Angels DFA Michael Roth, call up Mike Morin

Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Angels designated pitcher Michael Roth for assignment today, in order to make room on the 40-man roster for pitcher Mike Morin, according to Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com. The Angels made this move in correspondence to them sending down outfielder Brennan Boesch to Triple-A Salt Lake. They are now going with an extra pitcher on the roster with Boesch in the minors. Morin will likely not be up for long, as he is just up in the bigs for bullpen insurance.

Michael Roth made his MLB debut with the Angles last season. He struggled in twenty innings in the big show, in 2013, as he posted a high 5.40 ERA. He continued to struggle this season in four starts at Double-A Arkansas, showing no progress, as, in over twenty-one innings, he allowed thirteen runs with a 0.83 K/BB ratio.

Roth is still only twenty-four years old, so he could still be valuable to another organization. In the mean time, it doesn’t look like he will put up big numbers, as his average fastball is only in the high-80’s.

On the other hand, Mike Morin looks to have a bright future some day. Beginning the season at Double-A Arkansas, he struck out six batters in five innings there before being promoted to Triple-A. In his first outing with Salt Lake, he had a terrible pitching performance. There he allowed four runs (all were earned) in only one-third of an inning.

From that outing on, he pitched exceptionally well. In four appearances after that, he allowed no runs and struck out five batters in two and two-thirds innings pitched.