Angels promote top pitching prospect Mike Morin to big leagues

NEW YORK — The Angels promoted one of their top relief-pitching prospects to the big leagues Sunday, calling up right-hander Mike Morin, 22, from triple-A Salt Lake and optioning outfielder Brennan Boesch to triple A.

Morin, who is scheduled to arrive in Yankee Stadium by game time, began the season at double-A Arkansas, where he did not allow an earned run in five innings of five games. He was promoted to triple A on April 16, and in four games for Salt Lake, he gave up four earned runs in three innings.

“We have some guys who have pitched a lot this week, so we’d like to go with an extra arm,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “Michael has really come on. He has great makeup. He’ll be ready for the opportunity.

Morin, a 13th-round pick out of the University of North Carolina in 2012, was Angels minor league pitcher of the year in 2013, going 3-3 with a 1.93 earned-run average and 23 saves in 39 games for Class A Inland Empire and Arkansas, striking out 76 and walking 10. The key to Morin’s development has been the improvement of his changeup.

[UPDATED, 4:33 p.m. PDT, April 27: To clear room on the 40-man roster for Morin, the Angels designated double-A left-hander Michael Roth for assignment.]