7:29pm: The move is now official. Justin Upton was shifted to the 60-day injured list to clear a 40-man roster spot. That doesn’t seem to reflect upon his outlook, as he was already expected to be sidelined for the first two to three months of the season with a turf toe injury.
5:59pm:Â The Angels will select the contract of lefty Sam Freeman in order to activate him for tonight’s game, Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times was among those to tweet. It’s one of several pitching moves for the Halos this evening.
Righty Justin Anderson was recalled to join the roster along with Freeman. Right-handers Taylor Cole and Luke Bard were sent down on optional assignment to clear space on the 25-man.
Freeman, 31, caught on with the Angels just before the start of the season after he was released by the Braves. He wasn’t at his best in 2018, pitching to a 4.29 ERA. Though he managed a 52.1% groundball rate and rung up 10.4 opposing batters per nine innings on strikes over his 50 1/3 frames, Freeman also permitted an unhealthy number of walks (5.7 BB/9).
Cole’s been one of their best arms, so makes perfect sense they’d send him down.
And let us see, let us check the BB/9 numbers produced for the 4 pitchers
3.1 BB/9 – Bard in ML
3.6 BB/9 – Cole in ML
4.8 BB/9 – Anderson in AAA
6.0 BB/9 – Freeman in AAA
Organization is a joke
You’re a fool. Cole threw a lot of pitches last night so he wasnt going to throw today. After a 14 inning game last night, they needed fresh arms in the pen. It isn’t permanent demotion.
You clearly didn’t watch the game last night. Bullpen is absolutely taxed from that affair
Bullpen isn’t taxed, what are you talking about?
Allen, Ramirez, Buttrey and Bedrosian are fine for tonight – only 1 of them pitched 1 inning last night, and none have pitched the last 2
Garcia and Robles are both also possibilities to pitch tonight – they both pitched the last 2 games, but only 1 inning and under 15 pitches in each appearance
The only one absolutely not ready to go tonight is Cole, who wouldn’t be going tonight anyway. And Bard probably shouldnt, but probably could
I’d be happy to not see Allen again. Only reason the game went 14 innings last night was because he couldn’t blow it in the 9th.
Bard needs to be sent down, Robles and Garcia likely need a day off.
All you’re doing is just proving you aren’t paying attention. Garcia and Robles pitched that last 2 nights. Ramirez threw 1 1/3 just 2 nights ago and has thrown a lot of innings. Cole is out of gas. Allen is struggling with his velocity. The bullpen is beyond taxed. And they need fresh arms. If you’re going to use stats, try adding critical thinking and reasoning to your argument.
Cole got sent down because he threw three innings last night and wouldn’t be available for a couple games. Bard should be released, he has decent stuff but lacks command. Anderson was outstanding in 2018 and shouldn’t have been sent down in the first place.
The constant shuffling of pen arms is due to the poor quality of the starting pitching. You can’t constantly go to the pen before the 5th inning most games without taxing the pen. This is on Eppler and the poor scouting taking place.
Speaking of “decent stuff but lacks command”: Please welcome to the Angels, Sam Freeman.
Gas can Sam as he was known in Atlanta for burning down all hope to win a game.
You should look at Anderson’s big league numbers for this year
The bullpen is burnt and he threw a ton last night. Easy decision to make.
Sadly, unless the team can score more than 2 runs in 9 innings against what is basically the Yanks AAA team, this won’t matter much.
Offense is just brutally bad right now.
Why is this on Braves feed he is no longer a brave.
does it ever matter?
Yes? No? Maybe?…I dunno you tell me lol. what does that mean?
Have fun with the free walks from freeman. Glad the braves got rid of him
‘Sad Sam’ Freeman Angels fans…you’ll see, just wait.
l mean he’s even frowning in the pic of him
His walks are contagious… seriously
2 walks in the 7th tonight.
He’d fit right back in at ATL and prob be their #2 best BP arm this year with only 2 bb in one inning.
AA: youve honestly had MONTHS to fix this issue and not only haven’t you made A SINGLE BP SIGNING, you haven’t shown you can be creative and muster up any sign of a trade! You’ve got soooo many tools to work with and your tenure in ATL has been dismal thus far and all you’re doing is costing us win after win after win…go back to where you came from and let somebody else take the reigns that gives a damn!
wish he would have made bullpen moves like the gNats and the Phillies… THOSE have turned out great.
So can we please make Buttrey our closer?? If you didn’t see Allen being this bad then your absolutely blind
Give Sam credit, he became a millionaire. Good luck and goodbye !