It's been a long, circuitous road for Randal Grichuk, but the outfielder will finally debut for the team that selected him in the first round of the 2009 MLB Draft, one pick before Mike Trout.
"I never thought it would take 14 years to make my Angels debut, but here I am," Grichuk said prior to Monday's game against the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park, according to Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com.
Grichuk was acquired along with first-base slugger C.J. Cron on Sunday in a four-player deal with the Colorado Rockies. The 31-year-old was originally drafted by the Angels but never got a chance to play in the majors for them, instead being traded as a prospect to the St. Louis Cardinals along with Peter Bourjos for David Freese and Fernando Salas. He went on to make his MLB debut the following year in 2014 for the Cardinals.
The Angels memorably selected Trout with the 25th overall pick in the 2009 MLB Draft. However, with a pair of compensation picks in the first round - one for the departure of Mark Teixeira and the other for the loss of Francisco Rodriguez - the Halos also took Grichuk 24th overall.
Since then, over a 10-year career in the majors, Grichuk has hit .251/.298/.468 with 183 homers and 27 stolen bases in 1,087 games. The Angels will be the fourth team he's played for.
