bullpen for now, per Bollinger, but he could slide into the rotation if needed. Caden Dana and George Klassen are other candidates for that spot.
Kochanowicz is having as good of a season as the Angels overall, which is to say not very good. The 6’7″ righty has covered 64 innings over 13 starts, recording a 6.05 ERA in the process. Kochanowicz has a 5.38 xERA, a 4.98 FIP, and a 5.00 SIERA, suggesting he’s been somewhat unlucky, but still ineffective. Indeed, manager Kurt Suzuki was non-committal about keeping Kochanowicz in the rotation before the IL placement was announced. “[We will] talk about it and see what our options are,” Suzuki told Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. Fletcher also noted that Kochanowicz was experiencing mechanical issues, which can now be partly attributed to his injury.
The fact that Kochanowicz has held onto his spot for this long speaks to the Angels’ lack of rotation depth behind José Soriano and Reid Detmers. The former has cooled off after a hot start but still has a 2.72 ERA in 76 innings. Detmers has strong peripherals that suggest he’s due for improvement on his 4.26 ERA. Otherwise, rookie Walbert Ureña has a 2.68 ERA and an excellent 51.4% ground ball rate, but also a 4.53 SIERA thanks to a high walk rate. Grayson Rodriguez has allowed 19 earned runs in 18 innings since returning from injury.
Yusei Kikuchi is on the 60-day IL and won’t be back until late July at best, per the club’s official injury report. Dana and Klassen are both on the 40-man roster as depth options, and Dana was a Top-100 prospect last year according to MLB.com. However, neither Dana nor Klassen is performing well at Triple-A this year despite high ground ball rates.
Working in Kochanowicz’s favor are his own high ground ball rate (54.6% in 240 1/3 big league innings), 72nd-percentile fastball velocity, and much improved slider (-6 run value in 2025, +1 this year). Granted, the Angels are not contending and can afford to give the 25-year-old Kochanowicz plenty of leeway. Still, his ground ball rate and decent stuff are intriguing on their own, so it wouldn’t be unrealistic to see Kochanowicz back in the rotation when he returns. The Angels only have four starters at the moment per FanGraphs’ RosterResource tool, so Kochanowicz could reclaim his spot as the fifth starter.
Aldegheri returns to the Majors as a long reliever for now. He’s scattered three big league appearances around three recalls and options this year, with this move being his fourth recall. Aldegheri has a 7.24 ERA in 46 innings over nine starts at Triple-A in 2026. His big league track record consists of an uninspiring 5.26 ERA in 37 2/3 innings from 2024-26. It would not be surprising for Aldegheri to appear in one game then get optioned once again, with one of Dana or Klassen getting a temporary rotation spot with Kochanowicz out.
Photo courtesy of William Liang, Imagn Images
Angels Announce Several Roster Moves
The Angels made several roster decisions ahead of Saturday’s matchup against the Dodgers. First baseman Nolan Schanuel is back from the IL. Outfielder Jorge Soler heads to the IL with an oblique strain. The club selected the contract of outfielder Gustavo Campero, then put him on the IL with a broken hand. Catcher Omar Martinez was designated for assignment.
The Soler move is retroactive to June 4. He was scratched on Friday with what was initially believed to be a hip injury. Instead, it’s an oblique issue. Soler has been mediocre at the plate through 58 games. The veteran has a 95 wRC+ across 243 plate appearances. Soler struggled mightily in May, posting a .571 OPS. He was off to a strong start in June, going 4-for-11 with two extra-base hits in a series against the Rockies.
Schanuel had slightly more than a minimum stay on the IL with an ankle injury. He should step back in as the club’s everyday first baseman. Schanuel hasn’t shown the on-base skills he’s had in previous seasons, walking at a career-low 6.3% clip. His .313 OBP is more than 30 points below his career mark.
Vaughn Grissom has stepped in at first base in Schanuel’s stead and played well. The former big-name prospect has slashed a respectable .246/.325/.410 in 40 games. He’s striking out just 11% of the time, while walking at a 9% rate. Grissom has been particularly effective in games he’s played first base, delivering a .988 OPS in 62 plate appearances. Grissom has also played second and third base this year. He might not have a permanent defensive position, but he’s earned regular playing time.
Campero has spent the entire season at Double-A. He went to the minor league injured list on June 1 with a fractured right hand. Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reported that Campero had an opt-out clause in his deal. Adding him to the 40-man roster allows the Angels to keep him in the organization. The 28-year-old outfielder has scuffled to a 74 wRC+ in parts of two seasons with the big-league club, but he was performing well in the minors this year. Campero had an .830 OPS with six homers and 11 steals with Rocket City before his injury.
After seven seasons in the minors with the Yankees, Martinez joined the Angels on a minor league deal. He earned his first MLB shot in early May after Travis d’Arnaud went down with plantar fasciitis. Regular starter Logan O’Hoppe was already out with a broken wrist. Martinez briefly tag-teamed the catching duties with Sebastian Rivero. The 24-year-old mostly appeared on defense. He had three plate appearances in five games, going 1-for-3.
Martinez will now head through the DFA process. The Angels can look for a trade partner before placing him on waivers. Martinez is still in his first minor league option year, which could intrigue teams in need of catching depth. If he clears waivers, he’ll head back to Triple-A Salt Lake and wait for his next big-league opportunity.
Photo courtesy of Gary A. Vasquez, Imagn Images
Angels, Logan Porter Agree To Minor League Deal
The Angels are in agreement with catcher Logan Porter on a minor league contract, reports Ari Alexander of Boston 7 News. The Gaeta Sports Management client had elected free agency this morning after being outrighted by the Giants. He’ll report to Triple-A Salt Lake.
Porter backfills the catching depth after the Halos traded Austin Wynns to the Braves on Thursday. Atlanta selected Wynns onto the MLB roster, so it’s likely his minor league deal contained some kind of upward mobility provision. That left them with Omar Martinez and 28-year-old non-roster catcher Zach Humphreys at the Triple-A level. Martinez is the only healthy catcher on the 40-man aside from the MLB duo of Logan O’Hoppe and Sebastian Rivero.
The 30-year-old Porter spent two days on the Giants’ active roster in early May. They called him up after trading Patrick Bailey to Cleveland, getting him into one game as a pinch-runner after Christian Koss was hit by a pitch. Porter was quickly optioned back to Triple-A, where he hit .241/.292/.362 in 65 plate appearances this season. He’s a .244/.359/.389 batter over five Triple-A campaigns and has appeared in 17 big league contests over parts of three seasons.
Angels Select Samy Natera
The Angels announced they’ve selected lefty reliever Samy Natera onto the big league roster. He’ll step into the bullpen in place of Shaun Anderson, who has again been designated for assignment.
Natera is up for the first time in his career. The 26-year-old southpaw, a native of Mexico, pitched his college ball at New Mexico State. The Halos drafted him in the 17th round in 2022. Natera spent his first year as a starter, then lost almost of 2024 to injury. Los Angeles moved him to the bullpen a year ago. He showed a high strikeout, high walk profile in Double-A that has carried over at the top minor league level this year.
The 6’4″, 230-pound lefty owns an even 3.00 earned run average across 30 innings this year with Triple-A Salt Lake. He has punched out an excellent 34.4% of opponents but issued walks to more than 14% of batters faced. It’s a typical fastball-slider reliever profile, with Natera averaging 94-95 mph on the heater and sitting in the mid-80s with the breaking ball.
Baseball America has never rated Natera among the top 30 prospects in a weak Halos farm system. However, Brendan Gawlowski of FanGraphs slotted him 21st in the system last offseason. Gawlowski credits him with a plus slider but noted that a high-effort delivery has given him problems with his control. Natera joins Drew Pomeranz, Brent Suter and Mitch Farris in a rare four-lefty bullpen.
Anderson is off the roster in what has become a familiar routine. The Angels call him up, typically designate him for assignment after an appearance or two, then run him through waivers. He usually elects free agency and immediately re-signs on a minor league deal. His most recent call-up came on Wednesday, but he didn’t make an appearance in that day’s 11-4 blowout win over Colorado. The team was off yesterday. Anderson did get into nine MLB games in March and April, allowing a 5.94 ERA through 16 2/3 innings.
Braves Acquire Austin Wynns, Designate Chadwick Tromp
The Braves announced a slate of roster moves today, most notably shaking up their catching corps a bit. Atlanta acquired veteran catcher Austin Wynns from the Angels in exchange for cash (as first noted on the MLB.com transaction log) and selected him to the major league roster. Fellow backstop Chadwick Tromp was designated for assignment in a corresponding move.
Atlanta also selected the contract of outfielder DaShawn Keirsey Jr. to the 40-man roster and immediately optioned him back to Triple-A Gwinnett. They created a 40-man spot by transferring catcher Sean Murphy from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL. MLB.com’s Mark Bowman notes that Keirsey had an opt-out in his minor league contract, and it seems the Braves didn’t want to let him hit the open market.
Wynns, 35, signed a minor league deal with the Halos just a couple weeks ago. He didn’t appear in the majors with them prior to this trade to Atlanta. Wynns has suited up for the Reds, A’s, Orioles, Giants, Dodgers and Rockies, compiling a lifetime .231/.276/.347 slash line in 826 big league plate appearances (293 games). That’s obviously below average but far better than the typical levels of offensive output from Tromp and fellow catcher Sandy Leon, who’ll split time with Wynns behind the plate following today’s shakeup.
On the defensive side of things, Wynns doesn’t draw premium framing grades, but Statcast thinks he’s solid when it comes to blocking balls in the dirt. More impressively, he’s shut down 30.2% of attempted base thieves in the majors — right in line with his career 31% mark in the minors.
Tromp appeared in a dozen games with the Braves and went 5-for-25 with a double, no walks, a sacrifice fly and a sacrifice bunt, leading to an oddball batting line of .200/.192/.240 in 27 trips to the plate. He’s a career .218/.225/.371 hitter in the majors. He’s spent most of the past five seasons in the Braves organization, so if he clears waivers following today’s DFA, there’s a good chance he’ll stick around, whether via accepting an outright assignment or briefly electing free agency and then returning on a new minor league deal.
Keirsey, 29, has appeared in parts of two seasons with the Twins (2024-25). He’s a speed-and-defense outfielder with a woeful .113/.149/.206 batting line in 102 major league plate appearances. His .260/.298/.384 slash so far in Triple-A doesn’t create much optimism, but he’s 16-for-17 in stolen bases and Atlanta apparently likes his wheels and defensive acumen enough to dedicate a 40-man roster spot to keeping him in the organization.
Angels Re-Sign Joey Lucchesi On Minor League Deal
The Angels announced they’ve re-signed reliever Joey Lucchesi to a minor league contract. He’d been released from his previous deal yesterday, presumably after triggering an opt-out clause.
Lucchesi has been on and off the roster since the end of Spring Training. He was in camp with the Giants on a minor league deal, opting out when San Francisco informed him he wouldn’t make the roster. Lucchesi signed a big league deal with the Halos and was on the Opening Day club. He was designated for assignment a couple weeks into the season.
The 6’5″ southpaw cleared waivers, elected free agency, then returned on a minor league deal. He was called back up in late April and the cycle repeated itself. Lucchesi returned on a second minor league contract after another quick DFA and free agent stint. He has made five MLB appearances this year, allowing six runs on seven hits and six walks over 3 1/3 innings.
Lucchesi has logged 18 frames with Salt Lake. He carries a 4.50 earned run average with a strong 28% strikeout rate against a manageable 9.9% walk percentage. They’re decent numbers overall, though he issued three walks and gave up two runs in his most recent appearance. He’ll re-join Tayler Saucedo and the just optioned Sam Aldegheri as depth options with the Bees. The Halos are carrying Drew Pomeranz, Brent Suter and Mitch Farris in the big league bullpen.
Angels Select Shaun Anderson
The Angels announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Shaun Anderson. He’ll take the active roster spot of left-hander Sam Aldegheri, who was optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake after last night’s game. Catcher Travis d’Arnaud was transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot.
Anderson has been bouncing on and off the Halos’ roster for most of the past two years. Since he is out of options, he needs to be removed from the 40-man roster when the Angels want to swap him out for another pitcher. This is the fifth time he has been selected to the roster since the start of 2025. He gives the bullpen a fresh arm and is usually designated for assignment after a few appearances. Each time, he has cleared waivers, elected free agency and then re-signed.
It’s not just the Angels and Anderson who have this kind of arrangement. Carlos Carrasco has been doing a similar thing in Atlanta, ditto Albert Suárez in Baltimore. While those players would probably prefer more stable MLB gigs, the fact that they keep clearing waivers indicates no one is willing to give them that kind of job. In this setup, at least they get sporadic hits of major league pay and service time. The teams, meanwhile, effectively get a 41st man on their 40-man rosters.
Last night, Grayson Rodriguez started for the Angels and only lasted 3 2/3 innings, allowing eight earned runs in the process. Aldegheri came in and pitched 5 1/3 scoreless frames to finish the game, throwing 89 pitches. Since Aldegheri wasn’t going to be available for the next few days, the Angels have added Anderson so that they won’t be short-handed in the bullpen.
Anderson has a 6.35 earned run average in 180 career innings, dating back to his 2019 debut with the Giants. Since the start of 2025, when his run with the Angels began, he has a 7.71 ERA in 28 innings. He’s been throwing four to five innings in his recent minor league appearances, so he gives the club an option for long relief if they need one again in the near future.
As for d’Arnaud, he landed on the 10-day IL on May 7th due to right foot plantar fasciitis. His 60-day count is retroactive to that date, so he’s ineligible to be reinstated until early July. His current status isn’t clear but the Angels evidently don’t expect him back for at least another month.
Photo courtesy of Jay Biggerstaff, Imagn Images
Angels Release Joey Lucchesi
The Angels announced they’ve released lefty reliever Joey Lucchesi from his minor league contract. He’d spent the past month at Triple-A Salt Lake.
Lucchesi has been on and off the roster since the end of Spring Training. He was in camp with the Giants on a minor league deal, opting out when San Francisco informed him he wouldn’t make the roster. Lucchesi signed a big league deal with the Halos and was on the Opening Day club. He was designated for assignment a couple weeks into the season.
The 6’5″ southpaw cleared waivers, elected free agency, then returned on a minor league deal. He was called back up in late April and the cycle repeated itself. Lucchesi returned on a second minor league contract after another quick DFA and free agent stint. He has made five MLB appearances this year, allowing six runs on seven hits and six walks over 3 1/3 innings.
Lucchesi has logged 18 frames with Salt Lake. He carries a 4.50 earned run average with a strong 28% strikeout rate against a manageable 9.9% walk percentage. They’re decent numbers overall, though he issued three walks and gave up two runs in his most recent appearance.
The Angels didn’t specify whether Lucchesi triggered an opt-out in his deal. That seems plausible, as June 1 is a common opt-out date for veterans on minor league contracts. In any case, the team opted not to bring Lucchesi back into an MLB bullpen that already has Drew Pomeranz and Brent Suter. Long relievers Mitch Farris and Sam Aldegheri, the latter of whom was recalled today, also throw from the left side.
Royals Claim Matthew Lugo, Select Beck Way
The Royals have claimed outfielder Matthew Lugo off waivers from the Angels, according to announcements from both clubs. The Halos had designated him for assignment last week. The Royals have optioned him to Triple-A Omaha. Additionally, the Royals announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Beck Way and optioned right-hander Eli Morgan. Kansas City had two 40-man openings for Lugo and Way due to catcher Elias Díaz and left-hander Bailey Falter being designated for assignment in recent weeks. The Royals also announced today that Falter cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Omaha. Díaz was outrighted last week.
Lugo, now 25, seemed to have a breakout season in 2024. Originally a draftee of the Red Sox, he was traded to the Angels that summer as part of the deal sending Luis García to Boston. Between those two organizations, Lugo hit .287/.376/.578 in the minors for a massive 156 wRC+, indicating he was 56% better than league average offensively.
Unfortunately, his results since then haven’t been nearly as encouraging. He has 642 minor league plate appearances dating back to the start of 2025 with a .261/.339/.430 line and 91 wRC+. He has also been sent the plate 70 times in the big leagues, with a .232/.243/.464 line and 89 wRC+ in those. Defensively, he’s considered a passable corner outfielder but isn’t elite out there. He has some ability on the basepaths, generally stealing 10 to 20 bases a year in the minors.
Ideally, Lugo will get his offense back to that form he showed in 2024, or something close to it. The Royals had some open roster space and Lugo has options, so there’s little harm in putting in a claim to get a close-up look at him at Omaha. He has a couple of options remaining, so he could be easily kept on the farm through the end of the 2027 season, though it’s also possible he gets bumped off the 40-man roster before then.
Way, 26, was a fourth-round pick of the Yankees in 2020. He was one of three players sent to the Royals in the 2022 deadline deal sending Andrew Benintendi to the Bronx. A starter at that time, Way has since been moved to a relief role. Last year’s results weren’t strong, as he posted a 5.93 earned run average in 74 1/3 innings on the farm.
This year’s numbers have been much better, though his 4.50 ERA in 30 innings doesn’t jump off the page. If it weren’t for a .361 batting average on balls in play and 62.5% strand rate, his ERA would be notably lower, hence his 3.22 FIP. His 32.6% strikeout rate and 50% ground ball rate are both well above average, while his 7.8% walk rate is also better than par. His four-seamer and sinker are both averaging in the upper 90s. He also throws a cutter, slider and changeup.
The Royals will give him a shot to see if he can get big league hitters out. Since this is his first major league call, he has a full slate of options, meaning he could be shuttled to Omaha and back when the club needs fresh arms.
Falter, 29, was acquired from the Pirates at last year’s deadline. Since then, he has been either injured or ineffective. Late last year, a left bicep contusion put him on the IL for over a month. This year, left elbow inflammation put him on the IL for about six weeks. Around those IL stints, he put up an ugly 12.46 ERA in 21 2/3 innings. He is out of options, so that performance got him bumped into DFA limbo and through the waiver wire unclaimed.
The lefty has the right to elect free agency but is unlikely to do so. Players with at least three years of big league service time have the right to reject outright assignments in favor of the open market, but they need five years of service to exercise that right while keeping their salary commitments in place. Falter is under the five-year line and making $3.6MM this year, so he presumably doesn’t want to walk away from that money.
Assuming he accepts his assignment, he’ll try to get back on track in Omaha and earn his way back onto the roster. Prior to joining the Royals, he was working as a decent back-end guy. He logged 296 innings for the Pirates with a 4.32 ERA.
Photo courtesy of Cary Edmondson, Imagn Images
AL West Notes: Miller, Castillo, Langford, Rangers, Moore
Bryce Miller will start and Luis Castillo will again be the piggyback pitcher for the Mariners on Sunday, but the team will then adopt a six-man rotation, the Seattle Times’ Adam Jude writes. Friday’s game with the Diamondbacks kicked off a stretch of 16 games in 17 days for the Mariners, so shifting back to a six-man rotation will help keep the entire pitching staff fresh. The rotation plan will then be re-evaluated on June 15 (Seattle’s next off-day), and sticking with the six-man format could be an option, if the M’s don’t again use two starters in a piggyback set-up.
Simply establishing a plan for the next couple of weeks is a positive step for the Mariners, as both Miller and Castillo weren’t pleased with what they felt was a lack of communication from the club. Manager Dan Wilson, pitching coach Pete Woodworth, president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto, and GM Justin Hollander all spoke with the two right-handers this week and now everyone seems to be “on the same page,” as Miller put it. Emerson Hancock‘s breakout season has given Seattle six viable starters and a bit of awkwardness in how to best manage everyone’s workload, though in the big picture, there’s no such things as too much good pitching for a team hoping to make an even deeper playoff run.
More from around the AL West…
- Wyatt Langford is slated to start a Triple-A rehab assignment today. The Rangers outfielder hasn’t played since April 21 due to a right forearm strain, and his stay on the 10-day injured list has been longer than expected since Langford’s previous attempt at a minor league rehab stint was paused due to more forearm discomfort. Pegged by many as a candidate for a true breakout in 2026, Langford got off to a slow start before his IL placement, hitting only .238/.274/.363 in his first 84 plate appearances.
- In addition to Langford, Rangers manager Skip Schumaker also gave reporters (including the Dallas Morning News’ Shawn McFarland) updates on two other sidelined players. Corey Seager is set for a live batting practice today, a week after a previous live BP session was postponed due to more soreness in the shortstop’s ailing back. “The running has been maybe the main thing” holding Seager back, Schumaker said, through Seager has been able to play catch and take swings. Josh Smith has also rejoined the Rangers and restarted baseball activities, though as with Seager, there isn’t any timetable for when Smith might be back in the Texas lineup. A right glute strain sent Smith to the 10-day IL on May 4, but what was initially expected to be a minimal IL stint was extended due to wrist soreness, and then the more serious matter of a bout of viral meningitis that led to a hospital stay.
- Former Angels top prospect Christian Moore exclusively played second base in his first two pro seasons but he has split his time between second and third base this season at Triple-A Salt Lake. Moore is now getting a look at the entirely new position of left field, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register writes. Angels assistant GM Joey Prebynski said Moore will be used at all three positions, and “for us, it’s just about continuing to get him reps out there, seeing balls off the bat in left field.” No team in baseball has gotten less from its left fielders in 2026 than the Angels, as Josh Lowe‘s struggles (and subsequent demotion to Triple-A) have been the biggest reason why the position has been a black hole for the team. With the Oswald Peraza/Adam Frazier platoon in place at second base, Moore’s next trip to the majors could very well see him get much more time away from his natural position. Moore made his MLB debut last season and hit only .198/.284/.370 over 184 PA, but he has continued to crush Triple-A pitching in his second year at the top minor league level, with a .282/.439/.481 to show for 171 PA for Salt Lake in 2026.