The Los Angeles Angels have a long climb to get out of the AL West basement, but at least they're adding young arms.
The Los Angeles Angels have largely been the butt of jokes for the last few seasons, and deservedly so. This is an organization that has a reputation for doing everything wrong, but the Angels have been getting one important thing right.
MLB.com did a piece that listed the biggest thing each team learned during spring training, and their conclusion was about the impressive young arms that have finally turned up in the organization. It’s a valid point, especially when you start looking at some of the under-the-radar names who pitched well in spring training.
The biggest suprise was No. 5 prospect George Klassen, who nearly snuck into the rotation when some of the Angels’ veteran options struggled with injuries and command. No. 2 prospect Ryan Johnson once again pitched his way onto the Opening Day roster, although he remains very much a work in progress. Walbert Urena was another surprise who could also make the club in a swing role, so there’s now genuine young depth on the rise.
Perhaps the best news was that the Angels slow-crawled the development of No. 1 prospect Tyler Bremner rather than gamble on his potential and add him to the roster right away. He threw just one inning in spring training, which is what should be happening now that the Angels have a real pitching coach in Mike Maddux and a manager, Kurt Suzuki, who was a catcher for 16 years in the big leagues.
The question now is whether the Halos can translate this potential into performance. This isn’t likely to happen right away given the state of the rotation; Opening Day starter Jose Soriano looks ready to step up and start pitching like an ace, but Yusei Kikuchi would be a third starter in a good rotation rather than the next guy up behind Soriano in Anaheim.
Newly-acquired starter Grayson Rodriguez will start the year on the injured list, which shouldn’t surprise anyone, and Reid Detmers is a bullpen-to-starter experiment that may not work as he starts to rack up innings.
The bullpen is a genuine mess at this point. We still don’t know if Kirby Yates or Jordan Romero, and Robert Stephenson and Ben Joyce are both serious question marks. The goal here is .500, but it’s going to be a tough, uphill battle, and it’s important for Suzuki and Maddux to hold things together so that the young pitching talent can continue to develop.