The Angels today acquired LHP Patrick Sandoval and international pool space from Houston in exchange for C Martín Maldonado. In a corresponding move, the Angels have selected the contract of C Francisco Arcia from Triple-A Salt Lake. Today's announcement was made by Angels General Manager Billy Eppler.
Sandoval, 21, has appeared in 19 games (13 starts) this season between Class-A Quad Cities and Adv.-A Buies Creek, going 9-1 with two saves, a 2.56 ERA (88 IP-25 ER) and 97 strikeouts. He registered a 42 inning scoreless streak across nine games from May 29-July 16 and went 6-0 with one save and 48 strikeouts in that span. In his final 11 games with Quad Cities, he pitched to a 1.00 ERA (54 IP-6 ER) with 62 strikeouts and held opponents to a .188 (38/202) batting average before being promoted to Buies Creek on June 27. The left-hander was named to the Midwest League Mid-Season All-Star team this season.
A native of Mission Viejo, CA, Sandoval was originally selected by Houston in the 11th round of the 2015 First-Year Player Draft out of Mission Viejo HS. He has twice been named the Midwest League Pitcher of the Week this season as well as being selected as the Carolina League Pitcher of the Week on July 15. In 52 games (38 starts) in his minor league career, has gone 14-11 with three saves, a 3.88 ERA (215.2 IP - 93 ER) and 237 strikeouts.
Maldonado, 31, played in 78 games for the Angels this season and batted .223 (59/265) with 14 doubles, five home runs and 32 RBI. From behind the plate, he caught 12 runners stealing (27 attempts) and fashioned a 44.4 caught stealing percentage, good for eighth in the American League. The 2017 Gold Glove awardee played in 216 games across two seasons with the Angels, batting a combined .222 (154/694) with 19 home runs and 70 RBI.