BILOXI, Miss. – After not allowing a run over his last nine outings, Rocket City reliever José Quijada is joining the Los Angeles Angels.
Quijada, 28, has been dominant for Rocket City this season, going 2-1 with a 2.73 ERA over 27 appearances. In 26.1 innings pitched, he’s walked nine, struck out nine, and held opponents to a .235 average.
Since June 27, the Venezuela lefty has been lights-out, tossing 9 scoreless innings across his last nine outings. During that stretch, he went 2–0 with 12 strikeouts, just three walks, and a .194 opponent batting average.
He joined the Trash Pandas May 10 after being activated from the Triple-A Salt Lake development list and quickly became a reliable arm out of the bullpen.
Across parts of five Major League seasons with the Marlins and Angels, Quijada owns a 4.64 ERA in 140 relief appearances, with 172 strikeouts over 128 innings. He was claimed off waivers by the Angels in February 2020 and has spent most of his MLB time in the Halos’ bullpen.
After Tommy John surgery ended his 2023 campaign, Quijada returned in 2024 and didn’t allow a run in 17 of his 22 outings for Los Angeles.
In 2022, Quijada posted a 3.98 ERA with 52 strikeouts and three saves over 40.2 innings for the Angels.
Also Thursday, the Trash Pandas (9-15, 33-59) split a doubleheader with the Shuckers, taking game one 5-1 before falling in the nightcap, 3-1.
- Game 1 starter Sam Aldegheri (No. 8) and nightcap starter George Klassen (No. 3) — two of the Angels’ top 10 prospects (MLB Pipeline) — combined to allow just three earned runs on seven hits with 11 strikeouts over 12.0 innings Thursday.
- Nelson Rada went 3-for-6 across both games with a double, RBI, three runs, and two steals. He’s reached base in 13 straight games and now has 33 stolen bases on the season, just two shy of his 2023 total.
- Denzer Guzman reached base in both games and went 2-for-4 in the opener. He has reached safely in 18 of his last 20 games and leads the league in July with a 1.113 OPS, 12 extra-base hits, a .349 average, and 16 RBIs.
- With 14 more hits Thursday, Rocket City has 81 hits over their last nine games, batting .286 — third-best in all of Double-A during that stretch. The Trash Pandas have also launched 17 home runs in 16 games since July 3, leading the Southern League and ranking third across Double-A.
The six-game series continues tonight in Biloxi. First pitch is set for 6:35 with Rocket City sending LHP Mitch Farris (0-6, 5.14) to the mound against Biloxi’s LHP Tate Kuehner (7-4, 2.45).
Fans can watch live on Bally Sports Live, stream on MiLB.tv, or listen via Talk Radio WZZN 97.7 HD-2.
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