The Los Angeles Angels have made improvements to their bullpen woes in recent years, but general manager Perry Minasian is still chasing the best formula for his roster.
Offseason acquisitions of Carlos Estévez and Matt Moore have been very solid additions to a reliever group that owns a 3.57 ERA, 3.74 FIP and a .232 batting average allowed. Estévez was brought in to essentially take over as the team’s closer, and in his 12 save opportunities, he’s been perfect.
Estévez owns a 1.23 ERA in 22 innings with 29 strikeouts, but alone he can’t carry the load.
A rash of injuries has forced the Angels’ front office to call-up Chase Silseth to supplement the backend, and this week they brought in fellow right-hander Sam Bachman.
The club also called up prospect Ben Joyce officially on Sunday, giving them another high-powered arm, but it came with the loss of Moore to the 15-day injured list.
All but three of the Angels’ current bullpen was acquired via trade or free agency, an area that Minasian would like to change, per Jeff Fletcher of the O.C. Register:
“We have to do a better job of building our own,” he said. “We are hoping as we go along and continue to have drafts and international classes, we’ll be able to do that, plus a combination of free agents, minor league signs. But the emphasis is on the guys that we develop.”
Relievers generally are some of the most volatile investments on a big league roster, mostly made up of interchangeable pieces with a few staples arms:
“That’s why you try to sign a bunch,” Minasian said. “You try to bring in people every year. Do you always hit on those? No, but obviously that’s an area where you can improve your bullpen.”
Perhaps the Angels should change the formula in which they go after relievers, or simply put, it’s a total-randomized puzzle, and you never truly know how a player will perform until they’re in a live game scenario:
“It’s all shapes and sizes,” Minasian said. “Different stuff. If there was a blueprint, everyone would do it.”
So far, Minasian has done a solid job building on the failures of years prior. Manager Phil Nevin has shuffled arms around because of long-term injuries, but for the most part, guys will have to settle into their roles sooner or later, which allows a later-game roadmap to form.
Reyes Moronta designated for assignment
The Angels designated journeyman reliever Reyes Moronta for assignment after a month within the organization that saw him make his debut for the team this past week.
Moronta signed a Minor League deal with the Angels in early May, having an easy go of it when initially reporting to Triple-A Salt Lake. When a number of relief options went down with season-ending injuries in José Quijada and Austin Warren, he was a solid addition.
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