The Los Angeles Angels have lost seven of eight, and they're trying to come up with a bullpen to stop the bleeding.
The Los Angeles Angels are trying to find relievers who can get outs, and it’s not going well. In their latest moves, they’ve designated closer Jordan Romano for assignment and selected left-handers Joey Lucchesi to take his roster spot, with the move reported by Charlie Wright of MLBTradeRumors.com. The Angels also designated Shaun Anderson for assignment, and his spot will be taken by right-hander Jose Fermin.
Romano started well, then failed big. He posted four saves with six scoreless innings in his initial appearances, but things went south for Romano very quickly from there. He blew two saves against the New York Yankees during the Angels’ recent road series, then seemed to recover in a couple of low-leverage outings.
But Romano gave up four runs in a blowout loss against the Kansas City Royals on Saturday, and manager Kurt Suzuki made it clear he’d had enough of Romano by pulling him for infielder Adam Frazier.
Lucchesi wasn’t much better. His latest effort came yesterday against the Royals, and Lucchesi was tagged for the three-run homer by Lane Thomas of the Royals that produced KC’s 11-9 walk-off win in 10 innings.
Anderson was somewhat better, but he, too, struggled with inconsistency. He showed flashes in a couple of his outings, but the 31-year old righty gave up 11 earned runs in nine appearances out of the bullpen. Anderson had similar issues last year, so this move wasn’t surprising.
Fermin was up and down with the Angels for most of 2025. He has a 25.7 percent strikeout rate and his fastball plays, but Fermin also had a high ERA and struggles with control, so it’s fair to expect more of the same from him.
The Angels are trying to stop the bleeding in their current road trip, as they’ve lost seven of their last eight games. The bullpen is the biggest reason for that, as the Angels have gotten amazing starts from Jose Soriano to go with generally good work from Jack Kochanowicz and Reid Detmers. They’re sinking fast in the AL West, with relievers Kirby Yates and Ben Joyce expected to return soon from the IL to possibly stabilize their bullpen situation.
The Angels also have problems behind the plate, too, as catcher Logan O’Hoppe was pulled from Saturday’s game with what was described as “wrist irritation” after getting hit by a foul ball, but he’s now on the 10-day IL with a fractured wrist. Backup Travis d’Arnaud will get most of the starts, but the Angels also snlectedthe contract of Sebastian Rivero to replace O’Hoppe.