Angels' moves to make Denzer Guzman call-up official come with some surprises

The secret that the Los Angeles Angels were calling up Denzer Guzman got put pretty quickly. With Vaughn Grissom banged up and Guzman hitting incredibly well in the minors, most expected that to be the clean swap. However, it was reported that Guzman AND Trey Mancini had lockers in the Angels clubhouse on Monday. That is where things got a little weird.

While Guzman's call up was expected, Mancini's was definitely not. There was not an obvious roster move to be made, even though it is true that Mancini had played well down in the minor leagues after failing to make the Angels' Opening Day roster this spring. One option was potentially Nolan Schanuel, who is dealing with some ankle soreness, but he said before Monday night's game that he was not headed to the IL, despite sitting for the game due to his soreness.

Well, now we have our answer. Not only is Grissom hitting the injured list with an oblique strain, but Adam Frazier will be joining him with elbow inflammation.

Angels call up Denzer Guzman as well as Trey Mancini, place Vaughn Grissom and Adam Frazier on IL

Well, that escalated quickly. Both Guzman and Mancini are pretty well known commodities. When Guzman is right, he is a very solid all-around offensive threat that happens to have an excellent throwing arm and the ability to play pretty much anywhere in the infield except catcher, though we wouldn't recommend putting him on the mound unless there are some pretty dire circumstances,.

In Mancini, you have a guy that has been through a lot of serious health issues in his career and who may be down to his last chance or two to play in the majors. Through 52 games in Triple-A with the Angels, Mancini has posted an .841 OPS after hitting even better in 2025 while he was in the Diamondbacks' minor league system.

All things considered, Frazier being the other IL move could be a lot worse. Across 93 plate appearances, Frazier has only managed a .630 OPS. Had the injuries been to players like Jo Adell or, heaven forbid, Mike Trout, things could have been a lot dicier.

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