The Angels are no strangers to aggressive big league callups, and that was the case for 22-year-old Walbert Ureña on Opening Day.
An undersized righthander, Ureña has a power arsenal that helped him thrive at Double-A Rocket City in the second half last season and into the Cactus League this year.
His strikeout rate climbed from about 18% before the all-star break last year to nearly 25% afterward. His walk rate fell from about 13% to 11%. He led all qualified Double-A pitchers with a 58.5% groundball rate.
Ureña owns a power arsenal highlighted by a four-seam and sinker combo in which each pitch sits 97-101 mph. He throws a power changeup that grades as plus, but it is the growth of his slider and control that helped him step forward the most.
“He’s continued to get stronger physically, which has improved his ability to repeat his delivery, and the strike-throwing has improved,” Angels assistant GM Joey Prebynski said. “You get to the ‘stuff’ profile and how’s been able to refine that.
“In the second half of last year and into spring training, the breaking ball continued to develop. It’s a testament to Walbert, but it’s also a combination of all the momentum he’s been able to create and the position he’s put himself into going into the 2026 season.”
The Angels added Ureña to the 40-man roster last offseason. They signed him out of the Dominican Republic in 2021.
Ureña’s first big league stint lasted just two outings before he was optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake. In his MLB debut on Opening Day, he threw two-thirds of an inning and collected a hold. In his second outing, he went one inning and allowed six runs, all of which were unearned because of his own throwing error.
“Wherever Walbert ended up starting the year, we expected him to be a pitcher who would impact the big league roster, whatever the timing of that is,” Prebynski said.
Ureña will continue his development as a starter at Triple-A.