The Los Angeles Angels are reeling, and it's all about the bullpen, which has been consistently awful.
The Los Angeles Angels are mired in a brutal slump right now, and it’s not hard to figure out why. The Angels are getting surprisingly good starting pitching to go with the record-setting outings of Jose Soriano, but the bullpen has been beyond bad.
Last night it was more of the same in another loss against the Chicago White Sox. Jack Kochanowicz continues to impress, and the Angels had a four-run lead going into the seventh inning. But manager Kurt Suzuki elected to pull Kochaniwicz after 90 pitches when the White Sox got two men on, and the results after that were both familiar and ugly. Reliever Nick Sandlin couldn’t hold the fort and Drew Pomeranz couldn’t stop the bleeding, and by the time the inning was over the White Sox led 8-5.
“His pitch count was getting up there and we just felt like things were kind of starting to kind of snowball a little bit with the error and then the bunt,” Suzuki said in a piece written by Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com as he referred to a gaffe by shortstop Zach Neto and the bunt single by Chase Meidroth.
“We felt like it was the right time to take him out. And it backfired, obviously, but hindsight is always 20/20. So we made the decision and we stuck with it and believed that it was the right call.”
Suzuki probably did just that, but that doesn’t mean much given the state of the Angels bullpen. The Halos decided to bring in a series of veteran retreads this offseason, many of whom had significant injury histories, and they’re getting exactly what they paid for after spending almost no money to bring in quality relievers.
The manager’s effort to defend Sandlin was less impressive.
“He's been really good coming into those situations,” Suzuki said. “He just maybe left balls over the plate. It's hard to tell from the side.”
It’s not hard to tell by the numbers, though. Sandlin now has an ERA of 14.29 in 5-2/3 innings, and he’d be gone if the Angels were a good team with a solid bullpen.
They’re not, though, and Pomeranz is part of the problem as well. He’s given up three home runs in his last two appearances, and the lefty is surrendering them up to left-handed hitters, which is exactly what he was brought in to stop.
The sole pitching solace in this one came from Kochanowicz, who continues to put up quality starts. It’s probably for the best that Suzuki chose to protect his young starter this early in the season, but that doesn’t make the results any easier to stomach.
“I felt great,” Kochanowicz said. “The direction felt good. Eliminated the walks pretty well when I was out there. … You always want to stay in there for sure. If you ask me, I always got more in the tank. But it's not my call, though. So, it just is what it is.”