Cory Rasmus: 2014 Angels Year in Review

Los Angeles Angels’ pitcher Cory Rasmus made his MLB debut in 2013 with the Atlanta Braves, but then was traded to the Angels on July 29 for Scott Downs and finished the season with the Halos. He pitched in 16 games, 15 innings, and allowed nine total runs, for an ERA of 4.20. It wasn’t a very good rookie season as he walked a lot of batters, five and a half per nine, and allowed over 10 hits per nine innings. He was purely out of the bullpen but in 2014 he was able to make six starts. Without further ado, let’s take a look at Ramus’ 2014 season.

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The Good: I want to start off mentioning Cory Rasmus and his walks. 2013 was full of them, but in 2014 he brought them way down and more success. In 56 innings he walked 17 batters, as opposed to 13 in 21 innings the previous season. This alone helped him have a successful season. To go along with the lower walk rate, he had a higher strikeout rate. He struck out just over nine per nine innings, and that pair with the lower walks saw his Fielder Independent Pitching go from almost five, down to 3.17.

He was also able to show that he can be an emergency starter when needed. At the end of the season he started six games, and had a 2.37 ERA. He only pitched 19 innings in those six starts so it is a very small sample size, but it was good. He held opponents to a .164 average and a .284 slugging in those starts. He recorded one decision, going 0-1, but the Angels were 3-3 in his starts. This could be due to the amount of innings the bullpen had to throw in his starts.

Lastly, the good thing about Ramus in the bullpen was his ability to go more than one inning. 15 of his 24 relief appearances last more than an inning and 12 of them were two innings or more. He was the Angels longman, and was successful. He will be joined by Cesar Ramos in the longman spot if he remains in the bullpen in 2015.

The Bad: There wasn’t really anything he did terribly wrong. He was relatively good against both righties and lefties and showed that he could go multiple innings when asked. That will lead into my next point, the future.

The Future: The Angels and General Manager Jerry Dipoto have mentioned that Cory Rasmus may be transformed into a starter for the 2015 season. Ramus is training this offseason just incase that is to happen in 2015. So, right now his future is up in the air depth chart wise. He could be the fourth starter if Garrett Richards isn’t healthy on Opening Day, or he could be in the bullpen, we just don’t know right now. Everything really depends on the health of Richards and his ability to pitch consistently coming off an injury.