The Los Angeles Angels have added former Cardinals reliever Rob Kaminsky on a minor league deal for bullpen depth.
The Los Angeles Angels made yet another addition to their revolving-door bullpen, as they signed reliever Rob Kaminsky to a minor-league deal, according to AJ Eustace of MLBTradeRumors.com via Bob Nightingale of USA Today.
Kaminsky started his career in the St. Louis Cardinals system back in 2013, and he was traded to Cleveland for Brandon Moss. He’s mostly been a minor leaguer during his lengthy career, as he made his big league debut in 2020 and allowed one earned run in 4-2/3 innings while recording three strikeouts.
He’s also bounced around a lot since, doing stints in the Philadelphia Phillies system and a couple of years down on the farm with the Seattle Mariners, and Kaminsky has also pitched in the independent American League as well as in the WBC. He has a high ground-ball rate that lands in the 50-60 percent range, but Kaminsky doesn’t strike out many hitters, and his velocity is around 90 mph, so he’s a marginal option if he can’t get those ground balls.
The Angels are bringing in Kaminsky as a depth option who comes with no risk, which makes some sense for the Halos. Their season could basically be over by Memorial Day at the rate things are going for them, and they have a constant need for bodies in the bullpen so he could join the merry-go-round of marginal relievers.
As always, the bullpen as a whole is in a state of flux. Jordan Romano was expected to compete for the closer role, but he imploded after a strong start and was designated for assignment. The Angels already have two relievers with high ground-ball rates in Brent Suter and Sam Bachman, and Bachman has actually pitched well for the Halos so far.
The newest reliever to join the Angels at the big-league level is Kirby Yates, but no one knows if he can actually step into the closer role, even for a limited stretch of time. The big hope is that hard-throwing Ben Joyce can return soon, as he’s a legitimate long-term option if he can stay healthy during his current run of rehab appearances.
Alek Manoah is also pitching out of the pen right now for the Halos, but he’s a starter by trade. The rotation features Jose Soriano, Jack Kochanowicz, Reid Detmers and Walbert Urena at the moment, with auditions continuing for the fifth starter spot, which is Manoah’s ultimate destination if he can make the grade. It probably won’t be good news if Kaminsky makes it to Anaheim, and if he does it likely won’t matter much, either.