2 Angels relievers that deserve a longer leash, 1 that needs to go right away

The Los Angeles Angels bullpen is in a bit of turmoil right now. After the team moved on from closer Jordan Romano, they are trying to sort out who can be trusted amongst their relievers. A number of their bullpen arms are struggling, but they need to have some patience with some, while cutting bait on a few who are a lost cause.

The team clearly realizes that changes are needed as they just designated Joey Lucchesi for assignment and recalled Mitch Farris, so some other moves could potentially be on the horizon. As for who needs to stay and who needs to go, that is a bit trickier to figure out.

2 Angels relievers who deserve more time to figure it out

Drew Pomeranz

The Angels signed veteran left-handed reliever Drew Pomeranz hoping he could be a stabilizing force in the bullpen. That has not quite been the case so far. He has a 8.74 ERA on the year and has allowed seven earned runs in his last 3 and 1/3 innings pitched. 

It may be easy to feel the temptation to send him the way of Romano off to DFA-ville. I hear it’s lovely this time of year. But the Angels really don’t have a ton of great options down there right now.

Pomeranz probably shouldn’t be a high-leverage reliever in any MLB bullpen but the Angels are between a rock and a hard place so they need to wait and see if he can turn it around and look more like the guy who drank from the Fountain of Youth and had a 2.17 ERA last season with the Chicago Cubs.

Ryan Zeferjahn

Ryan Zeferjahn currently has a 5.65 ERA this season which is not good, but grading on the Angels curve it’s actually not too bad. He’s looked better in his last few outings and has struck out 17 batters in 14 innings of work which is a positive sign.

The Angels should give him a long leash because it seems like he could be a guy to calm things down a bit for the Halos. That is not a guarantee, but Zeferjahn deserves a bit more time to prove himself.

1 reliever Angels should move on from

Nick Sandlin

Nick Sandlin has really struggled for the Angels to the tune of a jaw-dropping 14.29 ERA in six appearances. That’s pretty alarming and the fact that he’s already walked three batters and hit three batters shows that he just does not have the requisite command to cut it in the big leagues.

Sandlin had a solid 2.20 ERA with the Toronto Blue Jays last season but he is just out of whack right now with the Angels so it is probably time to move on.

The bullpen can be a bugaboo for every big league team but it’s really a pain in manager Kurt Suzuki’s neck right now. Maybe if he shuffles things around a bit he’ll find some combination of arms that can be trusted.

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