David Fletcher Seems Unhappy With Halos Decision to Keep Him in AAA This Year

The 2023 MLB season for the Los Angeles Angels has been a disappointing one filled with injuries and lackluster production from many new additions.

The team has now started to move to a younger outlook while keeping some veterans in the clubhouse to assume experienced leadership roles for young players like Nolan Schanuel, Logan O'Hoppe, and Zach Neto.

One veteran that has not kept his spot in the clubhouse has been David Fletcher and the reason why is not really known.

“I don’t really care too much about that at this point,” he said. “It is what it is.”

(via Jeff Fletcher, The Orange County Register)

Fletcher began 2023 with just over 500 career games played at the Major League level, yet now, the veteran has only played in 30 games this season.

Fletcher burst onto the scene for the Angels in 2018 and through his first three years, he was hitting around a .294 average and a .737 OPS. 

While the numbers were not flashy they also were combined with his elite defense from the middle infield positions.

His numbers since then have not been the best but he has put up positive WAR every year he has been in the league and having a WAR above 1 every year he has played more than 45 games in.

The veteran still has the elite defense and the bottom-of-the-lineup style of bat that can help any team contribute.

Fletcher was taken off the 40-man roster in the middle of April and went to Triple-A and having a salary of $6 million no team would put a waiver claim on him.

It is unclear if the Angels are looking for Fletcher to suddenly have a massive rise in offensive production but the 29-year-old veteran never had a stellar season at the plate, his only year having an OPS+ of over 100 was during the shortened 2020 season.

Fletcher still remains a fan favorite for Angels fans and many want to see him back in the bigs for 2024.