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Diamondbacks Claim Troy Scribner, Designate Jeremy Hazelbaker

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The Diamondbacks have claimed righty Troy Scribner off waivers from the Angels, per a club announcement. Arizona designated outfielder Jeremy Hazelbaker for assignment to create roster space.

Scribner had been designated for assignment recently by the Halos to open the door to a claim of fellow righty Akeel Morris. The 26-year-old reached the majors last year in a swingman role and has mostly functioned as a starter over his time in the minors.

In his first 23 2/3 MLB frames, compiled over four starts and six relief appearances, Scribner allowed 11 earned runs on only 17 hits, though a whopping seven of those left the yard. He also compiled 18 strikeouts against ten walks. Scribner has a 4.03 ERA with 8.3 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9 over his 149 2/3 career Triple-A innings.

Hazelbaker, who is best known for his unbelievable start to the 2016 season, will lose his roster spot despite having compiled a .258/.327/.500 slash line through 285 MLB plate appearances. The 30-year-old has also mostly demolished Triple-A pitching in recent seasons. While high batting averages on balls in play leave plenty of room for skepticism, Hazelbaker has always posted lofty BABIP figures as a professional. He also knows how to swipe a bag and can play any of the three outfield positions, so perhaps another team will take a shot.

Angels Agree To Minor League Deal With Dustin Ackley

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The Angels are in agreement with free-agent infielder/outfielder Dustin Ackley on a minor league contract, reports MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter). It’ll be the second go-around with the Halos for Ackley, who is represented by the Boras Corporation.

Once the No. 2 overall pick in the MLB draft (2009), Ackley’s career cratered after a promising debut with the 2011 Mariners. The UNC product hit .273/.348/.417 with six homers, 16 doubles, seven triples and six steals in 376 plate appearances as a rookie, but he’d go on to bat just .235/.296/.358 over his next 1971 PAs in the Majors from 2012-16.

Ackley spent the 2017 season with the Angels’ Triple-A affiliate in Salt Lake, where he batted .261/.340/.376 in 505 plate appearances. Now 30 years of age, Ackley has experience at all three outfield positions as well as at second base and first base, so he’ll give the Halos some depth across the board and an experienced bat to plug into the lineup in Triple-A.

Angels Acquire Miguel Almonte, Designate Juan Graterol

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The Angels have acquired righty Miguel Almonte from the Royals, per a club announcement. Cash or a player to be named later will head back in return for Almonte, who has been optioned to Triple-A by the Halos. To create an opening on the 40-man roster, the Los Angeles organization designated catcher Juan Graterol for assignment.

Almonte, who was removed from the 40-man recently to create space for a player of the same last name, will celebrate his 25th birthday today by joining a new organization after seven years in the Kansas City system. While he was once viewed as a quality prospect, Almonte has had trouble earning MLB opportunities and has in recent years been shifted mostly into a relief role.

Still, Almonte’s arm obviously caught the attention of the Angels front office. He threw 47 innings of 1.72 ERA ball last year in the upper minors, over which he recorded 52 strikeouts against just 13 walks. But injuries again limited him in 2017 and Almonte is slated for some further time off after dealing with shoulder problems this spring.

As for the 29-year-old Graterol, he has seen limited MLB chances with the Halos over the past two seasons. He does have plenty of experience in the upper minors over a dozen-year professional career. Graterol carries a .652 OPS in his 353 Triple-A plate appearances and a .690 mark over 477 turns with the bat at the penultimate level of the minors.

Matt Shoemaker Lands On DL With Forearm Strain

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  • Right-hander Matt Shoemaker has been placed on the 10-day DL by the Angels due to a strained right forearm, the team announced tonight. Anaheim has called righty Parker Bridwell up to take his spot in the rotation for now. Obviously, it’s a concern for Shoemaker, who had two separate forearm-related injuries in 2017 before ending his season to undergo surgery which repositioned the radial nerve in his forearm. The Angels didn’t give a timetable for Shoemaker’s return to action.

Angels Acquire Akeel Morris, Designate Troy Scribner

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The Angels announced on Tuesday that they’ve acquired righty Akeel Morris from the Braves in exchange for a player to be named later or cash. Atlanta designated Morris for assignment over the weekend. In order to clear a spot for Morris on the 40-man roster, the Angels designated right-hander Troy Scribner for assignment.

[Related: Updated Los Angeles Angels depth chart]

Initially a 10th-round pick of the Mets back in the 2010 draft, the now-25-year-old Morris overpowered hitters in the lower levels of the minors, posting gaudy strikeout totals that helped to overshadow some glaring control issues. He quickly shot up the Mets’ prospect rankings, ranking 19th and 22nd among Mets farmhands in the 2014-15 and 2015-16 offseasons, respectively. The Braves picked him up in the 2016 trade that sent Kelly Johnson to New York in what looked to be a surprisingly solid return for Johnson at the time.

Morris has continued to post solid numbers in the upper levels of the minors, as evidenced by last season’s 3.09 ERA, 10.2 K/9, 4.4 BB/9 and 32 percent ground-ball rate in 46 innings of Triple-A ball. The St. Thomas native also tossed 7 1/3 innings with the Braves’ big league club in 2017, allowing just a run on six hits and four walks with nine punchouts while averaging 93.1 mph on his heater. Morris is in his final option year, so the Angels will be able to shuffle him back and forth between Triple-A Salt Lake and Anaheim as they see fit this season.

As for Scribner, the 26-year-old made his own big league debut last season, pitching to a 4.18 ERA with an 18-to-10 K/BB ratio in 23 innings for the Halos. Unlike Morris, Scribner has worked primarily as a starter in the minors, spending the bulk of the 2017 season in Salt Lake, where he notched a 4.35 ERA with 9.0 K/9 against 3.3 BB/9 with a 36.6 percent grounder rate in 103 1/3 innings of work. The former Astros farmhand, whom the Angels acquired in March 2017 in exchange for cash, still has multiple minor league options remaining, which should enhance his appeal to clubs that are thin on rotation depth in the upper minors.

Poll: Projecting Shohei Ohtani’s Rookie Season

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This is an especially exciting day for baseball because it marks the first time Angels righty-throwing uber-prospect Shohei Ohtani will start a meaningful major league game as a pitcher. We already got a glimpse of the 23-year-old Ohtani as a hitter on Opening Day, when the Angels slotted him in at DH and the lefty-swinger went 1 for 5 with a single in a loss to Oakland. He’ll turn around Sunday and face the Athletics’ lineup, which features feared sluggers in Khris Davis and Matt Olson.

Ohtani drew Babe Ruth comparisons in his homeland because of his two-way ability, leading nearly every MLB team to vie for his services in free agency over the winter. Although, in his first action with the Angels during the spring, Ohtani was more Brooks Kieschnick than Ruth. On the offensive end, Ohtani went just 4 of 32 with no extra-base hits, 10 walks and three strikeouts. As a pitcher, he gave up eight earned runs on nine hits and two walks, with five strikeouts, during a pair of major league spring training starts.

Needless to say, it was an ugly exhibiton showing for Ohtani, though that’s not necessarily indicative of what’s to come. Ohtani’s adjusting to both a new country and the best baseball league in the world, after all, and he didn’t garner so much pre-major league hype for no reason.

As part of an excellent piece he wrote last May, MLBTR contributor Chuck Wasserstrom spoke with several scouts regarding Ohtani, and the consensus was that he’d parlay his impressive repertoire – including a 95 to 100 mph fastball, a splitter and multiple breaking pitches – into a career as a mid- to front-of-the-rotation starter in the majors. The scouts were less confident in Ohtani’s offense, though they nonetheless believed a year ago that he could serve as a quality big league hitter. He was certainly a threat with the bat in Japan, where he slashed .286/.358/.500 in 1,170 plate appearances.

As Ohtani embarks on his first season with the Angels, the Steamer projection system is calling for a .262/.339/.463 batting line across 249 PAs. That would make for a 116 wRC+, the same figure Joe Mauer posted in 2017 and just above the mark Christian Yelich put up. The Angels would likely be ecstatic with that type of production from the part-time DH, and it’s fair to say they’d also be on board with Steamer’s projection for Ohtani the pitcher. He’s forecast for 145 innings (24 starts) of 3.54 ERA/3.60 FIP ball with 11.17 K/9 and 3.62 BB/9. That output would be worth 3.1 fWAR, matching the 2017 totals of Gerrit Cole, Drew Pomeranz and Mike Leake. All said, if Ohtani were to meet Steamer’s two-way projection, he’d rack up 3.8 fWAR, which would likely put him in the running for American League Rookie of the Year and perhaps help the Halos break their three-year playoff drought.

We’ll begin finding out Sunday what Ohtani will bring as a big league pitcher, but what do you expect from him? Will Ohtani live up to the hype on either end as a rookie? Or will his subpar spring drag into the regular season? Weigh in below (poll links for app users)…

Braves, Angels Swap Ryan Schimpf, Carlos Perez

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The Angels have acquired infielder Ryan Schimpf from the Braves for catcher Carlos Perez, according to an announcement from Los Angeles. Schimpf will head to Triple-A, per the Angels.

Injuries likely played a part in this deal for both teams. The Angels sent second baseman Ian Kinsler to the disabled list on Saturday, while Braves catcher Tyler Flowers was already on the DL with an oblique strain. Flowers’ backup, Kurt Suzuki, took a pitch off the hand during an at-bat on Friday, though he won’t need a DL stint, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports. Nevertheless, that injury scare was all the more reason for the Braves to add depth in the wake of Flowers’ loss.

Schimpf, 29, lasted less than a month with the Braves, who acquired him from the Rays on March 5. He’s best known for a solid 2016 campaign in San Diego, where he batted .217/.336/.533 (130 wRC+) with 20 home runs in 330 plate appearances. Schimpf’s success that year (his rookie season) came thanks in part to both a 64.9 percent fly ball rate and a 12.7 percent walk rate. At the same time, Schimpf struck out in nearly 32 percent of PAs. His swing-and-miss tendencies carried into 2017, when he fanned 35.5 percent of the time and saw his overall production plummet. Across 197 PAs, Schimpf hit .158/.284/.424 (88 wRC+) with 14 HRs, but he continued to rack up fly balls (63.9 percent) and walks (13.7 percent).

The 27-year-old Perez lost his spot on the Angels when they designated him for assignment earlier this week to make room for Shohei Ohtani’s promotion. Perez amassed upward of 280 PAs with the Angels in both the 2015 and ’16 campaigns, but the addition of Martin Maldonado last year helped limit him to just 21 big league trips to the plate. Over 595 PAs with the Angels, Perez batted .224/.267/.332 (64 wRC+). On the defensive side, Perez threw out an impressive 38 percent of would-be base stealers (far above the 30 percent league average) during his Angels tenure, though he did draw minus pitch-framing marks from 2015-16. With no options remaining, Perez will have to go through waivers if the Braves attempt to demote him to the minors.

Angels Place Ian Kinsler on 10-Day DL

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The Angels have placed second baseman Ian Kinsler on the 10-day disabled list, Maria Guardado of MLB.com reports. The club has recalled fellow second baseman Nolan Fontana in a related move.

Kinsler had been battling a groin injury that kept him out of the club’s final two exhibition games of the spring. Though he’d managed to play in last night’s game, the Halos will now be without him for at least ten days.

As part of a busy offseason for the Angels, the club traded two minor-leaguers to the Tigers while agreeing to take on Kinsler’s entire salary for the 2018 season. It was a lauded move for the club considering their second basemen had hit just .207/.274/.318 last year, but they’ll have to wait a bit for the Kinsler boost to kick in.

For the time being, the Halos have a couple of options. Jefry Marte and the newly-recalled Fontana could both get reps at the keystone. The team could also shift fellow offseason acquisition Zack Cozart to second base and give increased playing time to Luis Valbuena.

Fontana, 26, has just 23 MLB plate appearances to his name. His lone hit in the majors came in the form of a home run. He did, however, hit .271/.396/.449 with a whopping 16.6% walk rate at Triple-A last season, so it seems there’s some upside on Fontana’s bat to speak of.

Angels Sign Ben Revere To Minor-League Deal

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The Angels have brought back outfielder Ben Revere on a minors pact, Chris Cotillo of SB Nation tweets. Revere played 109 games for the club last season, but spent spring training with the Reds.

Revere brings with him eight seasons of MLB experience, plus speed on the basepaths, and respectable defense in the outfield. Still yet to reach his 30th birthday, the outfielder hit .275/.308/.344 in 2017 while chipping in 21 stolen bases across just 308 plate appearances. fWAR and rWAR pegged him around replacement level, while Baseball Prospectus’ WARP suggests he was worth about half a win above replacement.

With a fantastic major-league outfield of Mike Trout, Justin Upton and Kole Calhoun, a promotion of Revere to the big league club at any point this year would put him in a reserve outfielder/pinch running role for the Halos. It’s worth noting that the club’s other backup outfielders at present are Jefry Marte and Chris Young, neither of whom have been particularly impressive in recent seasons. Revere’s speed could be the asset that helps him force his way back to the majors this season.

Angels Select Shohei Ohtani, Designate Carlos Perez

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The Angels have selected the contract of pitcher/DH Shohei Ohtani, per a club announcement. To create a 40-man spot, the organization designated catcher Carlos Perez for assignment.

Los Angeles also made a few other calls on players in time for its Opening Day roster. Reliever Felix Pena was optioned, leaving Rule 5 pick Luke Bard and Noe Ramirez to make the club, while veteran first baseman/DH Chris Carter was informed he will not be on the active roster to open the year.

The 23-year-old Ohtani, Japan’s biggest superstar, came into camp seen as something of a savior for the Halos. But he ended the spring facing questions as to whether he ought to begin the year in the majors.

While Ohtani showed the tools on the mound that generated so much hype, the results were mixed. Indeed, he only took the ball twice in Cactus League action, spending most of his time on the hill in minor-league games. Ohtani did see 32 plate appearances as he seeks to adjust to MLB pitching, but managed only three hits.

Nevertheless, the Angels will allow Ohtani to test his talent at the game’s highest level. That, obviously, was the plan when they wooed him to L.A., beating out more or less every other MLB team in pursuit of a player who most viewed as the best in the world outside of North America. Of course, if things don’t work out from the get-go, it’s always possible that Ohtani could end up being optioned at some point.

The move will potentially cost the team the 27-year-old Perez, who is out of options. He had been a significant contributor in 2015 and 2016, but a slide at the plate in the latter of those two yeas let him on the outside looking in last season. Perez ended up appearing in just 11 games in the 2017 season, though he did impress (.352/.423/.502 with 32 walks against 38 strikeouts) in his 300 Triple-A plate appearances. While the bat still seems rather intriguing, Perez’s defensive work has been the subject of some critique from the Angels organization.

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