The Angels have designated lefty Michael Roth for assignment, MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez tweets. The move clears space on the Angels’ 40-man roster for Mike Morin.
The Angels drafted the 24-year-old Roth in the ninth round in 2012 and promoted him to the Majors remarkably quickly, sending him to the bigs in 2013 even though he was arguably underprepared for the assignment and had a below-average fastball. Perhaps predictably, Roth struggled, posting a 7.20 ERA with 17 strikeouts and six walks in 20 innings. He continued to struggle in 2014, with a 5.48 ERA, 4.2 K/9 and 5.1 BB/9 in 21 1/3 innings in the starting rotation at Double-A Arkansas.
Hagar was better than Roth. I hope they reunite.
Meh, Roth was brought up because he was more or less at his ceiling. After four years pitching at an elite level in college (South Carolina) there’s only so much improvement he can make in the minors given his arm. He’s a gamer and a smart pitcher, but he’s not blessed with the most raw talent out there. Best of luck to him, but I suspect Michael Roth has a career as a AAA starter before becoming a coach at some level.