Urena optioned to Triple-A to 'get back in a groove' after first taste of Majors

HOUSTON -- A day after he struggled in his second career Major League appearance, the Angels optioned right-hander Walbert Urena to Triple-A Salt Lake on Sunday.

Right-hander Shaun Anderson had his contract selected from Triple-A to join the roster, while right-hander Victor Mederos was designated for assignment to make room for Anderson on the 40-man roster. Urena, the club’s No. 19 prospect per MLB Pipeline, surprisingly made the Opening Day roster as a reliever, but will return to starting at Triple-A.

“We needed to get some length in the bullpen to protect us,” manager Kurt Suzuki said. “He’s gonna go down, and we’ll get him back in the rotation. We all see the stuff. But for a younger player, the game can get fast a little bit. And I love the guy, he's such a hard worker, great teammate. He's got such a bright future. So I'm excited for him to go down and get into a groove.”

Urena, 22, made his debut on Opening Day on Thursday, recording two outs and walking one while pitching with a one-run lead in the seventh inning of an eventual 3-0 win. But it didn’t go as smoothly on Saturday, when he came in to relieve Reid Detmers in the fifth inning. He allowed an inherited runner to score that inning, and things went south in his second frame.

He surrendered six runs (four earned) in the sixth, and was hurt by his own throwing error on a slow roller and another throwing error from catcher Logan O’Hoppe on a tapper in front of the mound with the bases loaded. All of the runs allowed by Urena came with two outs.

He flashed an impressive arsenal that saw his sinker average 98.8 mph to go along with his 87 mph sweeper and 92.5 mph changeup, but Suzuki said he’d like to see him refine things a bit in the Minors.

“At the end of the day, in the Major Leagues and the Minor Leagues, it's not really about stuff, it's about consistency,” Suzuki said. “He's obviously shown some brilliant flashes, and then some days it gets a little fast for him. So I think he's going to go down, he's going to keep working hard like he normally does, and get back in a groove.”

With Urena sent down, Anderson will step into a long relief role after he was slated to be part of Salt Lake’s rotation. Mederos was the roster casualty after he gave up seven runs on eight hits and three walks over three innings in his season debut at Triple-A on Friday.

The Angels are hopeful Mederos will clear waivers and remain in the organization, but he does have a big arm and worked to refine his mechanics last year. He's struggled in his brief stints in the Majors, posting an 8.53 ERA with 22 strikeouts and 21 walks in 25 1/3 innings. He also finished last year on the injured list with shoulder inflammation.

“I really like him as a person, he works his butt off and is a great teammate,” Suzuki said. “It's just one of those things where it's part of the business. Hopefully we can keep him, but at the end of the day, with an arm like that, you just never know.”