The Angels announced today that they have selected the contract of infielder Chad Stevens. He’ll take the active roster spot of infielder Christian Moore, who has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a left thumb sprain. The 40-man roster already had a vacancy due to right-hander Héctor Neris being designated for assignment recently. The Halos also announced today that Neris has been released.
Moore just got his first big league call a few weeks ago. He has taken 64 plate appearances thus far. He has struck out in 31.3% of them but also drawn walks at a 12.5% pace and hit three home runs. He tells Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register that he hopes he’s only out of action for a couple of weeks. If that comes to pass, he might not actually miss too many games, with the All-Star break just over a week away.
For now, Stevens will draw into the club’s infield mix. Now 26, Stevens was an 11th-round pick of the Astros in 2021. He was released in May of last year and signed with the Angels. He’s never really been a top prospect but is having a good season. In 72 games for Triple-A Salt Lake this year, he has 14 home runs and a .307/.383/.542 batting line. Even in the inflated offensive environment of the Pacific Coast League, that translates to a 125 wRC+. In addition to that offense, Stevens has swiped nine bags and has lined up defensively at all four infield spots and left field.
In addition to Moore, the Angels also have Yoán Moncada, Anthony Rendon and Chris Taylor on the injured list. Zach Neto has been banged up a bit and Jorge Soler just came off the IL. Neto is playing shortstop with Luis Rengifo at third and Nolan Schanuel at first. The Halos have Stevens at second tonight and perhaps he’ll get some run there for a while, though Kevin Newman is another possibility.
As for Neris, once he was designated for assignment, it was basically assured that he would hit the open market. He has a 7.80 earned run average this year, meaning there wouldn’t be much trade interest. As a veteran with years of experience, he has the right to reject outright assignments. The Halos have skipped that formality and sent him more directly to free agency.
