Angels Countdown to Spring - 26 Days

1/16/20 - Jay Sheehy - Founder and Editor-In-Chief 1:16 PM PST

As we continue down the road to Spring Training, everyday we will reveal another reason why the Angels will make the postseason in 2020. Yesterday we started the whole thing off with a bang, and the reason I picked 27 to start with, as reason #27 was #27 himself, Mike Trout. Obviously.

Reason #26: Keynan Middleton’s Age

The 26-year old Middleton was the Angels “Closer of the Future” after a solid debut season in 2017, where he pitched in 64 games. After a hot start in 2018, where he pitched to a 2.04 ERA over 16 games, closing out six of them, Middleton had snatched up the closer position for good…but then, on May 14th, he found out he would have to undergo Tommy John surgery to fix an injury to his ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his pitching arm. That wiped out the remainder of 2018 and the majority of 2019, where he finally made it back to pitch eleven games in September.

While the Angels definitely feel confident at the closer spot with Hansel Robles heading into 2020, it would be a major boost to the staff if Middleton can fully recover and return to pre-injury form. In the small sample size that was his September return (eleven games), his fastball was sitting at 94.1 mph, versus 96.1 mph in early 2018 and 96.8 mph in his 2017 campaign. A full off-season where he’s healthy will definitely benefit Middleton and hopefully return the extra zip.

At 26 years old, Keynan Middleton is young enough to bounce back from Tommy John surgery and return to the late inning reliever he was before his injury. While much of the talk of the Angels pitching has been about their starting pitching (rightfully so), their bullpen was ranked 18th in baseball and an improvement there will definitely lessen the burden on the starting rotation. Apparently, it’s an off-season of incremental improvements, on that side of the ball. Keynan Middleton is talented enough to move the needle for the Angels, if he can get fully healthy. I’m betting that he will.