Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Jose Marte (b. 1996)

Angels’ José Marte Shut Down For Four Weeks With Stress Reaction In Elbow

By | at

The Angels informed reporters, including Sam Blum of The Athletic and Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register, that right-hander José Marte has a stress reaction in his right elbow. He’ll be shut down for the next four weeks at least. The good news is that testing showed his ulnar collateral ligament is not damaged.

Marte, 27 in June, came over to the Angels from the Giants in the July 2021 Tony Watson trade and was selected to their roster shortly thereafter. Since then, he’s served as a frequently-optioned depth arm for the club. He’s posted an unsightly 7.80 ERA in the majors so far, though that’s in a small sample of just 15 innings. He also has a 5.73 ERA in the minors since that trade, striking out 27.6% of batters faced but giving free passes at an unfortunate 14.8% clip.

The righty wasn’t set to be the most essential piece of the bullpen in Anaheim, but it’s a hit to their optionable depth, something valuable to teams over the long haul of a season. It’s also possible that Marte could find some more upside if he can rein in the walks, as Baseball America considered him the club’s #15 prospect at this time a year ago with control the primary concern on his profile. Unfortunately, he’ll now have to wait a while before he can continue his progress.

If there’s a silver lining for the club, it’s that this may allow them to open up a roster spot. Even if Marte is healthy after his four-week shutdown period, he will then need to have a delayed spring ramp-up period to get back into game action. If the club doesn’t think he’ll be back by late May, they could move him to the 60-day injured list, thus freeing up a spot on the 40-man roster. Some of the non-roster invitees in camp include Jake Lamb, Chris Devenski and Jonathan Holder.

Angels Designate Jake Petricka For Assignment

By | at

The Angels announced they’ve designated reliever Jake Petricka for assignment. The move creates active roster space for Alex Cobb, who has been reinstated from the 10-day injured list to start this afternoon’s game against the White Sox. As Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register notes, the move opens a spot on the 40-man roster for reliever José Marte, who is expected to be activated from the COVID-19 injured list tomorrow.

Los Angeles selected Petricka in late August, setting the right-hander up for his first MLB action in two years. Petricka earned that promotion by tossing 31 2/3 frames of 3.69 ERA ball with quality peripherals in Triple-A. He’s been bombed in his seven big league appearances, though, allowing ten runs on six hits and seven walks in six innings. The Angels will place Petricka on waivers in the coming days, and the veteran would have the right to elect free agency if he passes through unclaimed.

Cobb has missed nearly six weeks with wrist inflammation. That was his second IL stint of the year, as the 33-year-old also missed a little more than the minimum ten days in May because of a blister. Acquired from the Orioles over the winter, Cobb has been limited to fifteen starts and 77 2/3 innings.

To his credit, Cobb has been effective when healthy enough to take the ball. After struggling through a few below-average seasons in Baltimore, he’s turned things around to post a 3.82 ERA with Los Angeles. Cobb has significantly improved his strikeout and swinging strike rates in the process, vaulting from one of the league’s lowest whiff rates to above-average marks.

Cobb hasn’t seen a huge change in his raw stuff, with his pitch velocities and movements right in line with prior seasons. Instead, he’s been more adept this season at locating pitches just off the edges and avoiding the heart of the strike zone. He’s also been more willing than he was last year to lean on his splitter after falling behind batters, preventing opponents from zeroing in and teeing off on his sinker in hitters’ counts.

The Angels have long since fallen out of contention, but the next few starts will be meaningful for Cobb personally. He’s in the final season of the four-year deal he signed with the O’s over the 2017-18 offseason and will hit free agency this winter. Coming off a six-week absence due to an arm injury, demonstrating that he’s back at his early-season form could be crucial in setting his market value for potential suitors.

Angels Place Jose Marte On Injured List, Recall James Hoyt

By | at

The Angels have placed righty Jose Marte on the injured list, per a team announcement. Fellow righty James Hoyt has been recalled to take his spot on the roster.

Acquired just a few weeks ago in the Tony Watson trade, the Angels added Marte to their roster on Friday. The 25-year-old made his major-league debut that very night, which could hardly have gone much better. In two innings out of the bullpen, Marte allowed just one hit, a single, and struck out four. Unfortunately, he won’t be able to immediately build off the momentum of that sizzling debut, heading to the IL for unspecified reasons.

As for Hoyt, this is yet another move in the unfortunate life of the optionable reliever. He’s already been recalled and optioned five times previously this season. Acquired from the Marlins for cash considerations at the end of spring training, Hoyt has a monstrous ERA of 10.41 through 27 2/3 Triple-A innings this year. His ERA in the majors this season is almost half as high, coming in at 5.40, though that is over a small sample size of just 6 2/3 innings.

Angels Select Jose Marte

By | at

The Angels announced they’ve selected the contract of reliever Jose Marte. Fellow bullpen arm Aaron Slegers was optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake in a corresponding move. Los Angeles already had an opening on the 40-man roster, so no additional transaction was necessary.

Marte is in line to make his big league debut. The right-hander signed with the Giants as an amateur from the Dominican Republic during the 2015-16 offseason. He’s spent the bulk of his career in the San Francisco system, where he’s entered each of the past three seasons in the back half of the Giants’ top 30 prospects list at Baseball America.

Entering 2021, BA ranked Marte #30 among San Francisco minor leaguers, writing that his high-90’s fastball and low-90’s slider could make him an effective bullpen piece. That said, Marte also has some rather notable issues with his control that led San Francisco to leave him exposed in last winter’s Rule 5 draft, where he went unselected.

The Angels acquired Marte just before the trade deadline as part of a three-player return for reliever Tony Watson. He’d have again been Rule 5 eligible this offseason if not selected to the 40-man roster, so there’s little harm for the Angels in getting him a look at the big league level down the stretch. Marte has spent the majority of this season at Double-A, posting a 3.16 ERA over 25 2/3 innings with a massive 36.3% strikeout percentage but an elevated 15% walk rate.

Giants To Acquire Tony Watson From Angels

By | at

The Giants are acquiring reliever Tony Watson from the Angels, reports Jon Morosi of MLB.com (Twitter link). The Giants will send Sam Selman, Jose Marte, and Ivan Armstrong to Los Angeles, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter).

Watson is well known in San Francisco, of course, having only recently completed a three-year run with the Giants from 2018 to 2020. It’s been a bit of a down year for Watson, who owns a 4.64 ERA/4.10 FIP in 33 innings with the Angels. His walk rate, in particular, has bothered his performance, ballooning to 10.4 percent from a career 6.7 percent.

That said, the understated veteran has been remarkably reliable throughout his 11-year career. Giants’ President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi said of the acquisition (per Slusser), “He’s a battled-tested relievers, and we’re going to have a lot of important games down the stretch. His influence, his demeanor, is really an example we want to have set.”

The Angels, meanwhile, continue in their mission to add pitching to their organization. After using their entire draft to add pitchers, the Angels now add three more in the form of Selman, Marte, and Armstrong.

Selman has the best chance of simply taking Watson’s roster spot. The 30-year-old southpaw has appeared in each of the past three seasons for San Francisco, totaling 37 2/3 innings with a 4.06 ERA/5.00 FIP. Selman has been a fine option for the Giants, though he doesn’t come with the same track record that Watson does.

As for the youngsters, Marte, 25, made it as high as Double-A this season. He’s marked a 3.57 ERA in 19 appearances totaling 22 1/3 innings. Armstrong, 21, is a burler 6’5″, 247-pound right-hander pitching out of the bullpen in Single-A. He’s impressed with a 1.88 ERA in 38 1/3 innings while striking out 28.7 percent of opponents.

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top