SEATTLE — The Angels recently ran into back-to-back milestones, the type of fun coincidences that seem to only happen in baseball.
On Saturday, 39-year-old right-hander Kirby Yates recorded his 100th career save with a scoreless inning against the Athletics. And the next day, rookie lefty reliever Samy Natera Jr. recorded his first career save when he locked down another victory over the A’s with 1⅓ shutout frames of his own.
Naturally, this did not get by Manager Kurt Suzuki.
“For Kirby, to get to 100 saves, what a milestone,” Suzuki said. “That means a lot. And then the next day, Samy gets his first. Pretty cool.
“We’ll tell Samy only 99 more and he’ll catch up to Kirby.”
Dugout humor aside, Yates said he’s sure Natera will remember that first save as vividly as Yates remembers his own. And that one came on July 20, 2014, when Yates was a rookie for the Tampa Bay Rays and he saved a 5-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins at Target Field in Minneapolis.
“You’re on cloud nine for a while,” Yates said of that first save. “It’s pretty cool.”
Ninety-nine saves later, Yates acknowledged that when it comes to evaluating the careers of closers, 100 saves isn’t a lot. The career leaders in that category among pitchers who have played for the Angels, for example, are Hall of Famer Lee Smith with 478 (37 with the Angels), Francisco Rodriguez with 437 (208 with the Angels) and Troy Percival with 358 (316 with the Angels).
But Yates has primarily been a setup man throughout his 12 major league seasons. When he did man the closer role full-time, he piled up the saves. He notched 12 in a half-season as the ninth-inning man for the San Diego Padres in 2018, then saved 41 the following year. When he served as the Texas Rangers’ closer in 2024, he racked up another 33 saves and pitched to a 1.17 ERA.
“I think the cool thing for me, looking back on the 100 saves, one thing I can say is that I’ve got saves with six different teams (Tampa Bay, San Diego, Atlanta, Texas, the Dodgers and the Angels). I think that’s kind of neat.”
Yates said he wouldn’t put it past his young teammate to get there someday.
“Samy’s talented,” Yates said. “He throws a really, really good fastball. The guys are having trouble hitting it. There’s definitely a lot of talent there.”
FRAZIER REACHES 10-YEAR MARK
Infielder Adam Frazier on Monday reached the important marker of 10 years of major league service time, and Suzuki made sure to honor that moment after the game, even though the Angels lost to the Seattle Mariners.
Suzuki got the team together in the clubhouse and shared the moment with Frazier.
“We just wanted to show how special it is, what it takes to get there, and what type of person you have to be, not just a player,” Suzuki said.
“It’s really a very rare achievement in this game,” said Suzuki, who had a 16-year career as a major-league catcher. “So I think it was a cool moment for him, and for some of the younger players, too.
“Obviously the loss was not fun, but to be able to celebrate for Fraz and the type of person he is, it was cool.”
INJURY UPDATES
Suzuki said outfielder Mike Trout, who is on the injured list with a right hamstring strain, continues to progress.
“He’s just getting ready and slowly increasing his activities every single day,” Suzuki said. “Every time I talk to him, he says he feels good.”
Suzuki said the team still hasn’t decided what the next move will be with starting pitcher Grayson Rodriguez, who has been on the IL since June 15 with low back inflammation. Rodriguez pitched four innings for Class A Rancho Cucamonga on Sunday and had not joined the team in Seattle as of Tuesday’s game.
“We’ll see how he recovers [from Sunday’s outing],” Suzuki said.
UP NEXT
The Angels are off Wednesday.
Angels (RHP Walbert Ureña, 5-6, 3.14 ERA) at Mariners (RHP Bryce Miller, 3-2, 1.97 ERA), Thursday, 6:40 p.m., ABTV, 830 AM