The Angels announced that outfielder Mike Trout has been reinstated from the 10-day injured list. It was reported a few days ago that Trout would likely be back this week. Infielder Donovan Walton has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move.
Walton, 32, signed a minor league deal with the Halos in the offseason. He put up a strong .282/.429/.481 line in Triple-A and got called up to the big leagues in May. He has since put up a great .319/.354/.505 line in 97 plate appearances, though with some luck. He is riding a .371 batting average on balls in play, which is well above average. Presumably, the Angels don’t have much faith in him keeping that going over a larger sample size. For his career, Walton has a .218/.264/.363 line in 311 plate appearances.
Since Walton is out of options, he has been bumped into DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Angels can take five days to see if there’s any trade interest, though they could also put him on the wire sooner than that if they so choose.
Walton has mostly been a light-hitting utility guy in his career. He has experience at second base, third base, shortstop and left field. He hasn’t hit much in the majors but has a .285/.376/.425 line at Triple-A dating back to the start of 2024. Perhaps there is some club out there who needs a bench infielder and doesn’t think this year’s numbers are entirely fluky. If he clears waivers, he has a previous career outright and therefore would have the right to elect free agency.
Photo courtesy of Darren Yamashita, Imagn Images
