The Angels have activated first baseman Jared Walsh from the 10-day injured list, and designated outfielder Brett Phillips for assignment. (J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group was among those to report the news.) Walsh will be making his season debut after being plagued by insomnia and recurring headaches, and these neurological issues have plagued Walsh for over a year.
In a recent interview with The Athletic’s Sam Blum, Walsh detailed his issues, which ranged from lack of sleep to tremors to a loss of depth perception. “It’s been hell. Not knowing what’s going on, not understanding what’s happening with my body….And not being able to get answers, not being able to figure out why I can’t do basic tasks. It’s been pretty concerning for me,” Walsh said.
Fortunately, a stint at a specialized clinic seems to have gotten Walsh on the right track, to the point that is ready to make his return to the field. A rehab stint at Triple-A Salt Lake has borne some very positive results, as Walsh had a 1.176 OPS over 33 plate appearances.
Walsh hit .280/.338/.531 with 38 homers over 693 plate appearances for the Angels in 2020-21, but his production badly fell off last season due to both his neurological problems and thoracic outlet syndrome. Walsh underwent TOS surgery last September to hopefully correct that problem, though it remains to be seen how he’ll fare in his return to the big leagues.
Brandon Drury, Gio Urshela, and Jake Lamb have handled most of the first base duties for Anaheim this season, and Drury should continue to get the bulk of work at second base while Urshela can continue to get time at shortstop and play third while Anthony Rendon is on the 10-day IL. Shohei Ohtani’s presence keeps the Angels from juggling at-bats through the DH spot, but the club will likely be a little cautious about pushing Walsh too much, and Drury or Urshela seem likely to get some first-base starts when a right-handed pitcher is on the mound.
Phillips was signed to a one-year, $1.2MM deal during the offseason, but the Angels have a pretty stable starting outfield trio (Taylor Ward, Mike Trout, Hunter Renfroe) and two capable backups in Mickey Moniak and utilityman Luis Rengifo. This has made Phillips little more than a late-game fill-in for defensive purposes or as a pinch-runner, with only two starts and 16 PA over 19 games. Phillips has also collected only one hit in those 16 trips to the plate.
The Angels owe Phillips roughly $835K in remaining salary, and will remain responsible for that money unless another team claimed Phillips on waivers. If Phillips clears the DFA wire, a new team can sign him and then owe him only the prorated portion of the Major League minimum salary for any time spent in the big leagues, with Anaheim still covering the rest of the $835K. Given Phillips’ reputation as a strong defender, baserunner, and clubhouse presence, it would seem like there’s a good chance he’ll catch on with another team.
Lots of good DFA’s today. Hope Scott Harris is taking notes and does the same with Schoop!
Schoop for Hicks?
Good move with Phillips with Moniac raking. Problem is, it’s gonna be hard to get him AB’s with a current full healthy outfield.
Nice problem to have. But remember the Angels are doing the “Load Management” thing this year to help a prolong losing streak.
Plugplay. Ward is playing himself out of ABs. He’s pressing and chasing. I don’t think his leash is all that long.
True on Ward, but he’s just a small hot streak away from being at what they thought he’d be. We’ll see.
Moniak’s revamped swing seems to be paying off so far this year. Let’s hope this can be his breakout year. With Moniak and Walsh coming up, the Angels have a more balanced lineup against RH starters.
They still need more out of the starters and a 3rd option out of the pen besides Moore and Estevez.
Giving 1.2 million guaranteed to an obvious waiver wire guy/minor league FA in Phillips was a doomed signing from day 1.
Phillips single handedly won a game for the Angels. At 1.2 million, he was a bargain.
He was on the waiver wire last season. He could have been had for a minor league deal for sure, a la Tim LoCastro, which is what he’ll get now. Still a ridiculous overpay. As soon as that deal was signed I knew he wouldn’t last 60 games.
No he could not have been. He was offered many minor league deals. The reason he signed with Angels was because they offered him a major league deal.
agreed. I think taking a chance on him was fair. It’s easy to second guess now, but concerns about Trouts health and a strong glove and speed were addressed by bringin in a Phillips. It was a risk, but gms don’t win every trade or signing. That’s the cost of doing business
Omar, I didn’t like the move, but he did singlehanded win a game, and didn’t lose a game.
It turned out being a good deal. Now the Moniak is more likely to win a game, the right move was made.
He is up here to stay. He’s out of options. I’m sure they were waiting as long as they could before promoting him.
Are you talking about Moniak? Options last for a year. The Angels can send him down without risk.
I didn’t like the move that much at first, but once you look at alternatives and considering the situation they were in, it made a lot more sense. Sitting him and letting the younger guys get reps. Had Phillips showed a better bat great, but he made sense when you look at everything. I thought a deal more incentive based i.e. games/PA would’ve been better but Angels needed a defensive OF option who would sit, and he fit. I think it all worked out and wish Phillips the best
Thats only $500K over the minimum.
Lol Winslow, that’s what I was gonna say. A huge over pay is comical. Like said above, and he stole us a game.
$1.2M to Brett Phillips is the least of the Angels’ problems
Phillips seemed like a great guy and didn’t get much of a chance. I’m not complaining, but teams have to make choices and win games. Moniak took advantage of his chance, thus he’s here and Phillips is not.
Walsh is back and that is a huge plus. When Rendon comes back, this lineup should be pretty good.
Well he most likely would have never made the team had Walsh been ready from the get go.
When Rendon comes back he’s going to break his hand getting dressed. I liked him in Washington but you cannot depend on him anymore.
Hoping for All Star quality play from him. Big boost if so and possible trade chip for an arm if he actually does come back strong.
They’re no going to Walsh if he has good season. They have no viable replacement right now.
I think Walsh will give away RH ABs to Urshela. And Urshela has an 83 OPS+. He missed his chance to become a regular.
Phillips seems like a super likeable guy. I got to watch his antics with the crowd from a few rows behind him in RF while he was playing with the Orioles AAA team. Funny guy. Wish he could make that step past a quad A player and get a few years even as a 4th outfielder and pitch runner (and position pitcher) somewhere. Seems like a good guy to root for but maybe for a non-contender somewhere hoping to give him enough at bats to maybe make him serviceable.
I didn’t like the Phillips signing initially either. But it’s all about flexibility. Sometimes you need role players, and he did his role pinch run/late defensive replacement well. Besides that, Phillps gave the team the ability to send Moniak down and get at bats and work on things, which is super valuable. Now his role is finished and Moniak is a beast.
Welcome back Walshy! Looking forward to an every day 1st baseman that can pick it and hit it! Sad to see Phillips gone but I like these moves…go Halos!!
How does Brett Phillips keep getting jobs? I’m serious I don’t follow him. His numbers are awful. I don’t know about the great clubhouse guy theory. How can a team carry him on the roster at all?
Very fast, Elite defender.
Save money in transportation. Don’t need to purchase an airline ticket for him. He is his own plane
“Specialized clinic”…hmm.
We think he(Phillips) can play, he’s a really impactful defender who can play all three outfield positions and can really throw,” general manager Perry Minasian said. “And I think with the new rule changes, baserunning will be more important. He can run the bases and steal bases and win you games there. And then offensively, he’s done a lot this offseason to work on things and we think he’s going to drastically improve.”
Dodgers should pick him up. 0.00 ERA in 2023! Who else are they going to throw out there?
I’m guessing Walsh gets most of the starts at 1B vs RHP for Anaheim, not Urshela and Drury as mentioned in the article.
I always felt Phillips was a placeholder for Anaheim until Moniak or Adell earned playing time. Moniak and Adell needed ABs at AAA which they were never going to get with Anaheim. I won’t be surprised if Anaheim platoons Ward and Moniak given their respective performances to date (small sample size noted).
Apparently one hell of a bunter.
WTF was that Nevin?
It completely changed the momentum. I’m not sure the Angels have a sacrifice this year.
Don’t ask players to do things they can’t do. Some people think all players can but… they can’t.
This team can’t overcome Nevin.
As I said when Brett Phillips was signed… he’d eventually get DFA’d.
And he won a game, without losing a game. That’s better than most of our bench.
And he was just here until Moniak or Adell were ready to be called up. And right now they are both better than Ward. Heck, right now you are likely better than Ward.
Ward has been disappointing. But I think it’s good having some competition in LF between Ward, Moniak, and Adell. It forces them to stay on their toes and not take their starting role for granted. As Ward is finding out, the team has other options if he doesn’t pick things up.
The roster is much better with Ward/Moniak than Ward/Phillips.
Moniak has a 11 to 1 K to BB ratio and a 38% KRate. It’s not going to last .
But we sure needed his temporary production to buy some time. He saved us. Maybe the Angels have 4 reliable RPs? And this team will start hitting again. Walsh helps the defense.
The time of throwing away games needs to come to an end.