Angels Designate Jared Walsh For Assignment
The Angels announced Thursday that they’ve designated first baseman/outfielder Jared Walsh for assignment and transferred righty Ben Joyce to the 60-day injured list. That pair of transactions opens space on the roster for newly acquired right-handers Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez. Giolito will make his team debut tomorrow against Toronto, tweets Sam Blum of The Athletic. Lopez is with the Angels in Detroit and will be available out of the bullpen during today’s doubleheader, tweets Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register.
Walsh broke out with a hefty .280/.331/.531 slash and 38 home runs in 176 games from 2020-21, cementing his place on the Angels’ roster in the process. However, the now-29-year-old late bloomer has seen his production plummet in the two seasons since, due largely to alarming health issues. Walsh underwent thoracic outlet surgery last summer, ending his season after 118 games of .215/.269/.374 output at the plate.
The 2023 season has been even more concerning. Walsh was placed on the injured list early in the season due to persistent headaches and insomnia. Walsh detailed his struggles in an interview with Blum earlier in the season: “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 was thankfully at least able to return to the field, but the results have been nowhere near his peak levels. In 78 big league plate appearances, he’s batted just .119/.244/.224 while striking out in a third of his plate appearances. He’s batted .231/.394/.410 in 99 plate appearances since being optioned to Triple-A, but he’s still fanned in 30.3% of those trips to the plate.
The health troubles that have plagued Walsh are both frightening and immensely unfortunate. There’s little doubt they’ve derailed what looked to be a burgeoning big league career, and he’ll now either be traded, placed on waivers or released. He’s being paid $2.65MM this season and owed about $955K between now and season’s end.
Given the alarming nature of his health troubles and this season’s struggles, it’s far from certain that another club would trade for Walsh or place a claim if he lands on outright waivers. If Walsh clears waivers, he has enough service time to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency, but doing so would mean forfeiting the remainder of that salary. As such, he’d likely accept an outright assignment to return to Triple-A Salt Lake.
Angels Select Gerardo Reyes
The Angels announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Gerardo Reyes and reinstated outfielder Hunter Renfroe from the paternity list. In corresponding moves, outfielder Jo Adell was optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake while right-hander Ben Joyce was placed on the 15-day injured list due to ulnar neuritis. To open a spot for Reyes on the 40-man roster, catcher Max Stassi was transferred to the 60-day injured list.
Reyes, 30, was signed to a minor league deal in the offseason and has been pitching for Triple-A Salt Lake so far this year. He has a 4.64 ERA through 21 1/3 innings in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, striking out 32% of batters faced but walking 11%.
He has a bit of major league experience, including two games with the Angels last year as well as 27 with the 2019 Padres, undergoing Tommy John surgery in between those campaigns. He has a 7.39 career ERA at the moment, though a .329 batting average on balls in play and 54.7% strand rate point to a bit of bad luck. His 29.5% strikeout rate and 10.9% walk rate have led to more palatable advanced metrics like a 4.17 FIP and 3.86 SIERA.
Now back on the 40-man roster, Reyes still has an option year and could provide a depth arm with some roster flexibility going forward. He also has less than a year of service time and can be cheaply retained for future seasons if he can continue to hang onto his roster spot.
Joyce was removed from last night’s game due to right hand irritation and will now sit out at least two weeks. He underwent an MRI today, per J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group, and more information on his status should be forthcoming in the near future. Joyce was just added to the club’s roster a couple of weeks ago and is known for his elite velocity. His fastball has averaged an incredible 101.5 mph so far in his short big league career. He has a 4.50 ERA through his first four innings, striking out 23.8% of opponents but walking 19%.
As for Stassi, this move is little more than a formality to open a roster spot since he has already been on the injured list for more than 60 days. He began the season on the IL due to a hip strain and has also been dealing with an undisclosed family situation. Since 60 days have already passed since his initial IL placement, he’s eligible to be reinstated at anytime. However, he hasn’t begun a rehab assignment and there hasn’t been any reporting that suggests he’s close to starting one.
Angels Select Ben Joyce
The Angels announced that they have called up hard throwing right hander Ben Joyce to the big leagues. To make room, left hander Matt Moore has been placed on the 15-day IL with a right oblique strain, and Austin Warren has been transferred to the 60-day IL.
Joyce has been working at Double-A this season, where he’s posted a 4.60 ERA over 15 2/3 innings, combining a 34.3% strikeout rate with an 18.3% walk rate. His calling card is undoubtedly the fastball, which as touched 105 mph in the past. Joyce ranked 19th on Keith Law’s Angels prospect rankings for The Athletic, with Law stating “he doesn’t have an average second pitch or particularly good command of the fastball … He’ll have to develop his slider to be a big-league reliever.”
That’s seemed to shine through in his minor league numbers, with Joyce walking more than seven batters every nine innings so far this season. There’s obviously a big step up from Double-A to the big leagues, but it’ll be fascinating to see how such a hard thrower goes against the increased competition.
Joyce will be replacing one of the Angels’ best relievers in Moore. The left hander has worked to a 1.44 ERA through 25 innings for the Angels, following on from his impressive season in 2022 for the Rangers. Moore has reverse splits for a left hander, with left handed hitters going .250/.333/.625 against him while right handers have struggled to a .117/.194/.167 line against the veteran. There’s no timetable yet for Moore’s recovery, but he’ll miss at least the next two weeks as he recovers.