The Angels put rookie shortstop Zach Neto on the 10-day injured list due to a left oblique strain this evening. Infielder Andrew Velazquez is up from Triple-A Salt Lake to take the active roster spot. The Halos also optioned reliever Jimmy Herget to Salt Lake while recalling left-hander Kolton Ingram from Double-A Rocket City.
Losing Neto is the most significant of today’s developments. He was pulled from last night’s game with side tightness. Oblique strains can lead to absences pushing or exceeding a month, but the young infielder told the Angels’ beat he’s hopeful of a quick return (relayed by Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register).
Neto was the 13th overall pick in last summer’s draft. The first player from his class to reach the big leagues when he was promoted in mid-April, the Campbell product has stabilized the middle infield. He’s off to a strong .259/.338/.431 start to his MLB career, connecting on six home runs in 199 trips to the plate. While Neto isn’t drawing many walks, he’s running a lower than average 18.6% strikeout rate while averaging north of 90 MPH on batted balls.
It’s a very impressive start for a player who had all of 44 minor league games under his belt prior to his aggressive promotion. He’s been a key contributor to a 38-32 club that sits just a game and half back of the Yankees for the last Wild Card spot in the American League.
Velazquez steps into the shortstop role tonight against the Rangers and Nathan Eovaldi. It’s the first MLB action of the season for the glove-first infielder, who suited up 125 times for the Halos last year. He’s hitting .203/.337/.392 in 23 games with Salt Lake.
Ingram, meanwhile, joins Phil Nevin’s bullpen for the first time. If he’s called upon to pitch, he’ll be making his major league debut. The Halos initially added him to the 40-man roster last winter to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft but this is his first MLB call.
A 37th-round draftee of the Tigers in 2019, he was released by Detroit without reaching full season ball. He caught on with the Halos in 2021 and reached the majors within three seasons for his new organization. The 5’9″ reliever has had an intriguing showing in the Texas League, working to a 2.63 ERA across 27 1/3 innings. He’s punched out over 32% of opponents at the Double-A level, though he’s also walking a career-high 16.1% of batters faced.
Call up Fletcher to play 2B!
It’s a bit tricky since he’s not on the 40-man roster
Welcome to the show, Kolton. Always glad to see the 37th round draft pick, against all odd type, make it the big league, even if it is not for long. He doesn’t have a big arm. He averages around 92.5 and tops out at 95mph. He has a great sweeper. He has struggled with command this year, but he generally gets the job done. Hopefully he is effective. He can work the middle innings.
The bullpen has undergone an interesting transformation. Soriano, Bachman, and Joyce all throw in the upper 90s – 100. The all struggled with command in the minors and haven’t always been sharp on the Angels, but they have been been effective. The Angels havent had this many power arms since the early 2000s. The additions of Devenski and Webb have also been welcomed. It is almost like we have an embarrassment of riches in our bullpen rather than just an embarrassment that it has been for the past 10-12 years. It would still be nice to get Moore back though.
Unfortunately for Fletcher, he is on the bereavement list.
At this point Fletcher will not be called up or added to the 40 man roster as currently his salary is not reflected as taxable and gives them room to add payroll at the deadline. Plus his glove is not as strong as Velazquez . I love Fletch as a OC guy but his bat does not make up the difference for Velazquez glove.
Let’s hope Neto is back in 3 weeks!
We can hope he gets back soon, but Velazquez was out for 6 weeks with the same injury. I dont want to see Velazquez for the next 6 weeks. The team can’t afford to give away automatic outs particularly with Trout struggling and Walsh, Rengifo struggling to figure it out.
I’m just very pleasantly surprised by the Angels taking 3 of 4 from the Rangers. The bullpen has quietly been very good this month (outside of yesterday’s game). I read somewhere they’re combined for less than a 1.50 ERA which is the best in all of baseball over that period. Herget going down will only help, I think.
Neto has been a nice add to the Angels lineup. Hopefully he takes more steps forward and doesn’t become Fletcher 2.0
I’m hopeful that our infield will eventually be Rendon, Neto, Fletcher, and a 1st baseman who can hit.
Fletcher won’t be coming back, he would’ve been called up already. I don’t understand why they think burying that contract is more important than winning
@prov Whats wrong with Urshela? I know hes normally 3rd base, but he’s been good offensively and can handle 1st base.
Nothing at all wrong with Urshela. Just an oversight on my part. My guess is we will lose Rendon again so that solves that.
“Meanwhile” belongs at the start of the sentence, not in the middle of it, set off by commas.