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Angels Sign Chad Wallach To Minor League Deal

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The Angels have re-signed catcher Chad Wallach to a minor league contract, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reports (X link).  Wallach entered free agency after being outrighted off the Halos’ 40-man roster following the season, and it is safe to guess that his new minors deal contains an invitation to Spring Training.

It is the second catcher signing in as many days for Los Angeles, as Francisco Mejia was also added on a minors contract yesterday.  Logan O’Hoppe is set to be the Angels’ starting catcher and Matt Thaiss has the inside track on the backup job, but Mejia and Wallach will provide some veteran competition and depth in Spring Training.  Since Thaiss also has some experience as a corner infielder, the Halos could even consider carrying three catchers on the Opening Day roster, depending on how the rest of their offseason dealings play out.

Wallach is a known quantity in Anaheim, first joining the organization after being claimed off waivers from the Dodgers in August 2021.  The Angels have outrighted Wallach off the roster four times, and this marks the second straight offseason that Wallach had elected free agency and then re-signed with the organization.

Wallach’s defense and reputation as a quality game-caller have led to a seven-year Major League career, consisting of 155 career games and 443 plate appearances with the Reds, Marlins and Angels from 2017-23.  Due to the Angels’ catching injuries last season, Wallach set new career highs in both games played (65) and PA (172), though he didn’t deliver much at the plate.  Over his 443 career PA, Wallach has hit .198/.263/.328 with 11 home runs — seven of those dingers came in 2023.

Angels Outright Six Players

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The Angels have outrighted first baseman Jared Walsh, outfielder Brett Phillips, catcher Chad Wallach, right-handers Jaime Barria and Carson Fulmer, and left-hander Jhonathan Diaz, per MLB.com’s Transactions page. It had not previously been announced that the group were designated for assignment, but each player evidently cleared waivers. Walsh, Phillips, Wallach, Barria, and Fulmer will each now have the opportunity to elect free agency and hit the open market this offseason.

Walsh, 30, is perhaps the most noteworthy of the group. A 39th-round pick by the Angels in the 2015 draft, Walsh made it to the majors in 2019 and broke out in a big way during the shortened 2020 season, slashing an incredible .293/.324/.646 with nine home runs in just 108 trips to the plate. He followed up that breakout campaign with a strong 2021 as the club’s regular first baseman. In 144 games that year, Walsh hit .277/.340/.509 with 29 homers in his first full season of big league action en route to his first career All Star appearance. Unfortunately, things went down hill for Walsh from there. The slugger has struggled with neurological issues in recent years and struggled to be an effective big leaguer as a result, slashing just .197/.258/.355 in 157 games across the past two seasons. Deep as Walsh’s struggles have been in recent years, if he can prove himself to be healthy it’s certainly feasible that a club with a need at first base could give him a look thanks to his significant success in the relatively recent past.

Phillips, 29, made his big league debut with the Brewers during the 2017 season, slashing a solid .276/.351/.448 in 98 trips to the plate for the club. That said, Phillips’s true calling card is his outfield defense, which has allowed him to appear in the majors for each of the past seven seasons of his career despite only posting a better-than-average slash line in 2021 besides his debut season. Though he’s slashed a paltry .187/.272/.347 for his career including an abysmal .152/.230/.269 line the past two seasons, Phillips has managed to bounce between the Brewers, Royals, Rays, Orioles, and Angels throughout his career and could enter free agency as a solid, glove-first depth piece for interested clubs, though it’s possible he’ll have to settle for a minor league deal.

Wallach, 31, made is MLB debut in 2017 and since then has bounced around the major and minor leagues as a depth option behind the plate, with previous major league stints in Cincinnati and Miami as well as Anaheim. 2023 was the journeyman’s first extended big league opportunity thanks to injuries to the club’s typical catching corps of Logan O’Hoppe and Max Stassi, and Wallach performed passably in the role with solid framing numbers and 70 wRC+ that placed him 49th among 69 catchers with at least 100 big league plate appearances this season. Wallach figures to once again receive interest as a potential depth piece for clubs in need of additional catching options this offseason.

Barria, 27, made his MLB debut in 2018 and has spent his entire career with the Angels to this point. His rookie season was an impressive one, as he posted a 3.41 ERA that was 23% better than league average by ERA+ in 26 starts, though his 4.58 FIP left something to be desired. Barria struggled in a swing role in 2019 before bouncing back with a 3.62 ERA and matching 3.65 FIP in 32 1/3 innings of work during the shortened 2020 season. That set off what has become a trend of Barria alternating between struggles and success every other season; while he posted excellent numbers in 2022 with a 2.61 ERA as a multi-inning reliever, he struggled in 2021 and especially the 2023 campaign, during which he posted a 5.68 ERA and 6.07 FIP across 82 1/3 innings of work. Still, given Barria’s relative youth and previous success, it seems like a reasonable bet that he’ll find interest in his services this offseason.

Fulmer, who was selected eighth overall by the White Sox in the 2015 draft, struggled to a 6.41 ERA and 5.93 FIP across 130 2/3 innings for the first six seasons of his big league career while bouncing between the White Sox, Tigers, Orioles, and Reds organizations. After a solid season at the Triple-A level for Fulmer with the Dodgers in 2022, he signed on in Anaheim and return to the big leagues late in the year. He pitched fairly well in ten innings of work, striking out six while posting a 2.70 ERA across three appearances. The 29-year-old figures to once again receive interest from clubs this offseason, though it seems likely he’ll once again be limited to minor league offers.

Diaz, meanwhile, will remain in the Angels organization as a player with less than three years service time who’s just received the first outright assignment of his career. The 27-year-old lefty made his big league debut in Anaheim back in 2021, and has posted a 4.84 ERA with a 4.83 FIP across 35 1/3 innings of work in the big leagues split across the last three seasons. Diaz sports identical 14.4% strikeout and walk rates for his big league career thanks to a brutal 2023 campaign that saw him walk seven batters in seven innings while striking out just four and posting a 10.29 ERA. He’ll remain a decent left-handed depth option for the Angels going forward.

Angels Select Chad Wallach, Designate Chris Devenski For Assignment

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The Angels announced that catcher Matt Thaiss has been placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to August 24, due to right shoulder inflammation. Fellow catcher Chad Wallach has been selected to the roster as his replacement. To open a 40-man spot for Wallach, right-hander Chris Devenski was reinstated from the injured list and designated for assignment.

Wallach, 31, served as part of the club’s catching duo alongside Thaiss for much of the year. The Angels had originally planned on having Max Stassi and Logan O’Hoppe behind the plate but both ended up spending significant time on the injured list, bumping Thaiss and Wallach to the top of the depth chart. But when O’Hoppe returned from the IL last week, Wallach got designated for assignment, eventually clearing waivers and accepting an outright assignment. With Thaiss now set to miss an undetermined amount of time, Wallach has his roster spot back.

In 58 games for the Halos this season, Wallach struck out in 34.2% of his plate appearances but launched seven home runs. His .209/.279/.403 batting line amounts to a wRC+ of 84, indicating he’s been below average overall, but fairly solid by backup catcher standards. He also produced two Defensive Runs Saved and was just under average in terms of framing. He can be retained for next year via arbitration but is out of options.

Devenski has made 29 relief appearances for the Halos on the season. The veteran has a 5.06 ERA across 33 2/3 innings despite generally solid underlying marks. Devenski has a decent 23.6% strikeout percentage and has walked only 6.4% of opposing hitters. He has kept the ball on the ground and missed bats on a respectable 11.9% of his offerings. Opponents have hit only .244/.295/.394 against him, but he’s had a hard time stranding the runners he does allow to reach base.

The 32-year-old Devenski has bounced around the league following a strong 2016-17 run with the Astros. He owns a 5.38 ERA in 175 2/3 frames between four clubs since the start of the 2018 season. The Halos will put him on waivers in the coming days. If he goes unclaimed, he’d have the right to elect free agency.

Angels Designate Zack Weiss For Assignment

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The Angels announced today that right-hander José Marte was reinstated from the 60-day injured list and optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake. To make room for him on the 40-man roster, righty Zack Weiss was designated for assignment. Additionally, catcher Chad Wallach cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Salt Lake.

Weiss, 31, was first added to the Angels’ roster in September of last year. In that span of just under a full year, he’s served as a frequently-optioned depth arm for the club, tossing 18 2/3 innings in the majors, allowing 3.86 earned runs per nine frames in that time. He struck out 30.9% of batters faced but also walked 11.1%.

This year, he’s spent the majority of his time in Triple-A, tossing 37 1/3 innings with a 6.03 ERA. That’s been in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League but Weiss has still walked 14% of opponents, which hasn’t helped matters. It seems those control issues have nudged him off the roster. Since the trade deadline went by long ago, the Angels will have to put Weiss on waivers in the coming days. Despite his struggles with the free passes,  he’s always had decent strikeout numbers to go with and could perhaps garner interest from other clubs.

He has less than a year of service time and a full slate of options, which could appeal to a club in search of some depth and with the ability to have some long-term patience. If he were to clear waivers, he lacks the previous career outright and three years of major league service necessary to elect free agency, though he would qualify for minor league free agency if not on a roster at season’s end.

Marte, 27, will take that roster spot from Weiss. He was placed on the injured list in March due to a right elbow stress reaction and has only just now been activated. He’s a similar pitcher to Weiss, in that he generally pair high strikeout numbers with high walk totals. In 15 major league innings, he’s punched out 26.3% of opponents while giving free passes to 27.6% in that small sample. In Triple-A last year, he had a 29.5% strikeout rate and 14.7% walk rate.

Angels Outright Chad Wallach

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The Angels announced this evening that they have assigned catcher Chad Wallach outright to Triple-A Salt Lake. The club designated Wallach for assignment on Friday, clearing the way for top prospect Logan O’Hoppe to make his return from injury. Wallach has enough service time to reject that assignment, if he so chooses, though he would forgo the remainder of his 2023 salary in doing so.

Wallach, 31, shared time behind the plate with Matt Thaiss for the Angels throughout much of the season thanks to injuries to both O’Hoppe and Max Stassi, the club’s initially planned tandem. Wallach performed admirably in the role, with a wRC+ of 84 in 149 trips to the plate that leaves him roughly middle of the pack among catchers with that many plate appearances this season. Wallach paired that decent offensive production with a solid glove and had the look of an above-average backup catcher throughout his time in Anaheim this year.

That being said, Wallach cooled significantly over his last two months with the club. In 67 trips to the plate since June 17, Wallach hit an anemic .119/.200/.220 with a massive 38.9% strikeout rate. That significant decline with the bat combined with Wallach’s lack of options remaining likely contributed to the journeyman catcher going unclaimed on waivers. Now that he’s been outrighted to Triple-A, Wallach will have to decide whether to remain with the Angels in the minor leagues or test the waters of free agency.

Free agency might be an attractive route for Wallach, given the constant need for catching depth around the big leagues and his solid performance as a back-up this year. That being said, Wallach is likely the Angels’ first choice to join the roster in the event of an injury to O’Hoppe or Thaiss, a reality that could lead the veteran to decide he’s best off remaining in the organization as he searches for his next big league opportunity.

Angels Designate Chad Wallach For Assignment, Transfer Anthony Rendon To 60-Day IL

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The Angels announced a series of roster moves today, including the previously-reported selection of prospect Nolan Schanuel. They also reinstated catcher Logan O’Hoppe from the 60-day injured list. One active roster spot was opened by first baseman C.J. Cron being placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to August 16, due to low back inflammation. Chad Wallach was designated for assignment, opening a spot on both the active and 40-man rosters. To open a second spot on the 40-man, third baseman Anthony Rendon was transferred to the 60-day injured list.

Wallach, 31, signed a minor league deal with the Halos in the offseason and had his contract selected in April when O’Hoppe landed on the injured list due to a torn labrum in his shoulder. Wallach has been sharing the catching duties with Matt Thaiss since then, generally performing well by backup catcher standards.

He struck out in 34.2% of his plate appearances and only batted .209, but he hit seven home runs in just 149 plate appearances. His 84 wRC+ indicates he was 16% below average overall, but catchers generally produce less at the plate, as the league’s backstops have a collective wRC+ of 89 this year. He’s been graded as a decent defender this year, with +1 Defensive Runs Saved and framing marks close to average.

But just as he joined the roster as O’Hoppe went to the injured list, he now departs as O’Hoppe is activated. The Halos will be hoping that O’Hoppe can pick up right where he left off, as he was hitting .283/.339/.547 before the shoulder injury. The club will put Wallach on waivers in the coming days, since the trade deadline is now in the rearview mirror. If any other team were to put in a claim, they could control him for two more years via arbitration. If he were to clear, he has enough service time to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency.

As for Rendon, he was placed on the injured list in mid-July due to a left shin contusion after fouling a ball off his leg. An MRI in the days after that IL placement revealed a deep bone bruise and he was shut down at that point. Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reported this week that Rendon had yet to resume baseball activities. Once healthy, he’ll presumably need to get back into game shape with some kind of rehab assignment after this layoff.

Today’s transfer means he’s ineligible to return until 60 days from his initial IL placement, which would be the second week of September. Whether he’s ultimately able to return late in the year or not, this will go down as another frustrating campaign due to health reasons. Signed to a seven-year, $245MM deal after 2019, he has yet to play in 60 games in a season as an Angel, with just 43 so far this year. The first year of the contract wasn’t his fault, as the pandemic eventually led to a truncated 60-game schedule. But he’s made frequent IL trips in three straight seasons now.

Since the start of 2021, he’s played just 148 total games over that three-year stretch, going on the IL due to a left groin strain, left knee contusion, left hamstring strain, right hip impingement, right wrist surgery, another left groin strain and now this left shin contusion/bone bruise. He’s hit .235/.338/.363 in that time for a wRC+ of 97.

The Silver Lining Of The Angels’ Catching Injuries

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The Angels came into 2023 with an apparent logjam behind the plate, something that MLBTR’s Anthony Franco examined back in February. Prospect Logan O’Hoppe had just been acquired from the Phillies at last year’s deadline and seemed ready for an extended big league audition. Max Stassi was coming off a rough 2022 season but the club committed to him with a $17.5MM extension at the start of that year. With those two seeming to be likeliest candidates for jobs on the major league roster, it looked like Matt Thaiss might get squeezed out.

Thaiss, now 28, had already been through some ups and downs prior to the 2023 season. He was considered a bat-first catcher when the Angels selected him in the first round of the 2016 draft, using the 16th overall pick to nab him. Since his bat was considered his standout tool, they decided to focus on that, moving him to first base and seemingly abandoning the idea of him catching.

He always hit well in the minors, with an overall batting line of .278/.367/.454 in 582 games down on the farm. However, he wasn’t able to hit the ground running in the big leagues. He first reached the majors in July of 2019 but hit just .211/.293/.422 in the second half of that season for a wRC+ of 86. Over the next three years, he would spend the vast majority of his time on optional assignment, only getting into 40 major league games over those campaigns. He struggled in his sporadic chances, hitting .196/.307/.299 for a 74 wRC+.

Coming into 2023, he was out of options on account of languishing in the minors for most of the previous three years, but he was on the catching depth chart again. Although the Angels had initially moved him to first base and had also tried him at third, they moved him back behind the plate in 2021. He got into 54 games as a catcher for Triple-A Salt Lake that year. In 2022, he was behind the plate for 45 more Triple-A games and 14 in the big leagues.

It seemed like a fork in the road was coming at the start of 2023. He was out of options and was blocked by one player with a longer major league track record as well as a younger and shinier prospect. Although Thaiss was a former first-round pick and had plenty of minor league success, it seemed like he was destined to be cut from the roster.

But a couple of plot twists have happened since then. Stassi opened the season on the injured list due to a hip strain and has stayed there due to an undisclosed family situation. That opened a door for Thaiss to stick on the Opening Day roster as O’Hoppe’s backup, but then O’Hoppe landed on the injured list himself just three weeks later. He was diagnosed with a torn labrum in his shoulder that required surgery, putting him out of action for four to six months.

In less than a month, Thaiss went from the roster bubble to the club’s top catching option. No club wants to lose its top two catchers, of course, but at least this finally created some runway for them to see what Thaiss could do in the big leagues.

Thankfully for both him and the Angels, it has been working out well so far. In 51 games, he’s received 155 plate appearances. His 27.1% strikeout rate is on the high side, but he’s paired that with an excellent 13.5% walk rate. Among catchers with at least 150 trips to the plate, only Will Smith and Adley Rutschman have walked at a higher clip. Thaiss has just three home runs, but his .267/.374/.382 batting line amounts to a 116 wRC+. That places him in the top five in the league among backstops over that threshold of 150 plate appearances.

Of course, it’s not a total shock that he’s performing well at the plate, since that’s always been considered his best skill and he’s always hit on the farm. But he’s also holding his own defensively. By each of Statcast’s Blocks Above Average and their Caught Stealing Above Average metrics, Thaiss is graded with a zero or exactly league average. That’s not going to blow anyone’s socks off, but it’s a nice outcome for a guy who’s always been considered bat-first and wasn’t even catching as of a few years ago. Thaiss is still considered slightly below league average by Defensive Runs Saved and FanGraphs’ framing metric, but he’s not killing the club back there.

It’s also worth mentioning that veteran Chad Wallach is holding up his end of the deal as well. Those Statcast metrics consider him a bit below average, but he’s hit six home runs and is slashing .247/.304/.482 for a wRC+ of 114. For a guy who signed a minor league deal and was fourth on the depth chart coming into the year, that’s excellent production.

Turning back to Thaiss, he may not be a superstar but he’s inflated his own stock significantly in a few months. The roster squeeze won’t be coming back anytime soon, since O’Hoppe probably won’t be back until rosters expand in September — if he returns at all this season. Stassi’s timeline is completely unknown. He still has one guaranteed year left on his extension at $7MM, plus a $500K buyout on a 2025 club option, but after a dismal campaign in 2022 and this year potentially being entirely lost, he’s won’t be guaranteed any roster spots going forward.

Thaiss came into this year with one year and 38 days of service time, meaning he will finish this season at 2.038. That will leave him shy of Super Two status, allowing the Angels to potentially retain him cheaply for next year and three more arbitration campaigns beyond that. His defense still seems like a work in progress, but it doesn’t seem unreasonable to expect continued improvements there given his relatively short amount of time getting reacquainted with the position.

The Angels have often had star power from Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani and others, but failed to succeed as a team due to injuries and a lack of depth. This year, they lost both of their primary catchers by the end of April, but it hasn’t been a disaster, with Thaiss and Wallach deserving credit for picking up the slack.

Angels Recall Livan Soto, Place Anthony Rendon On IL

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May 15: The Angels announced a series of roster moves today, including the recall of Soto and the reinstatement of catcher Chad Wallach from the injured list. In corresponding moves, Rendon was placed on the 10-day IL due to a left groin strain, retroactive to May 14, while catcher Chris Okey was optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake.

May 14: The Angels will be calling up infielder Livan Soto from Double-A to the majors, according to Daniel Alvarez-Montes of El Extra Base (Twitter link).  Soto began the season at Triple-A, but was shifted down to Double-A Rocket City about a month ago.

The hitting hasn’t been there for Soto this season, as he has hit only .177/.349/.226 over 129 combined plate appearances at the two minor league levels, with only slightly improved numbers at Double-A.  This lack of production makes the two-level promotion a little unusual, but the Angels also promoted Soto to the majors in 2022 without any Triple-A experience, and he posted an impressive .996 OPS over 59 PA after making his Major League debut.

Soto has drawn far more praise for his glove than his bat during his six minor league seasons, as scouts consider him a big-league caliber defender at shortstop.  He has also played a good deal of second base in the minors and a handful of games at third base, so Soto will provide the Halos with some utility infield depth.

Some extra infield help is perhaps a sign that Anthony Rendon might require a trip to the injured list.  Rendon left Saturday’s game due to left groin tightness, and Angels manager Phil Nevin told reporters (including MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger) today that Rendon was going to miss a couple of games while being evaluated.

It could be that the testing has revealed an injury that requires some time off for Rendon, or since the Angels don’t have an off-day until May 25, the team might be making a precautionary IL placement just to fully heal Rendon up, and to not leave the roster short-handed.  Conversely, Rendon might be avoiding the IL and another player might end up being optioned or designated for assignment to make room for Soto.

Angels Designate César Valdez, Select Chris Okey

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The Angels announced a series of roster moves, recalling right-hander Jimmy Herget and selecting catcher Chris Okey. In corresponding moves, righty César Valdez was designated for assignment while catcher Chad Wallach was placed on the 7-day concussion injured list . Sam Blum of The Athletic reported on the moves prior to the official announcement (Twitter links).

Valdez, 38, was just selected to the club’s roster yesterday. At that time, it seemed like he was there in case the club needed someone to eat multiple innings of long relief. José Suarez only last 2 2/3 innings on Sunday and Chase Silseth had to throw 3 1/3 innings of relief to get the club through that game. With Suarez then placed on the IL and Silseth seemingly ticketed to replace him in the rotation, the bullpen was a bit vulnerable going into Monday’s night game. But Patrick Sandoval was able to toss 6 1/3 frames last night and the Halos finished out the contest using only two relievers, Matt Moore and Carlos Estévez.

With the bullpen a bit more refreshed and an off-day coming up on Thursday, it seems they decided they could get by without Valdez and have designated him for assignment just about 24 hours after he was added to the roster. The veteran has been in and out of the majors over the years, having recently leaned hard into being a changeup specialist. He’s thrown the pitch 76.7% of the time over his 49 appearances dating back to the start of the 2020 season, posting a 4.84 ERA in that stretch.

The Halos will now have a week to trade Valdez or pass him through waivers. In the event that he clears, he would have the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency by virtue of having a previous career outright.

As for Herget, he will get a chance to get his season back on track after a rough start. He registered a 6.23 ERA through his first eight appearances and got optioned down to Triple-A Salt Lake. That was a disappointing dip from the encouraging breakout he had last year when he had a 2.48 ERA, eventually earning nine saves and six holds. Since being optioned, he has a 5.40 ERA in five appearances despite strong strikeout and ground ball rates of 28% and 50%, respectively. A .462 batting average on balls in play and 83.3% strand rate likely inflated his ERA but his 16% walk rate surely played a part as well.

Turning to the backstops, the Halos have been doing a bit of scrambling behind the plate this year. Max Stassi has been on the injured list all year with a hip injury and personal issue while Logan O’Hoppe had his hot start ended by a torn labrum that’s going to cost him four to six months. Chad Wallach was added to the roster over two weeks ago to join Matt Thaiss as the club’s catching tandem but will now join Stassi and O’Hoppe on the injured list.

All of that has created an opening for Okey, who made his major league debut with the Reds last year, though he got just 13 plate appearances in seven games. He was outrighted off the club’s roster in July and reached free agency at season’s end, signing a minor league deal with the Angels. He’s made 45 trips to the plate for the Bees so far this year but has hit just .125/.205/.225 in that time. His overall Triple-A batting line is a bit better, coming in at .208/.283/.333 in 401 plate appearances dating back to 2019.

In one other note relating to the Angels, Suarez won’t require but will be shut down from throwing for four weeks, per Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. He’ll have to ramp back up at that point, meaning he likely won’t be available for a couple of months. He seems likely to be replaced by Silseth, who will join Sandoval, Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Anderson, Reid Detmers and Griffin Canning in the club’s six-man rotation.

Angels Select Austin Warren, Chad Wallach; Designate Justin Garza

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5:50pm: The Angels have now announced all the moves listed below, as well as the fact that right-hander Justin Garza has been designated for assignment as the move to open up a second spot on the 40-man roster. The 29-year-old Garza posted a 4.71 ERA in 21 games with Cleveland in 2021 but hasn’t made it back to the big leagues since. The Angels signed him to a split contract over the winter and he has a 4.32 ERA through six Triple-A appearances so far this year.

5:30pm: Bollinger adds (Twitter links) that right-hander Jimmy Herget was optioned as the corresponding move for Warren, and that catcher Logan O’Hoppe has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to his shoulder injury. Chad Wallach was selected to take O’Hoppe’s spot, but he wasn’t on the 40-man and will need a corresponding move.

The optioning of Herget comes as a surprise as he registered a 2.48 ERA last year and got himself some high-leverage work, racking up nine saves and six holds. However, he’s struggled to a 6.23 ERA so far this season, with his strikeout rate dropping to 13.2% after being at 23.7% last year.

The club still doesn’t know the severity of the shoulder issue that has been plaguing O’Hoppe of late, but he’ll sit for a week-plus while they figure it out. Wallach is a 31-year-old with 90 games of major league experience scattered over the past six seasons. He’s hit .198/.265/.296 in that time but has a good reputation for his defense and game calling.

5:20pm: The Angels have added right-hander Austin Warren to their 40-man roster, reports Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com (Twitter links). The club already has a vacancy on their 40-man due to outrighting infielder David Fletcher earlier this week, though a corresponding move will be required to get Warren onto the active roster.

Warren, 27, was selected by the Angels in the sixth round of the 2018 draft and has spent his entire career with the organization to this point. He was selected to the big league roster in 2021 and has 30 games of major league experience thus far. He has a 3.47 ERA in 36 1/3 innings, striking out 18.8% of his opponents, walking just 6.5% of them and getting grounders on 45.9% of balls in play.

Back in January, Warren was designated for assignment when the club signed Brett Phillips, ultimately clearing waivers and sticking with the organization. He started the year at Triple-A and tossed seven scoreless innings over five appearances before getting brought back to the big leagues today. He’ll give a fresh arm to an Angels bullpen that has seen a decent amount of work this week. Shohei Ohtani’s start on Monday was interrupted by a rain delay when he had only thrown two innings and he didn’t return after the game resumed. Then José Suarez lasted just 3 1/3 innings on Tuesday. Griffin Canning got to 5 1/3 frames on Wednesday but Patrick Sandoval tallied just four innings yesterday.

Warren still has a couple of options remaining, which means he can be easily sent back down to the minors the next time the Halos need to make a bullpen swap.

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