2 relievers who've moved up Angels' trust tree, 2 who've already moved down

2 relievers who've moved up Angels' trust tree

Kenley Jansen

Things did not end amazingly between Jansen and the Boston Red Sox, and there are some warts in his game for sure (he has a comically bad Location+). However, Jansen has been stellar so far with the Angels, and fans should be overjoyed when they see him enter tied games or with a lead.

The most frustrating thing with the 37-year-old Jansen is his habit of building up his stuff as the inning goes along. He never enters games with his A+ stuff. He starts with ~B+ stuff, and builds up to his best the more he throws to live batters. Well, either way, he has the best Stuff+ grade of Angels' pitchers and is tied for 14th in the league. It's honestly kind of exhilarating seeing him dance around with a 91 MPH cutter, before getting to his 95 MPH unicorn pitch.

As well as Stuff+, Jansen is either the best or ranked in the top-two of Angels' relievers in nearly every statistical category. He certainly looks motivated, and fans might start rocking more Jansen uniforms the more the season goes along as he continues to break all-time reliever records.

Ryan Zeferjahn

Zeferjahn has certainly surpassed Brock Burke on the depth chart, meaning he is the most important reliever the Angels have not named Kenley Jansen or Ben Joyce. In fact, Zeferjahn has a save in 2025 and Joyce does not.

Of his eight outs recorded, five are via the strikeout. His location is not remarkable, but his stuff is next-level good which makes up for that (basically mirroring how Kenley Jansen is effective). Zeferjahn has the second best Stuff+ mark of Angels' pitchers, and the best Pitching+ mark of Angels' relievers. He has the best FIP of Angels' relievers as well.

Zeferjahn's decision, probably made for him to an extent when he was with the Red Sox, to table his four-seam in favor of throwing his cutter and sweeper more has turned him into a next-wave type pitcher. He is great right now, and is perfectly in the mold of what most relievers will look like moving forward --> more spin, less velo. Zeferjahn has plenty of spin, plenty of velo, and the three pitches all mesh very well together.

2 relievers who've moved up Angels' trust tree, 2 who've already moved down