Angels promote hard-throwing reliever Ryan Zeferjahn

TORONTO — The Angels have added some more gas to their bullpen.

Ryan Zeferjahn, a right-hander whose fastball touches 100 mph, was called up on Friday, his first time on a major league roster.

Zeferjahn, 26, was one of the four players the Angels received from the Boston Red Sox in the Luis Garcia trade at last month’s deadline.

While his best pitch is his fastball, which has averaged 97.7 mph this season at Triple-A, Zeferjahn said he’s also working to improve his sweeper and cutter.

“My offspeed has gotten a lot better,” he said. “I think being able to throw three pitches in the zone is big for me, to keep the hitters off balance.”

Zeferjahn posted a 3.33 ERA this season in the minors, including 2.35 in his first 7⅔ innings in the Angels’ system. He struck out eight and walked one.

Ryan Zeferjahn, 99mph pic.twitter.com/9ynqR0lkcr

— Salt Lake Bees (@SaltLakeBees) August 3, 2024

“His command has been tremendous down there,” Manager Ron Washington said.

Zeferjahn was the Red Sox third-round draft pick in 2019, out of the University of Kansas.

He had a nondescript minor league career until this season, when he finally put himself on the radar. The trade gave him an opportunity to finally get to the big leagues.

“I got comfortable pretty fast (at Salt Lake),” Zeferjahn said. “I think that really helped with my success so far with the Angels. This transition has gone as good as it can go for me.”

Zeferjahn replaced right-hander Mike Baumann, who was designated for assignment. Baumann, who the Angels had acquired last month, gave up seven earned runs in 9⅓ innings with the Angels, his fourth team of the season.

NOTES

Outfielder Mickey Moniak was out of the lineup a day after he was hit in the left elbow by a pitch. Moniak said he could still see the imprint of the stitches of the baseball in his skin on Friday, but he was nonetheless feeling better. Washington said he expected Moniak to be ready to play again on Saturday. …

Washington said the Angels still haven’t decided if they will use right-hander Griffin Canning behind an opener in his next start. Canning has struggled early in games, so on Thursday the Angels used relievers for the first two innings and Canning entered in the third. He pitched six scoreless innings. “He certainly was pleased with what he did last night,” Washington said on Friday. “We want him to sit on that for a minute before we start having conversations about anything else. As we get closer, we’ll make a decision on that.” …

Left-hander Reid Detmers had his second straight strong start at Triple-A on Thursday night, allowing one run in seven innings, with nine strikeouts and one walk. Detmers has a 1.20 ERA in his last two starts, but he gave up six runs in each of the two previous outings. He has a 5.88 ERA in 13 Triple-A starts.

UP NEXT

Angels (RHP Carson Fulmer, 0-4, 4.24 ERA) at Blue Jays (RHP Bowden Francis, 6-3, 4.38 ERA), Saturday, 12:07 p.m. PT, Bally Sports West, 830 AM