ANAHEIM, Calif. — Before the series finale against the New York Yankees Wednesday night, the Angels made a flurry of roster moves, headlined with the return of reliever Robert Stephenson.
Stephenson signed a three-year $33 million contract before the 2024 season, but has yet to make his Angels debut because he underwent Tommy John surgery in April of last year. Stephenson said that he was originally expected to return around the All-Star break, but his rehab went smoothly.
“Honestly, to me it's like probably just up there with making my debut,” Stephenson said about making his Angels debut. “I feel like it's going to be pretty special for me.”
The last time Stephenson took the mound was in 2023, where he posted a 3.10 ERA in 52.1 innings pitched and posted an elite 38.3% strikeout rate. His bread and butter is his cutter and slider, and Stephenson said both have been responding well throughout the rehab process.
“These outings that I've had on the rehab assignment, I felt like everything's been pretty much right where I want it to be, and I'm happy with it,” Stephenson said. “I just need a little bit more time getting the split dialed in. But I think the main pitches that I need are the slider and the fastball, and those have been great.”
Stephenson joins an Angels’ bullpen that holds the sport’s worst ERA at 6.31. His presence will be much needed, but the Angels are still going to ease him in and aren’t planning on putting Stephenson into high-leverage situations right away if they can avoid it.
“I would hope that we didn't have to do that and give him a chance to get settled in,” manager Ron Washington said. “But if the opportunity presents itself and he's the best we have at the time, it will happen. But that's not our intention right now.”
The other notable moves from Wednesday were the Angels designating Tim Anderson for assignment and selecting the contract of Scott Kingery.
Anderson struggled at the plate, hitting just .205 with a .499 OPS. But his defense graded out well. His five outs above average ranks in the 97th percentile on Baseball Savant.
The Angels acquired Kingery by trade for cash considerations back in November. The former Phillies prospect hasn’t been in the major leagues since 2022 and hasn’t had an at-bat in the majors since 2021.
“It's special,” Kingery said. “It has been a while, and just all the hard work that I've put in since then, it's special to be back here.”
The road back to the majors hasn’t been easy for Kingery, as he’s struggled at every level from 2020 until last season, when he hit .268 with an .804 OPS in Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Kingery built off that success and hit .373 with a .996 OPS in 21 games in Triple-A Salt Lake City this season.
“It's hard,” Kingery said. “It's a hard game. Stuff happens throughout your career, and you've got to find ways to battle that and just keep on going, and just keep the foot on the pedal and find ways to make things work.”
Washington said that Kingery will get some starts in center field, as well as “a little second and third base.”
MIKE TROUT UPDATE
In non-roster moving news, Mike Trout took live at-bats against a minor league pitcher before Wednesday night’s game. He also ran the bases for the second day in a row.
“(Trout) had good at-bats against the live pitching, and he ran the bases where he was cutting the bases and stopping, but it wasn't intense,” Washington said. “It was just getting the feel, but he looked good.”
Although it wasn’t full speed, Trout did increase the intensity of his running from the day before.