The Angels announced a series of roster moves Wednesday, revealing that recently designated right-hander Taylor Cole cleared waivers and was assigned outright to Triple-A Salt Lake. The Halos also optioned right-hander Luke Bard, left-hander Ryan Buchter, outfielder Michael Hermosillo and first baseman Jared Walsh to Salt Lake.
Cole, 30, will technically have the right to reject the assignment in favor of free agency due to the fact that he’s been previously outrighted (by the Blue Jays in 2017), but given the uncertain state of the game it’d be a surprise to see him venture into the open market. The righty posted an ugly 5.92 ERA in 51 2/3 innings with the Halos last year and doesn’t have a history of success in Triple-A (4.96 ERA in 81 2/3 innings).
That said, Cole probably wasn’t as bad as his ERA appeared; Cole was weighed down by a .366 average in balls in play and a fluky low 60.3 percent strand rate. Assuming he does indeed head to Triple-A, he’ll provide some experienced depth to an organization that has been utterly hammered by injuries to the pitching staff over the past few years.
Of the players optioned to Triple-A, Buchter is the most surprising. The former Athletics, Royals and Padres southpaw inked a minor league deal with the Angels this winter but was selected to the MLB roster on Sunday, making it seem like he’d punched his ticket to the big league roster. Instead, it appears that whenever the season does begin, he’ll bide his time in Triple-A as he waits for an MLB look. In 214 MLB innings, Buchter has a 2.86 ERA with nearly 10 strikeouts per nine innings pitched.
Bard pitched 49 innings with the Angels last year but narrowly kept his ERA under 5.00. The former second-round pick is proof that spin rate alone won’t bring about success — he led the Majors in fastball spin — and he’ll head down to Salt Lake for additional work. Hermosillo has yet to hit in the Majors and saw his production dip in a second Triple-A season last year. Walsh hit 36 home runs in 98 games with Salt Lake last year, slugging nearly .700 amid Triple-A’s own juiced ball bonanza. The 26-year-old’s output didn’t carry over to the Majors, but he received only 87 plate appearances. He’ll probably get another shot in the big leagues at some point in 2020.
Melted chocolate inside the dash! That really ups the resale value.
Love it!
Not sure I understand the Buchter decision
Me neither. His career ERA is sub-3.
And I think the only lefty in the pen
guys like Colome who manage to outpreform their FIPs year in and year out always recieve undue scorn. Butcher could not allow a run all season and people would say that his ERA doesnt matter, as if limiting runs wasnt the one job of a pitcher.
Didnt they just swap cole for butcher 3 days ago? Now hes outrighted too, hmmmm?
I wonder if this mean Dillon Peters will be in the bullpen.
What I like seeing from this is we have some decent MLB pieces available and some that can contribute at a replacement or better level. Maddon seems to be making good choices so far. Excited to see how it all plays out…let’s get this started soon! Go Halos!
Kind of surprised at Buchter but then I also figured he’d get an MLB deal.
The fact guys who were pitching in key spots last year can’t make this year’s team is nice.
Little surprised Hermosillo was sent down. Was having a really nice spring, figured he would be the 4th OF. I guess Fletch will be playing OF