Ahead of Saturday night’s game in Colorado, the Los Angeles Angels have recalled right-handed pitcher Sam Bachman. The promotion comes as the Angels place right-handed reliever Robert Stephenson on the 15-day injured list with elbow inflammation in his throwing arm.
This will end Stpehenson’s season, who pitched 10 innings for the Halos this season. In the short sample size, the 32-year-old posted an ERA of 2.70 and recorded 10 strikeouts.
Stephenson signed a three-year, $33 million contract with Los Angeles in the 2024 offseason, but didn’t debut with the team until May of this year. The righty underwent elbow surgery that repaired his ulnar collateral ligament, rendering him out for all of 2024.
The Angels inked Stephenson to a significant contract after he had an impressive stint with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2023. After being acquired by the Rays in June, Stephenson pitched 38 ⅓ innings for the club, posting an ERA of 2.35.
At the time of the signing, Angels’ general manager Perry Minasian had high hopes for his new bullpen arm.
“One of the things you look for from a player, especially from a scouting standpoint and just tracking a player over the course of time, is improvement,” Minasian said. “He went to Tampa last year and was one of the best, if not the best, reliever in baseball over those 40 innings.”
Bachman rejoins the Angels to fill Stephenson’s void as the season wraps up. He has played 19 games for the Halos this season, posting an ERA of 4.96 and a WHIP of 1.41. His last appearance was back on the 26th of August.
The 25-year-old has dominated in the minor leagues this season. 24 of his 26 games have come with the Angels’ Triple-A affiliate, Salt Lake Bees. With the Bees, Bachman tossed 25 ⅓ innings of 0.71 ERA baseball.
Bachman first debuted with the Angels in 2023, after the team selected the righty with the ninth overall pick in the 2021 MLB Amateur Draft out of Miami University of Ohio.
The Angels look to bounce back on Saturday night in game two of a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies after losing to a score of 6-7 on Friday. First pitch is set for 5:10 p.m. PST.