The Los Angeles Angels have been fortunate in 2022 to avoid injuries to their top contributors, but they were forced to call on the services of six-year veteran backstop Chad Wallach after losing their top two catchers to the injured list.
Kurt Suzuki was placed on the IL for COVID-related reasons, but without an injury designation or timetable for Max Stassi, he might be out for the same period of time. The Angels selected Wallach’s contract from their Triple-A affiliate after claiming him off of waivers from the L.A. Dodgers last fall.
Wallach made his debut for the Angels on Tuesday night and just so happened to become part of Angels’ history as he was behind the plate for Reid Detmers’ no-hitter, and slugged a three-run home run to extend the lead himself.
Furthermore, Chad Wallach joined his dad Tim Wallach as players to don a Halos uniform in their career, which made them the fifth father and son duo in Angels history. Tim Wallach played 57 games for the Angels in 1996.
The Wallach’s joined Ruben and Ruben Amaro Jr., Chris and C.J. Cron, Jerry and Jeff DaVanon, and Bob and Darren Oliver as the father and son duos in the organization’s history.
In Tim Wallach’s 57 games with the club, he slashed .237/.306/.400 but asked for and was granted his release by the club and promptly signed with the Dodgers, where he would finish out the final season of his 17-year career.
Chad Wallach might not be destined to stay with the Angels long after Stassi and Suzuki return from the IL, but he will forever be part of the Angels’ record books.
Detmers’ throws 12th Angels no-hitter
The Angels gave the ball to the rookie Detmers to face the Tampa Bay Rays, one of the top teams in the American League, with the consideration it could’ve been his last start before they optioned him back to Triple-A.
To that point, Detmers had struggled, throwing just 22 innings across five starts while posting an ERA of 5.32 and a FIP that suggested he was only slightly better. He failed to make it out of the fifth inning in three of his starts.
But on Tuesday, everything went right for the southpaw as he completed the 12th no-hitter in franchise history and the first Taylor Cole and Felix Peña combined to throw one on July 12, 2019, when the team celebrated the life of and mourned the loss of Tyler Skaggs.
With his 108th pitch of the night, Detmers had finished the first solo no-hitter of the 2022 season and the 316th in MLB history while fulfilling a childhood dream.
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