Angels Countdown to Spring - 18 Days

By Jay Sheehy

The Los Angeles Angels starting rotation in 2019 was heavily faulted as the main reason the team didn’t make the playoffs, and rightfully so, yet the sub-par pitching didn’t stop once they turned the ball over to the bullpen. While the moves that were made to improve the starting five didn’t exactly set the world on fire (no offense to Julio Teheran and Dylan Bundy) they did stabilize a very fragile rotation. On the other hand, the Angels did very little to improve the bullpen despite their struggles last season. This could be seen as a misstep, yet much of the improvement on that end might be due to internal progression, the rotation lessening the burden and improved health in 2020. Bullpen improvement in 2020 will lead the Angels back to the promised land (the playoffs).

Reason #18: Angels bullpen was 18th in baseball (Baseball Reference WAR)

Well, I guess the reason should say that they will be much better than the 18th ranked bullpen in 2020. The ascension of Hansel Robles to closer was a major coup for the Angels in 2019. With Cam Bedrosian, Ty Buttrey and a healthy Keynan Middleton, the Angels have the 7-9th innings completely covered for the upcoming season. While Matt Andriese, Kyle Keller, Mike Mayers and Parker Markel were all acquired this off-season, only Andriese currently seems to be slotted into a contributing role. But when it comes to the bullpen, things can change quickly. Andriese will get a chance to be the spot starter the team needs to keep Shohei Ohtani on his pitching schedule (once a week). Though, he’ll face competition from Patrick Sandoval, Jaime Barria, and Jose Suarez for those starts. As far as being the team’s go-to swingman, that role is currently occupied by Noe Ramirez, who had a solid if not spectacular 2019.

One of the biggest reasons to expect improvement from the bullpen has to do with the improvement to the starting rotation (even if it was minor). The burden the bullpen was forced to handle in 2019 was severe. By merely reducing the number of innings they pitch, the Angels will reap the benefits of a less exhausted bullpen staff. And, if Angels fans are lucky, maybe Kyle Keller or Mike Mayers will come out of nowhere and be a lock-down option, or Felix Pena will return and be the guy who dominated after the first inning. Either way, the bullpen will be in the top half of the league in 2020, and that is reason #20 the Los Angeles Angels will make the playoffs.