Halos Today

Angels Immediately Option Pitcher Claimed Off Waivers to Triple-A

Maren Angus-Coombs

Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
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On the same day the Los Angeles Angels announced they claimed two pitchers off waivers, they announced one was headed straight to Triple-A.

Right-hander Nick Robertson was claimed off waivers from the St. Louis Cardinals and left-hander Brock Burke was claimed from the Texas Rangers.

Both pitchers had been designated for assignment recently. Both were DFA'd on Sunday.

Robertson will report immediately to Triple-A Salt Lake rather than join the team in Anaheim for Tuesday's game against the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Halos had two vacancies on their 40-man roster and did not need to make corresponding roster moves to add the two pitchers. Burke is not listed on the Angels' lineup sheet Tuesday and does not have to be added to their roster (or sent to the minors) until he reports.

Robertson pitched for the Dodgers and Red Sox in 2023. He tossed 22.1 innings in the majors with an unimpressive 6.04 earned run average.

The Cardinals DFA'd him when they activated right-handed pitcher Riley O'Brien from the 60-day injured list. With St. Louis this season, he had a 4.38 earned run average in just 12.1 innings.

His performance with Triple-A Memphis was even worse. He had a 7.48 ERA in 21.2 innings for the Redbirds this year.

Robertson was acquired in a trade with the Boston Red Sox in Dec. 2023 that sent injury-riddled outfielder Tyler O'Neill to the American League East. St. Louis. Before then, he was with the Dodgers and Boston Red Sox.

Between Los Angeles and Boston in 2023, Robertson appeared in a combined 18 games (one start).

Burke was outstanding for the Rangers out of the bullpen in 2022 and he was good for most of 2023. However, for an entire calendar year leading up to Sunday, he was terrible.

Burke had a 9.88 earned run average in 13.2 innings over 16 appearances, allowing opponents a .356/.381/.712 slash line during that time but the beginning of the end for him was during the playoffs last season. He made two appearances and faced seven batters, retiried two of them, and allowed five runs.

This season, he only made 13 big league appearances with the Rangers and had a 9.22 ERA in 13.2 innings of work.

He spent a decent amount of time with the Triple-A affiliate in Round Rock, where he walked 13 batters against 17 strikeouts in 20.1 innings and put up a 5.31 ERA.

The Angels at this point are trying to load up where they can. They depleted their bullpen at the trade deadline and don't want to promote inexperienced arms if they can avoid it.

Ben Joyce has stepped up fill the closing role vacated by Carlos Estevez, who was traded to the Phillies. Now, management must find the pieces that can fit together as the team limps closer to the finish line on the 2024 season.

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Maren Angus-Coombs
MAREN ANGUS-COOMBS

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