Angels Bullpen: Slowballs and Flies

It’s time for our Depth Chart Discussions to begin. In an effort to suss out every team, we’ve divided them into four parts (infield, outfield, bullpen, and rotation) and will begin breaking them down for you over the next few weeks. You can find them gathered here.

In recent seasons, the Angels have been plagued by weakness in the bullpen. Failed experiments with Jordan Walden, Scott Downs, and Ernesto Frieri paved the way for their acquisition of Huston Street last season. The bullpen looks to be a strength in 2015 – or at least it probably won’t be a weakness. In addition to solid veteran depth, there are a few high profile youngsters to track.

For the Ninth

Huston Street
Joe Smith

If you just look at his ERAs and whiff rates, you might expect Street to be a domineering righty. Instead, he’s one of the few closers to thrive without velocity. His fastball barely scrapes 90 mph. It’s his slider that carries the day, although he also mixes in a useful changeup. He’s a fly ball pitcher, and 2013 taught us that he can get unlucky with home runs. The Angels have a history of impatience with their closers, so there’s a little risk for fantasy owners.

Smith took over the ninth inning after Frieri stumbled, and he pitched well enough to continue in the role. The club opted to build depth instead by acquiring Street. Smith is another soft-tossing righty with a sub-90 mph fastball. He doesn’t possess big whiff rates, and he benefited from a .214 BABIP last season. He’s a useful ground ball pitcher who focuses on weak contact. This Angels pen is quite atypical in today’s game.

The Middle Innings

Fernando Salas
Vinnie Pestano
Mike Morin
Cory Rasmus

Salas and Pestano are veteran retreads. Salas enjoyed a bounceback performance last season with 9.36 K/9, 2.15 BB/9, and a 3.38 ERA. He was once a closer candidate for the Cardinals and could factor into the mix if Street lands on the disabled list. He’s an extreme fly ball pitcher, which is always a dangerous profile for the late innings.

Pestano’s another fly ball guy, although he’s not nearly as extreme as Salas. The righty is a well-known fantasy name from his time with the Indians. Despite a drop in velocity over the years (he now sits at 90 mph), Pestano remains a useful ROOGY. His sidewinding delivery is easily picked up by lefties. Since he has to be completely sheltered from left-handed hitters, he’ll never have a stranglehold on a job.

Morin enjoyed a solid debut season with 8.24 K/9, 2.90 BB/9, and a 2.90 ERA. There’s just one problem – hitters teed off on his 92 mph fastball. Brooks Baseball actually has him throwing a fastball and sinker. The two pitches combined for about 50 percent of his offerings. He splits the rest of his pitches between a slider and changeup. As you might guess from the decent results, both offspeed pitches are quite good. Usually, when a 23-year-old arrives in the majors, he still needs to improve his breaking ball or change. In Morin’s case, he needs to discover a viable fastball.

Used as a swingman last season, Rasmus will likely reprise the role in 2015. His numbers were comparable as both a starter and reliever, so there’s no immediate gain to be had with him in the bullpen. He posted a 2.57 ERA with 9.16 K/9 and 2.73 BB/9. The strong walk rate was a surprise – he’s struggled with free passes through his entire minor league career. His changeup produced excellent results, and his breaking balls were useful too. Unlike Morin, his fastball also generated strong results, albeit with a .167 BABIP. I doubt his 93 mph heater is that deceptive.

The Rest

Cam Bedrosian
Cesar Ramos

Bedrosian is seen as a potential future closer thanks to a 95 mph fastball. The heater is potent, but he’ll need to induce more whiffs with his slider and change to thrive in the ninth inning. He’s posted massive strikeout rates in the minors, but walks have plagued him at times. The 23-year-old got his first taste of big league action last season, with 19.1 innings, 9.31 K/9, 5.59 BB/9, and a 6.52 ERA.

If it’s decided that a left-handed reliever is something that should appear on a major league roster, then Ramos will probably win the last spot. Entering his age 31 season, Ramos has mostly worked as a multi-inning reliever for the Rays. He pitches better against fellow lefties but not enough to qualify as a specialist.





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Casper
9 years ago

Rasmus being used as a starter (even if it’s only a part-time role) confuses me given that his longest start last year was four innings (twice). Sure, 5 ER in 19 IP is good, but if that 19 innings is over six starts, it seems like that would be a point of concern, no? If you’re starting a guy who only gives you three innings, it doesn’t do much good, and your bullpen ends up rather depleted as a result. Maybe this is why they started the experiment late in the season when roster expansions would allow them to carry extra relief arms?

Casper
9 years ago
Reply to  Brad Johnson

Gotcha. Is this something other teams might try to emulate–starting someone who you know will probably give you three good innings, rather than someone who might give you six bad ones, but using up the bullpen–or is this just a one-time quirk, like the Astros’ piggybacked starters in the minors the last couple years?