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Angels Place Michael Lorenzen On IL With Shoulder Strain

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TODAY: Manager Phil Nevin told reporters (including MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger) that the MRI didn’t reveal any structural damage to Lorenzen’s shoulder.  The plan is for Lorenzen to start a throwing program after he finishes getting treatment.

JULY 7: The Angels announced that they have placed starter Michael Lorenzen on the 15-day injured list due to a right shoulder strain. The move is retroactive to July 4. Right-hander Jose Marte has been recalled to take his spot on the active roster.

Lorenzen, 30, had spent his entire career with the Reds until reaching free agency last year. Cincy had used him primarily as a relief pitcher, though Lorenzen went into the open market hoping for an opportunity to join a starting rotation. The Angels stepped up and gave him that chance, signing him to a one-year, $6.75MM deal. So far, he’s made 13 starts and thrown 71 innings. In that time, he has an 18.1% strikeout rate, 9.9% walk rate and 51.9% ground ball rate. All told, he has a 4.94 ERA, though advanced metrics are a little more bullish, with Lorenzen having a 4.57 SIERA and 4.46 FIP.

Those numbers probably belie how effective Lorenzen has been, as his last three starts have been awful, perhaps due to this shoulder ailment starting to crop up. Those three turns resulted in 16 earned runs, causing those numbers to shoot upwards. Up until that point, he had a 3.69 ERA, 4.46 SIERA and 3.82 FIP.

The Angels haven’t provided a timeline for Lorenzen’s absence but more information should be forthcoming in the days ahead. Britt Ghiroli of The Athletic was among those to relay that Lorenzen is headed for the MRI machine soon. But regardless of the length of his absence, this situation has the potential for significant ramifications. For the Angels, they are losing a solid member of their starting rotation at a key time. The club is 38-45, seven games back of the Blue Jays for the final AL Wild Card spot, with five teams in between them. The August 2 trade deadline is now just over three weeks away, meaning the club will have to make some tough decisions about how to approach it.

Though the club would surely love to climb back into the race, they will now have to do so without Lorenzen. If they are unable to get hot in the next few weeks, they will have to give consideration to flipping players with short windows of control. With the demand for starting pitching seeming to be outpacing the supply, any serviceable starting pitcher will be highly sought after. The Angels have both Noah Syndergaard and Lorenzen on one-year deals, making them logical candidates to be moved in the coming weeks, though this injury could perhaps scuttle the chances of a Lorenzen deal. Even if he is able to return to health and rejoin the team before the deadline, the injury concern will likely reduce the return that the Angels are able to demand in any deal.

Angels Acquire Touki Toussaint From Braves

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The Braves have traded right-hander Touki Toussaint to the Angels for cash considerations, the Angels announced. To make room on the active roster, Jack Mayfield was designated for assignment.

The Angels will see if they can get Toussaint on the right track. He made Baseball America’s Top 100 prospects list in 2015 (#71), 2016 (#90), and again in 2019 (#53). Despite the promise, Toussaint hasn’t been able to carve out a regular role on talented Braves’ teams.

As for Mayfield, the 31-year-old infielder is hitting a mere .186/.230/.271 over 74 plate appearances. He’s been a player that the Angels have turned to often this season. The right-hander has also played for the Mariners and Astros in his career. He’ll have to pass through waivers now before the Angels can outright him to Triple-A.

Angels Select Michael Stefanic, Designate Tyler Wade For Assignment

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The Angels announced that they have selected the contract of infielder Michael Stefanic. Infielder Tyler Wade has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move.

Stefanic, 26, was signed by the Angels as an undrafted free agent back in 2018. Since then, he has worked his way up the minor league ladder, garnering attention for his contact and on-base abilities, though without offering much in the power department. In 46 games at Triple-A this year, he’s hit just a single home run but has a 11.9% walk rate against just a 5.7% strikeout rate. That’s resulted in a slash line of .320/.410/.399, 113 wRC+. He did manage 16 homers at Triple-A last year, but that’s the outlier on his ledger, as he’s never hit more than three in any other season of his career.

Despite that lack of power, the contact skills have been enough to garner some attention from prospect evaluators. Baseball America considered Stefanic the 14th-best prospect in the system in their most recent update, with FanGraphs currently ranking him 26th and comparing him to Nick Madrigal.

Defensively, Stefanic is ticketed for utility duty, as he’s played every infield position, as well as brief appearances in the outfield corners. However, the reports from both BA and FG note that he’s not an excellent defender anywhere, not even his primary position of second base.

For the Angels, they’re likely interested in taking that tradeoff, as they’ve had poor production from their non-first-base infielders this year. The infield group was weak on paper coming into the season and has since lost David Fletcher, Matt Duffy and Anthony Rendon to the IL, with Rendon’s injury being season-ending. As a result, the club’s overall second base output comes in at .227/.276/.308. That amounts to a wRC+ of 67, placing them 25th in the majors in that regard. Adding a bat-first player like Stefanic will hopefully give a boost to the offensive production from the dirt.

Stefanic is the second recent addition to the Angels’ infield, as the club signed Jonathan Villar yesterday. The two of them will bolster a group that consists of Luis Rengifo, Andrew Velazquez and David MacKinnon to cover second base, third base and shortstop. The club is 37-43, six games back of a playoff spot in the American League. With the August 2 trade deadline now less than a month away, they will surely be hoping for a solid stretch of play to get themselves into a firmer buyer position before then.

As for Wade, he was traded from the Yankees to the Angels in November of last year. During his time in the Bronx, he earned a reputation as a glove-first player, hitting .212/.298/.307 for a wRC+ of 68. Despite that lackluster offensive production, he was at least a valuable bench player given his versatility, lining up at second base, third base, shortstop and all three outfield positions. Although Wade changed uniforms, his game stayed largely the same this season. He has taken the field at those six positions again this year, while hitting .218/.272/.272 for a wRC+ of 57. The Angels are apparently looking for a little more thump in their lineup, swapping out a glove-first player for a bat-first one.

Wade surpassed three years of MLB service time last year, allowing him to qualify for arbitration for the first time. He and the Angels agreed to a salary of $825K, just a bit north of the $700K league minimum. The Angels will have one week to trade him or put him through waivers. Should he clear waivers, he would be eligible to reject an outright assignment and return to free agency, by virtue of having surpassed three years’ service time. However, doing so would mean forfeiting the remainder of his salary, as players need more than five years’ service to reject an assignment while still being guaranteed the money owed to them through their contracts.

J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group reported the selection of Stefanic prior to the official announcement (Twitter links). Wade also revealed his DFA to reporters, including Sam Blum of the Athletic, prior to the announcement.

Angels To Sign Jonathan Villar

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1:50pm: The Angels have officially announced the signing, with catcher Matt Thaiss optioned to Triple-A to create space on the active roster. To create room on the 40-man roster, reliever Archie Bradley was transferred to the 60-day IL. Bradley was recently shut down for at least four weeks with an elbow fracture, after which he’ll need time to get back into game shape. He isn’t likely to return within the next couple of months, making today’s transaction largely a formality.

10:50am: MLBTR has confirmed Villar is in agreement with the club on a major league deal.

8:20am: The Angels are reportedly signing infielder Jonathan Villar, according to Hector Gomez of Z101 Digital. The team has not yet confirmed the deal nor announced any corresponding moves. The club’s 40-man roster is presently full, meaning someone will have to be subtracted in order to make room for his addition. Villar is a client of ACES.

Signed by the Cubs in the offseason to a one-year, $6MM deal, Villar has struggled this year to the point that Chicago designated him for assignment and released him last week. With around $3.4MM left to be paid out, the Cubs will be on the hook for most of the remainder of that. The Angels will pay Villar the prorated league minimum for any time he spends on the roster, with that amount being subtracted from what the Cubs pay.

For the Angels, this is a way of trying to bolster an infield mix that is in serious need of bolstering. The middle infield was arguably the team’s weakest area going into the season, with a mix that included David Fletcher, Matt Duffy, Andrew Velazquez, Tyler Wade and Luis Rengifo. Fletcher struggled through 14 games before hitting the injured list and won’t return until around the All-Star break. The season-ending injury to Anthony Rendon created a hole at third base, further stretching this infield crew to cover three positions instead of two. The depth was further depleted when Duffy landed on the injured list with back spasms. Although he’s not expected to have an extended stay on the shelf, that still left the Halos with Velazquez, Wade and Rengifo in line for everyday roles, with David MacKinnon occasionally taking some time at third base.

No one out of that group has done much to solidify the infield mix, with Velazquez, Wade, Rengifo and MacKinnon all currently a sporting a wRC+ between 36 and 92, meaning they’ve all hit at below-average rates to differing degrees. Even if Duffy can return from his IL trip in short order, he’s only hitting .261/.308/.291 for a wRC+ of 74. Due to the uninspiring results of this group, the Angels have gotten a 68 wRC+ from the second base position overall, placing them 24th out of the 30 teams in the league. At third base, it’s an 82 wRC+ for 21st place, and shortstop is even worse, as their collective 44 wRC+ is dead last in the league.

Given that dearth of production from their infielders, it makes sense that they would be willing to take a gamble on Villar. Of course, whether that gamble pays off will depend upon which version of Villar shows up, as he’s had oscillating results in recent years. 2019 was arguably the best season of his career, as he hit .274/.339/.453 for a 107 wRC+. Combined with his 40 bases stolen bases, he provided 3.9 wins above replacement that year, in the estimation of FanGraphs. He followed that up with a downswing in the shortened 2020 season, hitting just .232/.301/.292 for a 65 wRC+. Last year was a nice bounceback, as he hit .249/.322/.416 for 105 wRC+, along with 14 steals. With the Cubs this year, the pendulum has swung back the other way, as Villar’s batting line is currently .222/.271/.327 for a wRC+ of 65. The defensive metrics have also soured on his glovework, with DRS giving him a -8 at second base this year.

With the Angels sporting a record of 37-42, they are currently five games behind the Guardians for the final AL Wild Card spot, with three other clubs in between them. The trade deadline is now one month away, making the next stretch of play incredibly important for teams like the Angels that could see their deadline status quickly altered by a streak, either hot or cold. If Villar can find some of the form he showed in 2019 or 2021, even for a short amount of time, it could be a significant boost to the club’s fortunes.

Juan Lagares Elects Free Agency

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Outfielder Juan Lagares has elected free agency after clearing waivers and being designated for assignment by the Angels last week, per the organization. With more than five years of service time under his belt the 33-year-old Lagares had the right to reject his outright assignment to the minors and head to the free agent market instead.

The Halos signed Lagares to a minor league pact in May, the second consecutive offseason deal Lagares agreed to with the team. In a brief taste of Triple-A at-bats this season the centerfielder hit .308/.379/.462, but since being called up in late May he has hit just .183/.210/.250 (31 OPS+) as part of a strong Angels outfield.

With souring (but still league average-ish) defensive metrics and speed, the former Met farmhand is best suited for fourth outfielder duty at this stage in his career. With center field playability on his side it seems likely another organization will take a flyer on Lagares as bench or upper minors depth in the coming days.

Archie Bradley Shut Down For At Least Four Weeks With Elbow Fracture

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Angels reliever Archie Bradley was placed on the 15-day injured list with a fracture in his throwing elbow this evening. Trainer Mike Frostad tells reporters (including Sam Blum of the Athletic and Sarah Valenzuela of the Los Angeles Times) that he’ll be shut down from throwing entirely for at least four weeks. Frostad estimated it’ll be multiple months before he’s able to return to the majors. Bradley suffered the injury during Sunday’s brawl between the Halos and Mariners, when he slipped trying to climb over the dugout railing.

Signed to a $3.75MM guarantee over the offseason, Bradley has made 21 appearances on the year. He owns a 4.82 ERA across 18 2/3 innings, striking out just 19.2% of batters faced. It’s the second consecutive season in which he’s not missed many bats, but Bradley has continued to shoulder high-leverage innings late in games. To his credit, the right-hander has induced grounders on almost three-fifths of batted balls against him, an excellent rate that has contributed to his allowing just one home run all season.

Unfortunately, the Halos will now be without one their more trusted late-game arms for the foreseeable future. An eventual transfer to the 60-day injured list seems all but inevitable, as the 29-year-old is seemingly looking at a September return at the earliest. That obviously won’t afford him much time to demonstrate his health before he again hits the open market next winter.

The fracture also all but eliminates the possibility of the Angels moving Bradley midseason. Entering play Tuesday with a 36-40 record, the Halos could find themselves dealing away short-term players in advance of the August 2 trade deadline. Flipping Bradley wouldn’t have brought back a massive return, but there’d likely have been some interest from other clubs given his high-leverage experience and lofty ground-ball numbers.

Players on the injured list can still be traded, but it’s hard to envision another team dealing for Bradley at this point. He seems unlikely to be available for more than the final month of the regular season, at best, and his status as an impending free agent means there isn’t any long-term upside in acquiring him for a contending club.

Major League Baseball Issues 12 Suspensions For Angels – Mariners Brawl

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Major League Baseball has handed down 12 suspensions arising from yesterday’s bench-clearing brawl between the Angels and Mariners. The league also handed out undisclosed fines. Nine of the individuals disciplined are from the Angels, while the Mariners lose a trio of players. The discipline is as follows:

Angels

  • Interim manager Phil Nevin: Ten games
  • Third baseman Anthony Rendon: Five games
  • Assistant pitching coach Dom Chiti: Five games
  • Right-hander Andrew Wantz: Three games
  • Right-hander Ryan Tepera: Two games
  • Right-hander Raisel Iglesias: Two games
  • Bench coach Ray Montgomery: Two games
  • Interpreter Manny del Campo: Two games
  • Catching coach Bill Haselman: One game

Mariners

The fight occurred during yesterday afternoon’s contest (video link). Wantz, who opened the game for the Halos, threw a pitch behind Rodríguez in the first inning. That came on the heels of the Angels taking umbrage to an up-and-in offering from Erik Swanson to Mike Trout the night before, and it resulted in warnings from the umpiring crew. Wantz nevertheless hit Winker with the first pitch of the following inning. The Seattle left fielder initially seemed as if he’d simply take first base, but he wound up making his way towards the Angels’ dugout. That kicked off a few minutes of fighting that eventually resulted in the ejections of Wantz, Winker, Crawford, Rodríguez, Nevin, Tepera, Iglesias and Seattle manager Scott Servais.

Wantz’s suspension is for “intentionally throwing at Winker while warnings were in place,” according to MLB. Nevin has been suspended for Wantz’s pitches, while everyone else involved was banned for their roles in the melee itself.

Players are afforded an appellate right for on-field discipline. MLB announced that Wantz has already foregone his appeal and will begin serving his suspension today. The league didn’t indicate that any other players had done that, so they’ll remain on the roster while their suspensions are being heard. Rendon is on the injured list after undergoing season-ending wrist surgery two weeks ago. His suspension won’t take effect until he’s back on the active roster — meaning he’ll presumably miss the first five games of the 2023 season.

Coaches do not have the right to appeal their suspensions. Nevin, Chiti and del Campo will begin serving their bans tonight; Montgomery and Haselman will be out once Chiti returns five games from now.

Notably, players suspended for on-field rules violations cannot be replaced on the active roster. Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times tweets that the Mariners will be permitted to stagger any bans for their suspended players so as not to have the position player group decimated at the same time — it’s unclear if a similar setup will be in place for the Halos’ bullpen — but the teams will both be playing short-handed for a while once the appeals process is sorted out. While the Angels were dealt significantly more suspensions in terms of quantity, Seattle will feel the bigger hit in on-field production (assuming the suspensions aren’t overturned on appeal) with the subtraction of a trio of regulars from the lineup.

Angels Claim Dillon Thomas, Designate Kyle Barraclough For Assignment

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The Angels announced Monday that they’ve claimed corner outfielder Dillon Thomas off waivers from the Astros and assigned him to Triple-A Salt Lake. Righty Kyle Barraclough was designated for assignment in order to open a spot on the 40-man roster.

Thomas makes his return to the Halos, with which he signed a minor league contract over the winter. He spent much of the season in Salt Lake, hitting .295/.398/.489 with eight home runs through 211 trips to the plate. That earned him a big league call a few weeks back, but he was designated for assignment after a lone appearance.

The 29-year-old landed with his hometown Astros via waivers, but his stint in the Houston organization didn’t last much longer than his initial stay on the Halos’ 40-man roster. He was immediately optioned to Triple-A by the Astros and designated for assignment after just five outings there. Thomas didn’t appear in an MLB game with Houston and now heads back to the organization with which he began the 2021 season.

An 11-year minor league veteran, Thomas only has five games of big league experience (four with last year’s Mariners, one with Anaheim). He owns an impressive upper minors track record and is only in his second option year, though, making him an interesting upper level depth player for clubs. Thomas will hope for a more lasting stay on the Angels’ roster this time around.

Barraclough was also an offseason minor league signee. The reliever was an excellent late-game weapon for the Marlins early in his career, but he’s struggled with his control and home runs in recent years. He’s bounced around the league in journeyman fashion going back to 2019. That included a ten-game stint with the Twins last season, and he appeared in eight games with Anaheim this year after getting called up in early May.

The 32-year-old tossed nine innings of three-run ball, punching out nine while walking four. He averaged just north of 93 MPH on his fastball, right in line with his recent seasons’ work but down about three ticks from his peak days in Miami. The Angels will have a week to trade Barraclough or place him on waivers. He’d have the right to refuse a minor league assignment in favor of free agency if he passes through waivers unclaimed.

Angels Designate Juan Lagares For Assignment

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Angels outfielder Juan Lagares has been designated for assignment, per an announcement from the team. His spot on the active and 40-man rosters will go to fellow outfielder Monte Harrison, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Salt Lake.

Selected to the big league roster late last month for his second stint with the Halos, Lagares has appeared in 20 games this year but managed only a .183/.210/.250 batting line. While he’s always been a defensive-minded outfielder, Lagares’ production at the plate has taken a major downturn over the past several seasons; dating back to the 2019 campaign, he carries a .222/.267/.341 output in 674 trips to the plate.

The Angels will have a week to trade Lagares, pass him through outright waivers or release him. He’d have the ability to reject an outright assignment to Salt Lake if he clears waivers.

Harrison, 26, once rated as one of the best outfield prospects in all of baseball. One of four players traded from Milwaukee to Miami in the lopsided Christian Yelich blockbuster, he made his MLB debut in 2020 but has yet to make much of an impact in the big leagues, where he’s batted .175/.230/.263 in a tiny sample of 62 plate appearances.

Harrison’s prospect sheen began to fade as he faced mounting strikeout concerns in the upper minors. He’s fanned in a whopping 35.1% of his plate appearances at the Triple-A level, including exactly 35% of his 200 trips to the plate this season. Harrison is only hitting .213/.305/.368 in Salt Lake this season, but he’s nevertheless gone 20-for-23 in stolen base attempts and will bring some speed, defense and a right-handed bat to the Angels’ bench. Scouting reports on Harrison, at his peak, praised his plus raw power, but he’s never topped 21 home runs in a single season.

Angels Option Reid Detmers

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The Angels announced to reporters (including Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times) they’ve optioned starter Reid Detmers to Triple-A Salt Lake. Reliever Jimmy Herget heads to the 15-day injured list with a shoulder issue, and the club recalled Oliver Ortega and Elvis Peguero to take their active roster spots.

Detmers’ demotion is the most notable of today’s series of moves, as he heads to the minors for the first time this season. The tenth overall pick in the 2020 draft, the southpaw flew through the minors to reach the big leagues last August. He started five games last year and has opened this season in the rotation, taking the ball 12 times.

The 22-year-old no-hit the Rays on May 10, achieving the rare feat only 11 starts into his big league career. That’s one of two no-hitters thrown in MLB this season (five Mets combined to keep the Phillies out of the hit column in April), but Detmers’ start-to-start consistency has been lacking. He’s only eclipsed five innings on one other occasion, and he’s allowed four-plus earned runs in three of his past five appearances.

Altogether, Detmers owns a 4.66 ERA across 58 innings this season. That’s in spite of opponents hitting only .204 on balls in play against him, and Detmers’ peripherals have been disappointing. He’s struck out 18.6% of batters faced on a meager 8.7% swinging strike rate, with both marks sitting a few points below the respective league averages. The Louisville product has also given up 11 home runs (1.71 per nine innings), and the front office evidently decided it better to give him a reset in a lower-pressure environment.

Inconsistency aside, Detmers is still young enough to be viewed as a potential long-term starter. He’s drawn praise from evaluators for his secondary pitches and strong control, and he reached the majors after just one start with Salt Lake last year. The club could recall him within 15 days (sooner if he’s replacing an injured player), so it’s possible Detmers will be back at Angel Stadium before the All-Star Break.

The timing of his next promotion will be important from a service time perspective. Detmers accrued 64 days of MLB service last year, and he’s picked up around 76 more days this season. Players are credited with a full year of service upon spending 172 days on an MLB roster or injured list, leaving Detmers around the 140-day mark presently. He’ll need to spend around a month more in the big leagues this year to eclipse his first full year of service before the end of the season, which would keep him on track to first reach free agency after the 2027 campaign.

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