ANAHEIM -- The Angels made a slew of roster moves before Friday’s 4-1 loss to the Orioles in the series opener, including calling up outfield prospect Matthew Lugo for the first time in his career and transferring flamethrowing reliever Ben Joyce to the 60-day injured list.
Lugo wasn’t in the lineup against Baltimore, but celebrated his 24th birthday on Friday and made his MLB debut as a pinch-runner for Jorge Soler in the eighth inning. He had his parents and younger brother fly in from Puerto Rico to witness his debut and manager Ron Washington said he’s likely to start in the outfield on Saturday or Sunday.
“Perfect timing,” Lugo said. “Feeling great, excited. Never thought it was going to happen yesterday. After the game, I got the call, and I was super excited, super happy.”
Lugo, acquired from the Red Sox at last year’s Trade Deadline in the move that sent reliever Luis García to Boston, had a strong showing in Spring Training and nearly made the club. He scuffled early with Salt Lake but had been heating up recently. He batted .212/.292/.364 with four homers, nine doubles and 18 RBIs in 35 games while exclusively seeing time in center field defensively. He replaced Campero, who didn’t see any improvement with his ankle and hit .200 with a stolen base in five games before suffering the injury.
“I feel like when the season started, I was a little bit more conscious of swing decisions, and that made me be a little bit more late on the fastball,” Lugo said. “And now I’m just trying to be on time for the heater. And I've been seeing the ball very well and recognizing the pitches very well, and my swing just takes over after that.”
Joyce, though, was less thrilled about his status, as he’s been out since April 8 with right shoulder inflammation and didn’t feel right when playing catch on Tuesday. He’s been shut down again and will be further evaluated by a doctor next week. Joyce said he’s not sure how long he’ll be out or whether he’ll need surgery, but he will know more next week.
“It's frustrating for me and I'm sure everyone else involved,” Joyce said. “I just want to pitch and I want to be part of the team. I don't know exactly the concern level. We're just kind of evaluating it as we go, and at this point it's been a month so even if I started a throwing program to come back, it would be another 30 days. So it just kind of made sense right now to get on the 60-day.”
The Angels are hopeful Anderson can produce in a bullpen that has struggled in Joyce’s absence. Entering Thursday, Angels relievers have combined to post a 7.15 ERA on the season, which ranks as the second-worst mark in the Majors. Anderson has a career 6.10 ERA in parts of five seasons in the Majors, and he had a 5.06 ERA in seven starts at Triple-A this year. He allowed one run in 1 1/3 innings in his Angels debut on Friday.
“You want that talent between those lines pitching, and so when [Joyce] went down, it affected us,” Washington said. “We are still trying to find our footing down there in the bullpen. Very few pitchers have the impact he has.”
Johnson, meanwhile, was sent down to Tri-City after he posted a 7.36 ERA with 16 strikeouts and five walks in 14 2/3 innings in relief. He made the club out of Spring Training despite never pitching in the Minors, but he will now get a chance to work on things in a lower-pressure environment.
The Angels haven’t decided whether they’ll stretch him out as a starter, but it is something they are considering. It would take some time, however, as he had been pitching in one-inning stints, including in Thursday’s 8-5 loss to the Blue Jays, when he gave up three runs without recording an out.
“He needed a break,” Washington said. "And so we’ll try to get him to work on some things. ... He needs to learn how to get lefties out.”