The Angels are exhibiting flashes of life at the big league level, which naturally implies they are pushing a top prospect pretty quickly. Perry Minasian is very much on the record as to saying he wants to put together the finest possible squad, no matter one’s age, contract, draft position, etc. In addition, Angels fans are one step closer to witnessing the reliever they signed a three-year, $33 million contract with, who they believe would fix the weakest bullpen in the league.
Christian Moore gets promoted to Triple-A
Some social media rumors that Moore was being moved to Salt Lake were verified by Baseball America’s Taylor Blake Ward. The top two prospects for the Angels, Moore and Caden Dana, are now on the Bees roster. Does this promotion mean that the organization aims to promote Moore before the All-Star break as well, given that Dana made his 2025 MLB debut so early in the season?
Although this change is pleasing supporters, some people are unprepared for it. Moore had a 16:5 K:BB and a significantly lower SLG than OBP in May (he only had one XBH throughout that time). Strangely, he also has a 1:2 SB to CS in May. Instead of focusing on Moore’s performance at the plate, the club could have been waiting for his defense to improve. Or did they think the elevation of Salt Lake City/Pacific Coast League would help him approach and hit for greater power? Moore did turn things around in the latter part of April after the season had a terrible start.
To put it mildly, it’s an intriguing promotion, but Moore is now on the verge of making his big league debut, which is exciting. This season, he can’t possible be worse for the Angels than Tim Anderson, Luis Rengifo, or Kevin Newman! After Moore gains additional experience at Triple-A, the Angels may be ready to go forward with a full-time infield consisting of Yoán Moncada, Zach Neto, Moore, and Schanuel.
Robert Stephenson’s rehab gets pushed to Triple-A
Moore, Sam Bachman, and company will be joined in Triple-A Salt Lake by Robert Stephenson, whose Angels debut fans have been eagerly anticipating for the past two years. Before his rehab assignment was moved to the Bees, the Angels’ reliever had two appearances for the Inland Empire 66ers.
Stephenson has been showing off the things that first enticed the Angels. Even at this early stage of his rehabilitation assignment, his heater has been reaching 97 mph. Stephenson will replace him as a back-end reliever in the Angels’ bullpen following a couple more appearances.
Stephenson striking out Teoscar Hernández in Low-A at the same time was one of the more hilarious parts of the Angels’ weekend sweep of the Dodgers. He’s keeping up with the big league players!
