Angels Place All-Star Outfielder on Injured List, Promote Gustavo Campero

Angels outfielder Gustavo Campero is back in the big leagues, and Jorge Soler is headed to the 10-day injured list with lower back inflammation.

One day after he was a last-minute scratch with Triple-A Salt Lake, Campero was promoted in advance of Friday's series opener against the Houston Astros at Angel Stadium.

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Angels manager Ron Washington told reporters in New York that Soler was available to pinch hit in Thursday's loss to the Yankees, but that he could not play in the field. With designated hitter Mike Trout also unable to play the field, the Angels need Soler's glove.

Since Soler's glove wasn't available, Campero is back.

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Campero had already been optioned to Triple-A twice this season, most recently last Friday, so any promotion this week could only have been in response to an injury. Position players must remain in the minors for 10 days after being optioned, unless they are promoted to replace an injured player on the active major league roster.

Campero, 27, has two hits in 10 at-bats for the Angels this season. In addition to his five big league games, Campero has played 32 games for the Angels' Triple-A affiliate, slashing .320/.389/.477.

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Soler, 33, is slashing .207/.280/.350 in 67 games in his first season with the Angels. The Cuban-born veteran has -0.4 WAR according to Baseball Reference, seeing most of his time at designated hitter.

Before his back injury, Soler had also been battling groin tightness for a couple weeks. His IL placement is retroactive to June 18, which means he'll be eligible to rejoin the Angels during their three-game home series against the Washington Nationals next week.

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Soler led the American League in home runs, and set the Kansas City Royals' franchise record with 48 in 2019. Four years later, he made the only All-Star team of his career with the Miami Marlins.

Since he was acquired from the Atlanta Braves in an October 2024 swap for pitcher Griffin Canning, Soler has looked far removed from his prime.

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Only 15 qualified hitters in all of baseball have a lower on-base percentage this season than Soler's .280. Remarkably, three of them — Luis Rengifo, Logan O'Hoppe, and Taylor Ward — play for the Angels too.

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