Los Angeles Angels recall Cam Bedrosian, throw him right in the fire

With a cumulative 4.32 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP from their relief corp thus far in 2014, the Los Angeles Angels needed to make a move to try and stabilize the situation. On Tuesday, they dug deep into the system and plucked Cam Bedrosian from Double-A Arkansas and threw him to the wolves (Astros).

To make room for Bedrosian on the active roster, the team optioned reliever Michael Kohn to Triple-A Salt Lake. The move was originally reported by Alden Gonzalez on the team website.

The 22-year-old was a first round pick of the Angels in the 2010 draft and comes to the Major Leagues with the ice-cold mentality of a reliever coursing through his blood lines. His father, Steve Bedrosian, spent 14 years in the majors, saving 184 games in a career where he pitched for the Philadelphia Phillies, the San Francisco Giants, Minnesota Twins, and Atlanta Braves. The elder Bedrosian also won the 1987 National League Cy Young award when he saved 40 games for the Phillies with a 2.83 ERA.

Now, a good pedigree doesn’t always translate to a solid career, but Cam Bedrosian is working on building a reputation for himself. In 22 appearances between High-A Inland Empire and Double-A Arkansas, Bedrosian has pitched to a 1-0 record and a 1.12 ERA in 24 innings of work. Even more impressive is the 16.9 K/9 ratio and .079 batting average against he is sporting thanks to a mid-90’s fastball that is offset by a solid change-up and a much-improved slider.

That change earned Bedrosian the title of 13th-ranked prospect in the Angels system, and also some heavy praise from his new manager, Mike Scioscia.

 “I think everybody’s comfortable with the fact that he’s (Bedrosian) making his pitches and his stuff will play in the big leagues.” – Mike Scioscia (h/t Alden Gonzalez)

Bedrosian showed some solid stuff on Tuesday night when he made his debut. Coming on to pitch the bottom of the 6th, Bedrosian didn’t disappoint when he retired the Astros in order, striking out Jonathan Villar to start the frame and then getting a pair ground-outs from Dexter Fowler and Jose Altuve for the clean inning. Of his 13 pitches, he threw 9 fastballs, touching 96 on his last pitch. He also mixed in his change and threw Altuve a steady diet of sliders that all registered at 84 MPH.

Unfortunately, Bedrosian’s addition to the team also means that someone else had to be sent down. The decision was an easy one for Scioscia, who opted to have Michael Kohn go down to Triple-A and work on “finding his delivery”.

The 27-year-old Kohn has made 25 appearances out of the Angels bullpen already in 2014 and has a respectable 3.04 ERA and a 9.9 K/9 ratio. However, that has masked a tremendous difficulty finding control, as he also sports an astronomically high 7.6 BB/9 ratio.