Angels Expected To Promote Luke Murphy

The Angels will select reliever Luke Murphy onto the MLB roster, reports Taylor Blake Ward of Baseball America. The Halos are off today and probably won’t officially announce the move until tomorrow. They have an open bullpen spot after trading Chase Silseth to Texas and have three vacancies on the 40-man roster.

It’s the first MLB call for the 26-year-old. Murphy is a Nashville native who played his college ball at Vanderbilt. The Angels picked him up in the fourth round of the 2021 draft. Murphy went unselected in last year’s Rule 5 draft after allowing 48 runs in 45 1/3 minor league innings. He has had a convincing rebound at Double-A Rocket City this year.

The 6’5″ righty has fired 38 innings of 0.71 ERA ball across 34 appearances. Murphy is 18-20 in save chances and has punched out 32% of opposing hitters against a 7% walk rate. He’s older than most players at the level and still not a premium prospect, but he sits in the mid-90s and has certainly earned a promotion. Murphy had a disastrous 23-game run in Triple-A last season, so the Angels will jump him over that level directly into the MLB bullpen.

The Halos should take the final couple months of another losing season to give auditions to players like this. They could open two more bullpen spots by dealing impending free agents Kirby Yates and Brent Suter by Monday’s deadline. Although there’s no urgency to move Ryan Zeferjahn, he should get attention from other teams based on his swing-and-miss ability. They’re already taking a look at rookie southpaw Samy Natera Jr. and could challenge 24-year-old righty José Fermin with a few more high-leverage situations down the stretch.