The Los Angeles Angels shored up their bullpen this past offseason offseason by putting big money into their higher leverage relievers, but like many teams around MLB, they’ve dealt with a few early injuries to some of their relievers, including José Quijada.
Quijada has been on the 10-day injured list since April 8 for a strained right oblique he suffered on Opening Day against the Houston Astros. After retiring the only hitter he faced, manager Joe Maddon opted to stay away from the 26-year-old lefty the next night because some red flags were raised while he was warming up.
Quijada has spent three seasons with the Angels, posting a 4.85 ERA over 29.2 IP with the club, but his return to action and the fragility of oblique injuries puts a question mark on his timetable, according to Sam Blum of The Athletic:
Left-hander José Quijada has yet to pick up a ball as he rehabs from an oblique injury, Frostad said. He noted that the team hopes he’s able to start throwing this week. It could be a few weeks to a month until he’s ready to return.
The Angels have a collective bullpen ERA north of four, which puts them near the bottom in MLB and could use some reinforcements to help out Ryan Tepera, closer Raisel Iglesias, Oliver Ortega, Jaime Barria, and fellow lefty Aaron Loup.
Iglesias and Loup has so far been the Halos’ two most effective relievers, while Archie Bradley and Mike Mayers have struggled in their small sample of innings.
Angels 2022 offseason of relief pitching
General manager Perry Minasian hinted that the team was not done making moves leading up to Spring. Training, and he responded to that by adding veteran relievers Bradley and Tepera.
The pair of veteran right-handers were two of the best relievers on the free-agent market before the Angels scooped them up. They signed Bradley to a one-year, $3.25 million deal and Tepera to a two-year, $14 million deal.
The club also re-signed Iglesias to a four-year, $58 million deal and Loup to a two-year, $17 million deal.
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