Orange County product Michael Lorenzen eager to make his Angels debut
Lorenzen, who played at Fullerton Union High and Cal State Fullerton, will start for the Angels on Monday.
ANAHEIM — The moment Michael Lorenzen has anticipated for years is finally coming.
Lorenzen will start for the Angels on Monday, officially bringing the Orange County native home.
“I’m excited,” Lorenzen said. “I’m just sticking to my normal process, but it’s going to be fun. I’m going to have a good time, for sure.”
Lorenzen, 30, was an Angels fan when he was young. He said Jim Edmonds was his inspiration for becoming a center fielder. After playing at Fullerton Union High and Cal State Fullerton, Lorenzen considered himself more of a center fielder than a pitcher.
When Lorenzen was in Little League, one of his teammates was friends with the family of longtime Angels groundskeeper Barney Lopas, so Lorenzen spent some time hanging out in the hidden parks of the ballpark.
He was 10 when the Angels won the 2002 World Series.
“That whole ’02 team just had a bunch of good baseball players on the team and it’s definitely influenced the way I see the game and the way I think the game should be played,” Lorenzen said. “(Darin) Erstad. (David) Eckstein. All those guys. (Scott) Spiezio. They just were hard-nosed baseball players. They played the game the right way, ran hard, played hard. It was just it was fun team to watch.”
Lorenzen had to put his Angels fandom aside when the Cincinnati Reds signed him in 2013. Since then, he made just occasional trips back to Southern California to play the Dodgers. He pitched two games in relief for the Reds at Angel Stadium in 2016 and 2019.
The Angels signed Lorenzen to a one-year deal in November, which carried the added benefit of allowing him to becoming a starter.
Lorenzen said he was excited when he first pitched for the Angels in spring training, and again when he pitched in the Freeway Series last week.
Now, he’s ready to pitch for the Angels at home for the first time.
“I’m meant to be here,” he said. “This is my home. And when you’re gone for seven years, you really realize ‘I miss my home.’ You go a little extreme and I guess I’ve gone a little extreme, but I love being here.”
QUIJADA TO IL
The Angels placed left-hander José Quijada on the 10-day injured list with a right oblique strain and they recalled left-hander Brian Moran.
Quijada was warming up in the eighth inning on Saturday night, but when left-handed hitting Michael Brantley came to the plate, Quijada remained in the bullpen and right-hander Ryan Tepera remained in the game to face Brantley. He retired him.
Moran, 33, will make his Angels debut the first time he pitches. The Angels had him in spring training a few years ago, but he underwent Tommy John surgery. He has since pitched 11 big league innings in 2019 and 2020 with the Miami Marlins and Toronto Blue Jays.
This spring Moran gave up two runs in six innings, with eight strikeouts and no walks.
The Angels designated Kyle Tyler for assignment to create a spot for Moran on the 40-man roster. It is the second time Tyler has been DFA’d by the Angels in the past month, and in between the Boston Red Sox and San Diego Padres claimed him and DFA’d him.
UP NEXT
Angels (RHP Michael Lorenzen, 1-2, 5.59 in 2021) vs. Marlins (RHP Elieser Hernandez, 1-3, 4.18 in 2021), Monday, 6:38 p.m., Bally Sports West, 830 AM