The Los Angeles Angels inked veteran starter Tyler Anderson after a career year, but his opening tenure with his new club isn’t living up to expectations.
Anderson earned his first career All-Star selection with the L.A. Dodgers, and went on to post a 15-5 record with a 2.57 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and a .221 batting average allowed in 178.2 innings. But entering play on May 24, the left-hander owns a 5.27 ERA, 1.62 WHIP and has allowed opposing hitters to reach base at a .284 clip.
The Angels starting rotation has faltered as a whole after the first few weeks when they had some collectively solid performances. Since then, general manager Perry Minasian has needed to call on a number of rookies to fill in the cracks.
While the start hasn’t been ideal, Anderson isn’t allowing this bumpy patch to take over the type of outings he’s proven to have in his bag, according to Jeff Fletcher of the O.C. Register:
“I always feel like I just want to outperform whatever my contract is,” Anderson said. “I know I’m capable of it. I just haven’t done it.”
Anderson still has solid metrics in the hard-hit department, but his real flaws remain with his lack of punchouts and walks allowed. His claim to fame last season was his changeup, however, he’s been unable to command a feel for his best pitch thus far:
“It’s hard to throw your other pitches because you’re trying to throw it where you think you should start it, but you’re not getting into the right spot, even from the start,” Anderson said.
His prior three starts have been decent, but grading out in the 45th percentile in whiff rate as a whole, Anderson hasn’t replicated the same success as he did with the Dodgers. He tried to make some changes to get back on track, and he’s still working through them:
“I feel like mechanically, my delivery got off to a bad start,” he said. “I kind of dug a little bit of a hole. It’s not how you start. It’s how you finish.”
The Angels will continue to be patient with their veteran lefty, as they need him to get on the right path. Alongside Shohei Ohtani in the starting rotation, the club will rely on Anderson to provide quality innings moving forward.
Reyes Moronta feeling comfortable with Angels
Reyes Moronta joined the Angels in early May on a Minor League contract after a need for big league-ready bullpen help arose following a handful of long-term injuries.
Now in his sixth season in MLB, Moronta isn’t far removed from some incredibly successful years with the San Francisco Giants from 2017-2021. In that span, he posted a 2.65 ERA, 3.44 FIP in 132.1 innings, and has the stuff to still be successful in MLB.
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