The Angels selected Lugo (hand) to their 40-man roster Tuesday.
The Angels acquired Lugo in the trade that sent Luis Garcia to Boston at the deadline, though the former was only able to play one game in the Angels organization before a hand injury cut his season short in early August. Now that he's on the 40-man roster, the 23-year-old outfielder will be protected from the Rule 5 Draft, and the lack of depth in Los Angeles' outfield unit could allow him to make his MLB debut in 2025.
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Angels' Matthew Lugo: Shut down with apparent hand injury
Rotowire
Triple-A Salt Lake transferred Lugo from its 7-day injured list to the 60-day IL on Thursday while he recovers from an apparent hand injury, Jared Tims of TalkinHalos.com reports.
The Angels aren't required to shed light on Lugo's injury, but Tims suggests that the outfielder hurt his thumb while trying to make a defensive play in his organizational debut Aug. 2. Lugo, whom the Angels acquired from the Red Sox ahead of the trade deadline, went 2-for-5 with a home run and a double in his lone game for Salt Lake and will now be shut down for the season as a result of moving to the 60-day IL.
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Angels' Matthew Lugo: Out with undisclosed injury
Rotowire
Lugo, who is on the 7-day injured list at Triple-A Salt Lake due to an undisclosed injury, has not played since Aug. 2.
He made a strong first impression, going 2-for-5 with a home run and a double in his first game for the Bees after getting traded to the Angels from the Red Sox at the deadline as part of the return for reliever Luis Garcia. However, Lugo has not seen the field since that debut game. Depending on the injury, the trade should make it easier for the 23-year-old left fielder to get a look in the majors either late this season or early next season. He is slashing .287/.376/.578 with a 23.6 percent strikeout rate, a 10.2 percent walk rate, 17 home runs and 16 steals in 79 games split between Double-A and Triple-A.
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Red Sox's Matthew Lugo: Gets invite to MLB camp
Rotowire
Lugo received an invitation to major-league spring training Wednesday.
Lugo isn't in the running for an Opening Day roster spot, but he can use this opportunity to showcase his skills to the big-league staff. Selected in the second round of the 2019 MLB Draft out of a high school in Puerto Rico, the 21-year-old infield prospect put up an .830 OPS with 18 home runs and 20 stolen bases in 117 games last season between High-A Greenville and Double-A Portland. There's a good amount of long-term fantasy upside in his skill set.
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Red Sox's Matthew Lugo: Hitting well in High-A
Rotowire
Lugo is hitting .313/.371/.563 with five homers, six steals and a 10:30 BB:K across 35 games for High-A Greenville.
Lugo had a tough start to his pro career, as he didn't hit especially well in rookie ball in 2019, lost out on the canceled 2020 season, and didn't really pop in Low-A last season (.702 OPS, 15 steals). This season has been different, though, as the 21-year-old has started hitting the ball with authority. It also doesn't hurt that he's got good baseball genes as Carlos Beltran's nephew. It's time to act on him in deeper dynasty formats.
