LA Angels Instant Analysis: The New Guys

Yusmeiro Petit

The LA Angels bullpen has a few new faces. The first is Yusmeiro Petit. Petit was signed this offseason to be someone who could pitch multiple innings out of the bullpen and even make spot starts every now and again. While he has yet to make a start for the Halos, he has impressed out of the bullpen. He has made four appearances, pitching six innings total. In those six innings he has given up three hits and only one earned run. He has also sent seven batters down on strikes. Petit does not necessarily own the strike zone when he pitches. He has thrown 95 pitches this year with only 57 of them being strikes. However, he has great command of his pitchers and baits hitters to swing at bad pitches to force groundouts or strikeouts.

The one knack on Petit’s game is that he has given up three walks. While the number is small, he has only pitched six innings. To be a relief pitcher walking batters every other inning can lead to trouble, as having men on base is never a good thing when playing in close games like the Angels have been all season.

Petit, who has a career 4.54 ERA, seems to be enjoying a career year so far this season. There is no reason to believe he will not be able to throw five innings of quality baseball if asked to start a game every once in a while.