The Angels announced that they have selected the contracts of right-handers Héctor Neris and Connor Brogdon. Infielder Yoán Moncada was also reinstated from the 10-day injured list. In corresponding moves, right-hander Michael Darrell-Hicks and infielder Niko Kavadas have been optioned to Triple-A, while righty Touki Toussaint has been designated for assignment. The club had one open 40-man vacancy coming into today.
The Angels have been busy swapping in fresh arms to their bullpen lately. After some heavy bullpen usage on Thursday and Friday, Toussaint and Darrell-Hicks were called up on Saturday. On Sunday, the club got torched, losing 13-1 to the Tigers. Both pitchers took on some mop-up duty and have been swapped out for more fresh arms today.
Neris, 36 next month, just signed a minor league deal with the club a couple of months ago. He started the season on a minor league deal with Atlanta and made the Opening Day roster but was bumped off after two bad appearances. He elected free agency and landed a new deal with the Halos. He has since made four Triple-A appearances, allowing two earned runs with eight strikeouts and one walk.
The righty has a lengthy track record of major league success but has been more wobbly in recent years. In 2021, he had a 31.6% strikeout rate but that dropped to 30%, 28.2% and 24.6% in subsequent seasons. He was able to work around that with a 1.17 ERA in 2023 but that jumped to 4.10 last year, which likely led to him settling for a minor league deal with Atlanta coming into 2025.
Brogdon, 30, signed a minor league deal with the Halos in January. He has thrown 14 2/3 Triple-A innings this year, allowing 21 earned runs for an eye-popping 12.89 ERA. His 25.3% strikeout rate is actually pretty good and his 9.6% walk rate passable but he has allowed six home runs already in that span.
He was a solid major leaguer as of a few years ago but has been struggling more recently. He tossed 113 innings for the Phillies over the 2020 to 2022 seasons with a 3.42 ERA, 25.1% strikeout rate and 7.3% walk rate. But in 2023, his ERA jumped to 4.03, with a 20.5% strikeout rate and 10.2% walk rate. Last year was mostly lost due to injuries, with plantar fasciitis being the main culprit. The Angels presumably hoped to get him back on track but the Triple-A results so far this year have been mixed, to say the least.
As mentioned earlier, Toussaint gets bumped off the roster just a few days after being added. He tossed two innings in his lone appearance, allowing two earned runs on four hits and a walk while striking out three.
He should be placed on waivers in the coming days. Once a notable prospect, he has never been able to rein in his control enough to find success. In 282 1/3 major league innings, he has a 5.42 ERA, 23.1% strikeout rate and 47.6% ground ball rate but a big 14.1% walk rate.
Photo courtesy of Denis Poroy, Imagn Images
