1:55pm: Rivera’s going to the DL with knee inflammation, per Fletcher, who adds that the Angels have transferred reliever Keynan Middleton to the 60-day DL to open up a 40-man spot for Briceno. Middleton’s set to undergo Tommy John surgery.
1:15pm: The Angels have selected catcher Jose Briceno from Triple-A, Jeff Fletcher of the Southern California News Group was among those to report. With the Angels’ 40-man roster already at capacity, they’ll need to make a corresponding move to create room for Briceno.
Briceno is now in his third season with the Angels organization, which acquired him from the Braves in the teams’ 2015 trade centering on Andrelton Simmons and Sean Newcomb. The 25-year-old Briceno hasn’t posed a significant offensive threat in the minors since then, evidenced in part by his .261/.272/.500 line (88 wRC+) in 92 plate appearances in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League this season. The Venezuela native does carry some defensive promise, however, as FanGraphs prospect expert Kiley McDaniel wrote back in 2014 that Briceno’s “athleticism and tools are there to stick behind the plate and the arm is plus.” Moreover, Kyle Glaser of Baseball America adds that Briceno has “showed himself to be a superb defender” since joining the Halos.
It’s unclear at the moment what Briceno’s promotion means for the rest of the Angels’ roster. They already look to be in good shape behind the plate, where Martin Maldonado and Rene Rivera have opened the season with a .255/.328/.389 line (101 wRC+) in 175 PAs. Although, Maldonado’s normally excellent defense has taken steps backward this year, per Baseball Prospectus.
Yes it looks great I would like a copy and a copy of it if so
I don’t understand what eppler was thinking? If Simmons was the final piece to a championship team the the trade would have been perfect but the team had so many holes that I would be better to have kept Newcombe……???? 5 and 1 2.39 era
Last time i checked angels starting pitching isnt a problem. Simmons finished 4th in mvp last year, are you blind?
You might need the eye exam how many ucl tears since the got Simmons and how many rule 5 and waiver claims since Simmons, even if he hit 350 40 hr and 150 rbis…….well maybe then that would be ok.
7.1 WAR last season and on pace to to exceed that this season. 5 of 6 Angels starters have ERA’s below 4.00. I know exactly what Billy Eppler had in mind. Look up his comments on Dudu Gregorius…
*Didi lol
Dudu for now but didi will be back.
with that strategy that’s why we’ve been in 1st place and won the WS the last few years…..I can see brilliance behind the Simmons move when we had a solid s and 5 more in the minors.