Can Al Alburquerque Still Contribute to the Angels’ Bullpen?

The Angels signed righthanded reliever Al Alburquerque to a one-year, $1.1 million deal in the offseason. He’d spent the previous five seasons with the Detroit Tigers and was non-tendered at the end of the 2015 season. The expectation was that Alburquerque would be an important piece in the back of the bullpen, perhaps becoming the seventh inning guy after Trevor Gott was traded to Washington. Alburquerque failed to make the team out of spring training, however, and is in the bullpen with Triple-A Salt Lake. The player who seemingly beat him out for the spot, former first-round pick Cam Bedrosian, was sent down to Salt Lake and replaced by A.J. Achter, who was then replaced by rookie lefthander Greg Mahle. Meanwhile, Alburquerque remained in the minors. Can he contribute to the big-league squad this season?

Alburquerque has always had problems with control and walks a lot of batters, as last season with Detroit he walked 33 batters in only 62 innings. Currently with Salt Lake, he has walked five batters in six innings of work.

Alburquerque’s fastball velocity has also declined over the past few seasons. His fastball averaged 95.1 mph in his rookie year in 2011, but last year it averaged just 93.1 mph. He has always been considered a power pitcher, but with the decline in velocity, he will need to improve his command to get batters out.