Angels' Sebastian Rivero Injured, 30-Year-Old Catcher Will Be Promoted

The Angels didn't plan to promote Logan Porter to the major leagues immediately after signing him to a minor league contract on Monday. The 30-year-old journeyman is the unlikely beneficiary of Sebastian Rivero's bad luck.

Rivero, who injured his hand on a swing in Tuesday's 10-1 victory over the Houston Astros, is expected to be placed on the injured list Wednesday. The Angels will select the contract of Porter from Triple-A Salt Lake, adding him to their 40-man and 26-man rosters.

Ari Alexander of 7News Boston WHDH was first to report Porter's selection on X.

Sebastian Rivero got hurt last night, so this seems to be his replacement.

They’ll need to make a 40-man move, but they can just put Kochanowicz on the 60-day IL. https://t.co/MAwSJUCojG
— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) June 10, 2026

Manager Kurt Suzuki told reporters that Rivero was headed for a CT scan after suffering the injury on a swing in his third plate appearance of the game. The pain was severe enough that Rivero could not finish his at-bat.

Logan O'Hoppe substituted in as a pinch hitter and struck out. The strikeout was credited to Rivero, ending his streak of at-bats with a hit at seven.

Porter is 7-for-38 (.184) in 16 major league games with the Kansas City Royals (2023) and San Francisco Giants (2025-26), who designated him for assignment last week.

The journeyman is a .244/.359/.389 hitter in parts of five Triple-A seasons. The Royals originally signed Porter as an undrafted free agent out of Dixie State in 2018 to be a minor league bullpen catcher. Pressed into service when a player on the Royals' Arizona Summer League team was promoted, Porter got an active roster spot and hit .317 over 34 games in his first professional season.

By 2022, Porter had worked his way up the minor league ladder to Triple-A, and was invited to Kansas City's major league spring training camp. He made his major league debut in September 2023.

Now Porter will get a chance with the Angels. It could be his best chance to stick on an MLB roster yet, depending on the severity of Rivero's injury.

Rivero wasn't the only player the Angels lost to an injury Tuesday.

First baseman Nolan Schanuel was hit by a pitch on his left calf in the bottom of the first inning. The bases were loaded, so Schanuel was credited with an RBI on the Angels' first run, but the resulting injury eventually forced him to leave the game.

After Schanuel hit a single in his second plate appearance, Trey Mancini replaced him defensively at first base to begin the top of the fourth. The severity of Schanuel's injury is unknown.

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