Former Arizona OF Ryan Aguilar getting called up by Angels, per report

Every player called up to the big leagues has his own unique story. For Ryan Aguilar, his will involve a foreign country and vaccination laws.

According to Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 Houston, the ex-Arizona outfielder is reportedly joining the Los Angeles Angels in Tampa on their current road trip that will also take them to Toronto for a weekend series beginning Friday. Aguilar would be activated ahead of that series and serve as a replacement for one of the Angels’ unvaccinated players.

Canada requires all visitors to the country to be vaccinated against COVID-19, a policy that has caused numerous MLB players to skip games in Toronto this season.

Aguilar, 27, is currently with the Angels’ Double-A team, the Rocket City (Ala.) Trash Pandas, where he’s hitting .280 with 15 home runs and a .944 OPS. He was recently named Southern League Player of the Week after hitting .375 with two homers and six RBI.

A 31st-round pick of the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2016 MLB Draft, Aguilar was part of the UA team that reached the College World Series championship series in 2016. He hit .310 that season with eight homers and 56 RBI.

Aguilar is the fifth former UA player to make it to the Majors for the first time this season, and third in August. Left-handed pitcher Andrew Nardi was called up by the Miami Marlins on Aug. 14, outfielder Cal Stevenson was called up by the Oakland Athletics on Aug. 10, righty Chase Silseth—who pitched for Arizona in the College World Series last year—was promoted by the Angels in May and infielder JJ Matijevic made it to the bigs with Houston in April.