The Los Angeles Angels placed an emphasis on their pitching staff this past offseason, and among their handful of moves included signing former Cincinnati Reds reliever Michael Lorenzen to a one-year contract.
The signing marked a homecoming for Lorenzen, who was born and raised in Anaheim, Calif. Before being chosen with the No. 38 overall pick in the 2013 MLB Draft by the Reds, Lorenzen pitched collegiately at Cal State Fullerton for the Titans and Fullerton Union High School for the Indians.
The 30-year-old was on hand to watch the Indians play in the state title game at Cal State Fullerton just hours before his start against the Oakland Athletics, and he couldn’t be more proud of his high school alma mater for advancing as far as they have, via Sam Blum of The Athletic:
“Bunch of studs, made it to the championships. I was super pumped and proud of them. It was fun. … I was like, ‘Man, I’m going to take this youthful energy with me and just soak it in.’ Because they were getting fired up about every pitch.” — Angels starter Michael Lorenzen, on watching his high school alma mater play in the state title game at Cal State Fullerton just hours before his start on Saturday.
The Fullerton Indians went 24-9 this season, including 11-4 in league play. However, they lost the CIF Division 4 Championship against Tesoro by a score of 3-0.
Although his school wasn’t able to win, Lorenzen still drew inspiration from the Indians’ remarkable run as he allowed just three hits over six shutout innings against the Athletics en route to his fifth win of the season.
Lorenzen improved to 5-2 with a 3.05 ERA, 4.07 FIP and 1.07 WHIP with 29 strikeouts against 13 walks in 41.1 innings pitched (seven starts).
Lorenzen: Starting for Angels a ‘dream come true’
After throwing six innings of one-run ball with seven strikeouts and no walks in his debut as an Angels starter last month, Lorenzen said he was appreciative of the opportunity to start for his hometown team.
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