The Los Angeles Angels signed yet another pitcher, reliever Nick Sandlin, who has an injury-riddled history. The signing, which is a minor league deal with a chance to make the roster. was reported by Steve Adams of MLBTradeRumors.com, and at this point it’s become more than a pattern with the Angels. It’s now their basic business model in an offseason in which the team seems committed to spending as little money as possible.
Sandlin is 29, and he’s pitched in parts of four big league seasons, primarily for the Cleveland Guardians. But the Guardians traded him to the Toronto Blue Jays last offseason as part of the Andres Gimenez deal, and the right-hander promptly got hurt and pitched just 16-1/3 innings with the Blue Jays due to a lat strain and elbow inflammation.
That makes him an ideal candidate to join the Angels cast of wounded hurlers, but Sandlin was once a quality member of the Cleveland pen. According to Adams, he pitched 195-1/3 innings from 2021-24, and he had a nice stat line that included a 3.27 ERA, a strikeout rate of 27.7 percent, a walk rate of 11.4 percent and a 43.6 percent ground ball rate. That walk rate is considered high, but the rest of his stats are either good or in line with what you’d expect from a quality reliever.
Sandlin isn’t a hard thrower, but the Angels have picked up plenty of those this offseason, so he’ll offer some contrast to the likes of Kirby Yates, Jordan Romero and several others in the pen if he manages to stick and make the roster. His four-seamer and sinker both clock in at just over 91 mph, but those are last year’s numbers and he was undoubtedly pitching under at least some duress. Sandlin also had a swinging strike rate of 14.8 percent last year, which is also impressive.
The Angels will have full control over Sandlin for this year and next if he makes the roster. Like the rest of the relievers the Halos have signed, Sandlin’s success will be largely in the hands of new pitching coach Mike Maddux, who’s been given the formidable task of building a viable bullpen from what amounts to a bunch of reclamation projects. It seems like the Angels have reached a limit with this sort of thing, but then again there’s still a month to go before pitchers and catchers report.