The Angels have some roster moves incoming. They haven’t officially announced anything yet but outfielder Wade Meckler and infielder Donovan Walton are in tonight’s starting lineup, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. Both of those two players are not currently on the 40-man, so they will be added in some way before game time. Fletcher notes that outfielder Josh Lowe and infielder Yoán Moncada are not on the lineup card. Moncada tells Jack Janes of The Sporting Tribune that he is going on the injured list. Lowe could be headed to the IL himself but he is optionable and could have been sent down. The Halos came into the day with one open 40-man spot after outrighting Alek Manoah earlier this week. They will need to open another since they are adding two guys.
Meckler, 26, spent his entire career with the Giants until recently. The Angels claimed him off waivers in January but then outrighted him a few weeks later. He started this year with Triple-A Salt Lake but struggled in five games, so the Halos sent him down to Double-A Rocket City. He has been mashing for the Trash Pandas, with a .343/.449/.525 line. That is partly due to a .395 batting average on balls in play but his matching walk and strikeout rates of 16% are both very strong figures.
Prior to joining the Angels, Meckler got a very brief major league debut with the Giants in 2023. He hit just .232/.328/.250 in 64 plate appearances. As a prospect, his profile indicated he had a solid floor thanks to his speed and defense. His offense was and is more questionable. He has generally had a good contact approach without a ton of power. He has 1,393 minor league plate appearances in his career with a strong 14.2% walk rate and 16.6% strikeout rate but only 21 home runs in that time.
With Meckler putting up good numbers at the plate lately, the Angels will see if he can translate any of that to the big leagues. At worst, he should be able to run the ball down and steal a few bases, though whether he can produce from the batter’s box will be more of a question. If it doesn’t work out, he does still have an option and can be easily sent back down to the minors.
The Halos have had a primary outfield of Mike Trout, Jo Adell and Lowe this year, with guys like Jorge Soler, Adam Frazier and Jose Siri also chipping in. Trout and Adell should still be in there regularly but the other guys in that cluster could perhaps be competing to take some of the playing time that has opened up with Lowe no longer on the roster.
More to come.