The Angels announced they’ve transferred reliever José Cisnero from the 15-day to the 60-day injured list. They needed to open a roster spot for infielder Michael Stefanic, who is back from his own 60-day IL stint. The Halos reinstated him onto the 40-man and optioned him to Triple-A Salt Lake.
Cisnero has been on the IL since April 28 with inflammation in his throwing shoulder. His 60-day window backdates to the original placement. He’ll be eligible for reinstatement at the end of June. According to the MLB.com injury tracker, Cisnero experienced some lower-back soreness when he tried to ramp up his throwing program in recent weeks. It isn’t known if he’ll be ready to return a month from now.
The Angels signed the 35-year-old righty to a $1.75M free-agent deal in February. He was one of six major league free-agent signees as the Halos curiously prioritized a complete bullpen overhaul during the offseason. That hasn’t worked out, either in Cisnero’s case or in aggregate. Angel relievers entered play Wednesday ranked 26th with a 4.71 earned run average. Cisnero gave up 13 runs in his first 14 innings of the season, allowing four homers among 17 hits.
Stefanic has been out since suffering a quad strain in spring training. The 28-year-old hit .244/.331/.293 in 140 major league plate appearances over the previous two seasons. He’s in his final minor league option year and could soon push the struggling Kyren Paris for a spot on the bench.