The Charleston Dirty Birds, Drew Ellis’s former independent Atlantic League team, have announced that the Angels have signed him to a minor league contract. The notification stated that Ellis’ contract was acquired by the Angels from the Dirty Birds yesterday. He will most likely go to Salt Lake City, home of the Halos’ Triple-A affiliate.
The 28-year-old Ellis has played in three major league seasons, with the D-backs, Mariners, and Phillies. In his meager 129 plate appearances, he has struggled to a batting line of.157/.295/.269 despite hitting three home runs and walking at a 13.2% pace. In 31.8% of those 129 at-bats, Ellis has struck out. In addition to playing 37 games in left field during his time at the University of Louisville, he has played 37 games at shortstop in the minor leagues and first base, second base, and third base in the majors.
Ellis was selected with the 44th overall choice in the 2017 draft, which was initially conducted by the Diamondbacks. Baseball America praised his good power, athleticism, and reliable hot corner talents, ranking him 66th in that year’s draft class and as high as ninth at one time in Arizona’s organization.
Ellis has demonstrated his power and strong plate discipline during portions of three Triple-A seasons, despite his low batting average. In the majors, he is a career.247/.364/.500 hitter. It is reasonable to assume that he has been overly strikeout-prone in the lower leagues given his big league contact troubles and that poor average. Ellis has fanned at a little above-average rate in Triple-A (24.3%), but his preference for weak infield flies has been a bigger offender. With 1124 plate appearances in Triple-A, he has made an astounding 86 trips to the infield. His remarkable power and plate discipline have been undermined by this tendency.The Angels’ acquisition of Ellis makes sense because they obviously need more depth in the infield. Acquiring veteran Luis Guillorme from the Braves, the Halos placed Anthony Rendon on the 60-day injured list recently. Rendon won’t return until at least the end of June. Due to a hamstring strain, Brandon Drury left the most recent game and is probably going to be added to the disabled list. Michael Stefanic and Miguel Sano, two infielders, are also on the IL. Cole Tucker and Ehire Adrianza are on the Angels’ roster right now, but in an eight-game sample, neither player has produced any offensive output. Today, the Rays grabbed Niko Goodrum off waivers. Ellis, who has a solid track record of versatility and depth, will provide them with some
