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Mike Trout To Undergo Knee Surgery

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The Angels announced on Tuesday that Mike Trout is undergoing surgery to repair a meniscus tear in his left knee. He was placed on the 10-day injured list. Alden González and Jeff Passan of ESPN first reported that Trout would undergo knee surgery. The club hasn’t provided a timetable but expect Trout back this season, though González and Passan report that four to six weeks would be a best-case scenario, with the caveat that doctors will need to get a closer look.

It’s unclear when Trout suffered the injury, as he was playing in last night’s game and wasn’t removed at any point. González relayed a two-minute video clip on X of Trout discussing the issue. Trout said he felt it a little bit in the third inning but it didn’t seem like a serious issue. But it was sore after the game and this morning, so he got it tested.

Needless to say, it’s an awful development for the Angels and for Trout himself. The superstar was in good form to start the 2024 campaign. He has already launched ten home runs and drawn walks in 12.7% of his plate appearances. He currently has a line of .220/.325/.541 for the year, which translates to a wRC+ of 142, indicating he’s been 42% better than the league average hitter. He also stole six bases in seven tries.

But that performance is now put on pause, the latest setback for a player who has become frustratingly injury prone in recent years. The last time he was able to play 120 games in a season was 2019 and he’s only gone beyond the 82-game plateau once in that span. He was healthy in 2020 but the pandemic shortened the season to 60 games. A right calf strain was the culprit in 2021, followed by back problems the year after that and a left hamate fracture last season. Now he’s set to miss some undetermined amount of the 2024 season while recovering from this surgery.

As has so often been the case, the Angels are struggling despite Trout’s best efforts. They are currently 11-18, which puts them ahead of just the Astros and White Sox in the American League standings. Now they will have to proceed without their franchise player in center field for the foreseeable future.

How the club will proceed without Trout remains to be seen. They just designated Aaron Hicks for assignment yesterday, subtracting one outfielder from the mix. Now Trout’s inevitable placement on the injured list will subtract a second.

Jo Adell has plenty of center field experience and has been hitting well so far this season, currently sporting a monster batting line of .321/.373/.623. Perhaps most importantly, he’s only striking out at a 23.7% clip, compared to a 35.4% rate in his big league time coming into this year. Taylor Ward is having a good season at the plate and should stick in left field.

Mickey Moniak may need to jump into a regular role, though his fortunes have completely flipped since last year. In 2023, he rode a .397 batting average on balls in play to a line of .280/.307/.495. This year, his BABIP has cratered to .189, leading to a line of .143/.200/.214. He was due for regression based on last year’s 35% strikeout rate but he has actually lowered that to 30% this year, despite the far worse results. Multi-positional players like Brandon Drury, Luis Rengifo, Cole Tucker and Ehire Adrianza have some outfield experience. Jordyn Adams is on the 40-man but currently on optional assignment. The Angels also signed Kevin Pillar to a big league contract shortly after announcing Trout’s injury.

Trout’s contract runs through the 2030 season. Many speculated that he might ask for a trade away from the Angels now that Shohei Ohtani is gone and the team made little effort to improve the roster this past winter, despite his personal attempts to lobby the club’s decision makers to do more. But in February, he said that asking for a trade would be “the easy way out” and that he still wants to win with the Angels.

Angels Select Amir Garrett

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The Angels announced they’ve selected reliever Amir Garrett onto the MLB roster. They optioned righty Davis Daniel and placed Mike Trout on the 10-day injured list to create active roster space for Garrett and newly-signed outfielder Kevin Pillar. To open space on the 40-man roster, the Halos moved Michael Stefanic and Chase Silseth to the 60-day injured list.

Garrett inked a minor league deal with the Halos not long after Opening Day. The southpaw had been in camp with the Giants but issued seven walks in 6 1/3 Spring Training innings, leading to his release. Garrett has found his form with the Angels’ top affiliate in Salt Lake, where he has fanned 10 in 7 1/3 frames. He has walked four and allowed only two runs in the Pacific Coast League.

That was enough to get the 31-year-old (32 next month) back to the majors for what’ll be his eighth season. Garrett was a quality setup arm for the Reds early in his career. His results have been less consistent over the last couple years, largely because of scattershot control. Garrett walked over 15% of batters faced in each of the last two seasons. A near-18% walk rate led the Royals to release him last summer even though he had a reasonably solid 3.33 ERA in 27 appearances.

Matt Moore stands as the top lefty setup man for skipper Ron Washington. José Suarez has occupied a long relief role, where he has struggled to a 10.13 ERA across 16 frames. Garrett adds a third southpaw to the bullpen mix, where he’ll pitch mostly in single-inning stints.

Silseth has been sidelined since April 8 with inflammation in his throwing elbow. He has been playing catch but hasn’t progressed to mound work. Today’s transfer backdates to Silseth’s original IL placement, so he’ll be out until at least the first week of June. Stefanic, meanwhile, is out until the end of May thanks to a Spring Training quad strain. He hit .290/.380/.355 in 25 big league contests a year ago.

Angels Sign Kevin Pillar

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The Angels announced they’ve signed veteran outfielder Kevin Pillar to a major league contract. He steps into an outfield that just lost Mike Trout for at least 4-6 weeks to knee surgery. Pillar is represented by All Bases Covered Sports Management.

Pillar spent last season with the Braves, where current Halos skipper Ron Washington was on staff as third base coach. He held his roster spot with Atlanta all season despite a tepid .228/.248/.416 batting line over 206 plate appearances. That’s in large part a testament to the regard with which he was held in the Braves clubhouse. Pillar signed a one-year deal with the White Sox for 2024 but turned in a .160/.290/.360 slash in 32 trips to the plate.

The Sox designated him for assignment last week when they added Tommy Pham onto the big league roster. Pillar cleared waivers and became a free agent, but it didn’t take long for him to get another MLB job. He adds a right-handed complement to Mickey Moniak, who is in line for the majority of the center field reps while Trout is on the injured list. Pillar is no longer a high-end defender in center field, but he’s capable of playing all three outfield spots.

Taylor Ward and Jo Adell will take the majority of the corner outfield reps. Moniak is off to a very slow start, hitting .143/.200/.214 in 60 plate appearances. Pillar will serve as a fourth outfielder alongside infield/outfield hybrids like Cole Tucker and potentially Luis Rengifo, who played 134 innings on the grass a year ago.

There’s no financial downside for the Halos. Pillar will only cost them the prorated $740K league minimum for whatever time he spends on the roster.

Seven Veterans With Opt-Out Opportunities Tomorrow

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As part of the 2022 collective bargaining agreement, MLB and the Players Association agreed to a few automatic opt-out dates for some veteran players on minor league contracts. Article XX(B) free agents — generally, players with over six years of MLB service who finished the preceding season on a big league roster — who sign minor league contracts more than ten days before Opening Day receive three uniform chances to retest free agency if they’re not promoted.

The first comes five days before the start of the season. For players who pass on that initial opt-out, they have additional windows to explore the open market on both May 1 and June 1 if they’ve yet to secure a spot on the 40-man roster. There were 31 players who initially had that option in Spring Training.

Eleven of them — Carlos Carrasco, Garrett Cooper, Chase Anderson, Tyler Duffey, Dominic Leone, Matt Barnes, Eddie Rosario, Jesse Winker, Jesse Chavez, Brad Keller and José Ureña — are now on major league rosters. Kevin Pillar, Bryan Shaw and Joely Rodríguez also landed MLB jobs but were subsequently designated for assignment. Rodríguez remains in DFA limbo with the Red Sox. Shaw cleared waivers and signed a minor league deal with the Angels. Pillar elected free agency over the weekend.

Five of these players — Matt Duffy, Kolten Wong, Carl Edwards Jr., Drew Pomeranz and Curt Casali — triggered their first opt-out and have since signed new minor league contracts, either with their previous organization or a different club. They presumably secured some kind of opt-out provision in their new deals, but they no longer have an automatic May 1 out date. Five others — Elvis Andrus, Eduardo Escobar, Mike Moustakas, C.J. Cron and Jake Odorizzi — were let go and have yet to sign elsewhere.

The other seven players have the option to retest free agency tomorrow. None of the group has played well enough to likely leverage their opt-out right into an immediate MLB job, but two or three could decide to hit the market and look for a better minor league opportunity elsewhere.

Angels: OF Jake Marisnick

Marisnick has spent most of his career as a glove-first outfielder off the bench. He’s a right-handed hitter with some pop against lefty pitching but subpar on-base skills. Marisnick had appeared in 46 MLB games between three teams a season ago, but he hasn’t been on the field much in 2024. He made just five appearances for the Halos’ top affiliate in Salt Lake before going on the minor league injured list on April 17.

Blue Jays: 1B Joey Votto

Votto inked a minor league deal with his hometown team early in Spring Training. The former MVP indicated at the time he was prepared to open the season in Triple-A. Votto suffered an ankle injury during his first exhibition game and has spent the entire season on the minor league IL. Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith tweeted last week that Votto was running but had yet to resume hitting live pitching. It feels safe to assume he’ll pass on this opt-out chance and continue working back to health with the Jays. Daniel Vogelbach, who is on the MLB roster as a lefty bench bat, hasn’t produced (.111/.304/.167) over his first 23 plate appearances. That could open a path for Votto to get to Rogers Centre once he’s healthy.

Cubs: OF David Peralta

Peralta opened the season on the injured list with Triple-A Iowa. He was reinstated on April 10 and has appeared in 13 contests. The left-handed hitter has drawn nine walks with only seven strikeouts through his first 55 plate appearances, but he hasn’t done any kind of damage on contact. Peralta has just two extra-base hits (both doubles) and an overall .214/.364/.262 line through the season’s first month. The former Gold Glove left fielder played in 133 games for the Dodgers a year ago, hitting .259/.294/.381 over 422 plate appearances. He underwent surgery to repair a flexor tear in his throwing arm last October but has been able to play the outfield this season.

Mets: 1B Jiman Choi

Choi lost a camp battle with DJ Stewart this spring. He reported to Triple-A Syracuse but hasn’t made much of an impact. The left-handed hitter is out to a .191/.333/.340 start with a near-27% strikeout rate over 60 plate appearances. The Mets probably wouldn’t add him to the MLB roster, but Choi could take the opportunity to look for another minor league deal with a team that has a clearer path to first base/DH time. Pete Alonso and J.D. Martinez have those spots secured in Queens, while Stewart and Mark Vientos are above him on the depth chart as bench bats. Choi struggled with injuries in 2023 but was an above-average offensive performer with the Rays between 2019-22.

Rangers: Shane Greene

Greene has made three MLB appearances in each of the last two seasons. The right-hander was excellent in a limited look in Triple-A with the Cubs last year but has had a terrible start to 2024. Greene has walked 14 of the first 49 batters he’s faced for Round Rock, allowing 15 runs in eight innings. The Express placed him on the IL last week. Texas certainly can’t give him a spot in the MLB bullpen at this point. There’s a good chance Greene elects to stay in Round Rock as he tries to get healthy and find his command.

Red Sox: Michael Fulmer, Roberto Pérez

Neither Fulmer nor Pérez has played this season. Fulmer will miss the entire year after undergoing elbow surgery last fall. His contract is a two-year deal; he almost certainly won’t be exercising any of his three opt-out chances.

Pérez missed most of 2023 after undergoing a rotator cuff repair on his right shoulder. He played in seven games this spring but has spent the regular season on the minor league IL with an undisclosed injury. The Sox have gotten excellent play from their catching tandem of Connor Wong and Reese McGuire in the season’s first month. Perhaps Pérez feels there’s a better path to playing time if he signs a minor league deal with another team, but it seems likelier he’ll stick in the organization.

Angels Designate Aaron Hicks For Assignment, Select Cole Tucker

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The Angels announced a series of roster moves today, recalling right-hander Davis Daniel from Triple-A Salt Lake and selecting the contract of infielder Cole Tucker. In corresponding moves, they optioned right-hander Zac Kristofak to Salt Lake and designated outfielder Aaron Hicks for assignment.

Hicks, 34, was a pretty low risk pick-up for the Angels, at least from a financial perspective. His contract is still being paid by the Yankees, since they released him last year. The Angels added him to their roster but would only have to pay Hicks the prorated league minimum, with that amount subtracted from what the Yankees are paying.

There was a decent chance of them seeing a positive return on that investment, since Hicks seemed to bounce back with the Orioles last year. The O’s picked him up after the Yanks let him go, then Hicks went on to hit .275/.381/.425 in his time with Baltimore. That production translated to a wRC+ of 129 and Hicks also stole six bases in six tries.

But he’s looked far worse since donning an Angels uniform. Through 18 games this year, he’s produced an ugly line of .140/.222/.193 while striking out in 36.5% of his 63 plate appearances. His 9.5% walk rate is a bit above league average but below his career rate and even last year’s clip.

As Hicks has struggled, other outfielders have been in decent form. Both Mike Trout and Taylor Ward have been healthy and productive so far this season, while Jo Adell seems to finally be enjoying his long-awaited breakout.

Adell, 25, was selected 10th overall in 2017 and was a top 100 prospect on his way up the minor league ladder, but he struggled badly with strikeouts in his attempts to establish himself in the big leagues. He got sporadic playing time in the majors from 2020 to 2023 but was punched out in 35.4% of his plate appearances while hitting .214/.259/.366. This year, however, he’s hit .327/.382/.592 so far for a wRC+ of 174. Some regression is certainly forthcoming since he won’t be able to maintain a .382 batting average on balls in play, but he’s only striking out at a 23.6% clip so far this year.

The Angels are seemingly going to ride the hot hand and go with Adell next to Ward and Trout. Mickey Moniak is hitting a dismal .143/.200/.214 on the year but his .189 BABIP will surely come up over time. He’s striking out 30% of the time but that’s actually an improvement over last year’s 35% rate, when he rode a .389 BABIP to a line of .280/.307/.495. Since he’s younger than Hicks and comes with three additional years of cheap control, in addition to being out of options, he will hang onto the fourth outfielder job while Hicks is bumped off the roster.

By getting rid of Hicks, the Angels will add to their infield by selecting Tucker. Anthony Rendon and Michael Stefanic are on the injured list while Brandon Drury and Miguel Sanó have each missed a few games due to minor injuries in the past week. Nolan Schanuel, Zach Neto and Luis Rengifo have been the club’s three healthy infielders getting regular playing time, while Ehire Adrianza has picked up some playing time with Drury and Sanó banged up.

Coming into the season, the 27-year-old Tucker was in a similar position as Adell, a former first-round pick who hadn’t lived up to the hype. Selected 24th overall by the Pirates in 2014, Tucker has a batting line of just .216/.266/.318 in 479 major league plate appearances, scattered over the past five seasons.

He signed a minor league deal with the Mariners back in January but was granted his release back in March. He tells reporters today, including Sam Blum of The Athletic and Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com, that the Mariners offered him a coaching position after he was reassigned to minor league camp. But he wasn’t ready to quit playing yet and secured a minor league deal with the Angels.

He reported to the club’s Triple-A squad in Salt Lake and has been in great form of late. He’s made 42 plate appearances over 10 games, drawing eight walks and striking out nine times for rates of 19% and 21.4%, respectively. His .313/.439/.469 batting line translates to a wRC+ of 132, even in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.

That’s a fairly small sample size relative to Tucker’s larger career struggles. In addition to his aforementioned major league work, he hit a tepid .243/.350/.363 in the minors over the 2021 to 2023 period. Regardless of his offensive abilities, Tucker can provide the Angels with some cover all over the diamond. He has played all four infield positions in his career and spent some time in the outfield as well. As mentioned, the club has various moving parts with the infield injuries, so Tucker can bounce around as needed.

He is out of options and will have to stick on the active roster or else be removed from the 40-man entirely if he gets squeezed from the club’s plans down the road. But if he manages to have a long-awaited breakout like Adell, he can be controlled for many seasons beyond this season since he has just over two years of major league service time.

The Angels will have a week to trade Hicks or pass him through waivers. He has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency while retaining the remainder of his contract, which runs through 2025. Any club willing to give him a roster spot would be in the same spot as the Angels just were, only having to pay the prorated league minimum with the Yanks on the hook for the rest.

Angels Select Zac Kristofak

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1:22PM: The Angels officially announced the selection of Kristofak’s contract. Right-hander Jimmy Herget was designated for assignment to make room for Kristofak on the club’s 40-man roster, while righty Jose Cisnero was placed on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation to clear a spot on the active roster.

Herget spent parts of three seasons in the big leagues with the Angels, pitching to a 3.28 ERA and 3.43 FIP in 92 total appearances. He was among the Halos’ most dominant relievers back in 2022 with a 2.48 ERA and 2.82 FIP in 69 innings, but struggled to a 4.66 ERA and 5.63 FIP in 29 appearances last year and hasn’t appeared in the majors this season. The Angels will have one week to either trade Herget or attempt to pass him through waivers. If Herget clears waivers and is assigned outright to the minor leagues by the club, he’ll have the opportunity to reject that assignment in favor of free agency.

As for Cisnero, the right-hander has struggled mightily in 14 frames with the Angels this season, pitching to a 7.07 ERA and 6.30 FIP so far this season after signing a big league deal with the club back in February. It’s not currently clear how long the 35-year-old veteran will be out of action, though it appears that Kristofak will take over his spot in the bullpen for the time being.

9:57AM: The Angels are set to select the contract of right-hander Zac Kristofak prior to this afternoon’s game against the Twins, according to FanSided’s Robert Murray. Anaheim’s 40-man roster is currently full, meaning they’ll need to make a corresponding move to accommodate Kristofak’s selection to the roster.

Kristofak, 26, was a 14th-round pick by the Angels in the 2019 draft. The righty had his first full season in professional baseball wiped out by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and struggled at the High-A level upon his return to pitching in 2021 with a 6.14 ERA in 44 innings of work. Since then, however, Kristofak has pitched well while ascending the minor league ladder and swinging between the rotation and the bullpen. He posted a 3.82 ERA in 63 2/3 innings of work in a repeat of the High-A level the following year and was promoted to Double-A ahead of the 2023 season, when he posted a 4.07 ERA in 42 frames.

Kristofak’s 2024 season has been an impressive one, as he’s pitched to a 3.38 ERA across six appearances (three starts) in his first taste of the Triple-A level. The right-hander’s strong results are especially noteworthy considering the fact that he’s pitched in the infamously hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, which tends to offer a much more difficult environment for pitchers. That being said, Kristofak has struck out just 13% of batters faced to this point in the season, a potential red flag that helps to explain his elevated 5.09 FIP.

That the right-hander is poised to make his big league debut in the coming days is a particularly incredible feat given his harrowing past. Kristofak’s mother was murdered by his father back in 2012, when Kristofak was just 15 years old. The 26-year-old spoke to The Athletic’s Sam Blum about the tragedy back in September, and fans of any team are highly encouraged to read Blum’s piece to learn more about Kristofak’s story.

“Making the big leagues certainly won’t change what happened,” Blum wrote in the article. “But reaching that level — putting on an Angels uniform with Kristofak sewn on the back — will mean something that perhaps only Kristofak and his mother could fully understand.”

Kristofak will now get that opportunity to debut for the Angels, with whom he could be an option both out of the bullpen, where southpaw Jose Suarez has struggled to a 10.13 ERA in 16 frames as the club’s primary long reliever, or perhaps even in the rotation alongside Reid Detmers, Tyler Anderson, Patrick Sandoval, Jose Soriano, and Griffin Canning.

AL Notes: Robert, Berti, Sano

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White Sox fans received a positive update from GM Chris Getz regarding the status of injured center fielder Luis Robert Jr. over the weekend, with MLB.com’s Injury Tracker noting that the club believes Robert could return to the lineup in Chicago as soon as the middle of May. According to Getz, Robert’s rehab has “been really positive” as he’s progressed to both running and hitting without issue.

If Robert could be back with the big league club in as little as two weeks, that would be excellent news for the White Sox. The 26-year-old suffered a grade 2 strain of his left hip flexor three weeks ago that was initially expected to sideline him for at least at weeks, with some club officials reportedly worrying that Robert would miss the entire first half. Fortunately, the slugger appears to have avoided those worst-case-scenarios.

While Robert had been hitting a relatively pedestrian .214/.241/.500 through seven games at the time of his injury, he’ll nonetheless be an immediate upgrade to the outfield mix in Chicago upon his return even if he doesn’t regain the form that saw him finish 12th in AL MVP voting last year. The White Sox are currently relying on newly-signed veteran Tommy Pham in center field in Robert’s absence, with Andrew Benintendi and Robbie Grossman holding down the outfield corners.

More from around the American League…

  • Yankees third baseman Jon Berti is expected to begin a rehab assignment with Double-A Somerset today, according to MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. The utilityman, who the club acquired from the Marlins in a three-team trade just before Opening Day, has been shelved for two weeks due to a left groin strain. Prior to the injury, Berti had been operating as part of a platoon at third base with Oswaldo Cabrera, though the 34-year-old veteran was just 4-for-19 when he was placed on the IL. Cabrera has taken over regular duties at third base in the absence of both Berti and DJ LeMahieu, posting a respectable .258/.294/.404 in 95 trips to the plate.
  • The Angels had an injury scare this weekend when Miguel Sano was pulled from Friday’s game during the sixth inning due to a bout of knee soreness. The slugger remained out of Anaheim’s lineup last night while undergoing an MRI on his knee but indicated to reporters (including MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger) that he is day-to-day and expects to avoid a trip to the injured list after the test revealed inflammation in his left knee. That Sano won’t require a trip to the IL is surely a relief for the Angels, as the soon-to-be 31-year-old has taken over the third base job with the club while Anthony Rendon is out with a partially torn hamstring. Through 71 trips to the plate this season, Sano has hit a respectable .262/.352/.361 (110 wRC+), though much of that production has been thanks to an unsustainable .441 BABIP.

Anthony Rendon Diagnosed With Partially Torn Hamstring

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Testing has revealed a partial tear in Anthony Rendon’s left hamstring, the Angels third baseman told reporters (X link via Sam Blum of the Athletic). Although there’s no specific timetable for his return, Rendon indicated he anticipates an extended absence. The Angels put him on the 10-day injured list last week.

It’s the fourth consecutive season in which he has suffered a significant injury. Rendon had four separate injured list stints in 2021, the most notable of which came after he suffered a hip impingement requiring season-ending surgery. A torn tendon in his wrist necessitated another procedure the following June. Last season, it was a left leg injury that cut his year short on July 4. Rendon didn’t undergo surgery that time, though the absence wasn’t without controversy. While the Angels termed the injury a bone bruise, the veteran infielder said he’d fractured his tibia.

Rendon’s current injury came last week as he tried to beat out an infield hit. It’s the latest source of frustration amidst a seven-year free agent deal that hasn’t gone as he or the Angels envisioned. He has played in 219 games over parts of five years with the Halos. That’s 38.4% of the team’s schedule. That number will drop further as he embarks on this rehab process.

New manager Ron Washington penciled Rendon in at the hot corner for 19 of their first 21 games. The two-time All-Star has hit .267 with a reasonable .325 on-base percentage but didn’t hit for any power. He only has three extra-base hits (all doubles) and is slugging .307. That profile — decent on-base marks with minimal power — has been Rendon’s general production when he has been able to play going back to 2021.

Miguel Sanó has taken over third base in recent days. That’s not ideal from a defensive standpoint but does allow Washington to rotate a few players through the designated hitter spot. Sanó has gotten off to a nice start to his first year with the Halos, running a .271/.362/.373 slash in 69 plate appearances. That is driven by a .441 average on balls in play which Sanó clearly won’t maintain, but he’s hitting the ball exceptionally hard and figures to run into a few more home runs as the season progresses.

Robert Stephenson To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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Angels reliever Robert Stephenson announced that he’ll undergo Tommy John surgery and an internal brace procedure next week (X link via Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register). That’ll likely sideline him a few months into the 2025 season.

The Halos revealed last week that an elbow injury would cause Stephenson to miss all of 2024. While the team didn’t indicate at the time whether he’d need surgery, it’s not a surprising development. The righty said he’s hopeful of returning early next year, although the timeline for a Tommy John recovery is usually in the 14-16 month range.

Stephenson didn’t get to pitch during his first season with the Angels. He was delayed in camp by a sore shoulder. He reported the more significant elbow pain during his first (and only) rehab outing for Triple-A Salt Lake. That evidently revealed UCL damage, which has contractual ramifications. Stephenson’s deal contained a conditional option for the 2027 season that would go into effect if he suffered a serious elbow injury. While he’ll make $11MM annually over the next three years, the Angels now have a very modest $2.5MM club option for ’27.

Of course, the team would have preferred to have Stephenson on the Angel Stadium mound this year instead. They envisioned him as an anchor of their setup corps after his breakout with the Rays. The hard-throwing righty pitched to a 2.35 ERA with a 42.9% strikeout rate in 38 1/3 innings after Tampa Bay acquired him last June. He’ll miss all of this season, his age-31 campaign. The option year covers his age-34 season.

Angels Select Ehire Adrianza

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The Angels announced this afternoon that they’ve selected the contract of infielder Ehire Adrianza. Adrianza will take the place of third baseman Anthony Rendon on the active roster, as Rendon is headed to the 10-day injured list with a left hamstring strain. Meanwhile, right-hander Robert Stephenson was transferred to the 60-day injured list to make room for Adrianza on the club’s 40-man roster. MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger first reported that Adrianza was likely to replace Rendon on the club’s roster last night.

Adrianza, 34, will now participate in the 12th big league season of his career. The veteran made his big league debut with the Giants back in 2013 and made intermittent appearances with the club as a utility infielder off the bench, remaining the the club for four seasons despite a meager .220/.292/.313 slash line at the big league level. Despite that lackluster offense, Adrianza earned his role in San Francisco with his versatility, which allowed him to cover all four infield positions, as well as his switch-hitting, high-contact bat that allowed him to strike out just 18.1% of the time despite a 72 wRC+.

Prior to the 2017 season, Adrianza found himself designated for assignment by the Giants and eventually made his way to the Twins on waivers. He’d spend the next four seasons in Minnesota receiving far more regular playing time, and earned his expanded role by taking a small step forward with the bat. In 312 games with the Twins from 2017 to 2020, Adrianza slashed a decent .253/.317/.377 (86 wRC+) while posting a 19.1% strikeout rate against an 8% walk rate. The switch-hitter also expanded his defensive resume while in Minnesota, spending time at both outfield corners and even making a mop-up appearance on the mound in addition to his work around the infield.

After hitting free agency for the first time following the 2020 season, Adrianza signed with the Braves on a minor league deal ahead of what would become a career year of the infielder. The then-31-year-old made appeared in 109 games with Atlanta that year, slashing a respectable .247/.327/.401 with an excellent 10% walk rate against a 20.1% strikeout rate in 209 plate appearances while splitting time between shortstop, all three outfield spots, second base, and third base. Adrianza went on to appear on the club’s postseason roster that fall and earned a ring with the club when they won the 2021 World Series.

Things have taken a turn for the worse for the veteran in recent years, however. He’s appeared in just 42 big league games since the end of the 2021 campaign, slashing a putrid .159/.248/.187 in 121 combined plate appearances for the Nationals and Braves amid elbow and shoulder injuries. He caught on with the Angels this past winter on a minor league deal in spite of those injury and ineffectiveness issues in recent years, reuniting with former Braves third base coach and current Halos manager Ron Washington in the process. With Anaheim, Adrianza figures to provide the club with depth off the bench all around the infield, where the club is currently utilizing a combination of Nolan Schanuel, Brandon Drury, Miguel Sano, Zach Neto, and Luis Rengifo.

In doing so, Adrianza will take the roster spot of Rendon, who was pulled from yesterday’s game in the top of the first inning due to a hamstring strain. Now the soon to be 34-year-old veteran will head to the injured list once again after making frequent trips to the shelf in recent years that have limited him to just 219 total games since he signed a seven-year deal with the Halos during the 2019-20 offseason. Rendon had begun to heat up in recent weeks with a solid .357/.413/.411 slash line in his last 63 trips to the plate but now will be forced out of the lineup for the time being, though no timetable has been specified for his return to action.

Making room for Adrianza on the 40-man roster is Stephenson, whose placement on the 60-day IL is hardly a surprise after the club announced earlier this week that the right-hander would miss the entire 2024 season due to an elbow injury. It’s Stephenson’s first year with the Angels, and he remains under contract for two more seasons after this one with a club option on his services for the 2027 campaign.

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