Nick

Madrigal

Madrigal’s RBI hit was a grounder to second that the first baseman tried and failed to make a play on and on which the pitcher made no attempt to cover first. Madrigal then stole second afterwards for his first steal in two tries in 12 games since being called up. Madrigal is hitting the ball quite a bit harder than usual and yet has still struck out just twice in 39 plate appearances for the Angels. He might be on his way to reestablishing himself as a legitimate big leaguer, but it probably won’t be with enough homers and steals to make him much use outside of particularly deep formats.

He’s considered day-to-day. Nick Madrigal will start in his place at second base and will bat eighth for the Angels against Roki Sasaki and the Dodgers on Friday evening.

It was Madrigal’s fourth start in eight games since he was called up last week, and he’s now 6-for-15 in the span. Somewhat interesting is that Madrigal has hit balls 111.6 mph this spring and 113.6 mph in Triple-A this year. Previously, his hardest-hit ball was 106.9 mph for the Cubs in 2023. Maybe it’s enough to turn him back into a viable major leaguer, but he also has to stay healthy, which has been a big issue.

Madrigal gets the nod to join Los Angeles’ infield mix with Nolan Schanuel hitting the injured list with an ankle issue. The 29-year-old contact-oriented second baseman has plenty of big-league experience having appeared in 285 career games between the Cubs and White Sox since 2020. He doesn’t offer any semblance of over-the-fence power or stolen base upside at this stage of his career. He can be ignored in all fantasy formats.

The Angels thinned out their battle at second base on Saturday morning when they optioned Christian Moore and Kyren Paris to Triple-A Salt Lake and in the evening Nick Madrigal joined them. That leaves just Adam Frazier, Oswald Peraza and Vaughn Grissom remaining to fight it out. Madrigal performed well during the spring, hitting .333 (7-for-21) with three RBI.

The move paves a relatively unobstructed path for veteran Adam Frazier to open the year as the Angels’ starting second baseman. Technically, Oswald Peraza, Nick Madrigal and Vaughn Grissom remain in the mix but they’ve struggled this spring and make more sense in bench roles. Los Angeles took Moore with the eighth-overall pick back in 2024, one spot before Pittsburgh grabbed baseball’s current top prospect Konnor Griffin. The 23-year-old second baseman has hit just .198/.284/.370 with seven homers in 53 games at the highest level and has struggled to emerge as an everyday option.

Madrigal’s career has been derailed by physical issues the past few years as he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury during spring training while in Mets camp. The 28-year-old former top prospect was limited to just 51 games for the Cubs back in 2024 due to a fractured finger. He’s a decent low-risk depth addition for the Angels and it wouldn’t be shocking if he made their season-opening roster out of camp. He doesn’t offer enough power or speed potential to merit consideration for fantasy purposes even if he were to carve out a significant role with Los Angeles next season.

Madrigal never wound up making an appearance for the Mets after suffering a season-ending shoulder injury last spring. The contact-oriented 28-year-old heads to the open market after refusing an outright assignment to Triple-A Syracuse.

The expectation is that Madrigal will undergo surgery on his fractured left shoulder, and that operation will keep the 27-year-old out of action. Assuming the operation goes well — and assuming he undergoes that operation, of course — he should battle for a utility spot in 2026.

Madrigal is out indefinitely after being diagnosed with a fractured left shoulder, which is he suffered during Sunday’s spring training contest against the Nationals when he slipped while charging a ground ball. There isn’t an official timetable for the 27-year-old reserve infielder’s return at the moment, but fantasy managers should anticipate him missing at least a few months, if not longer.