The Los Angeles Angels Rotation Is It’s Own Answer

Nick Tropeano
4 starts, 1-2, 3.42 ERA, 1.14 WHIP

“I’m not shutting anything down,” said Tropeano after he was placed on the DL one day after throwing a sterling 6-plus innings of shutout, 1-hit ball against the Orioles. Like Heaney, Tropeano has done nothing but recover from surgery for the last year and a half, and he’s not eager to Netflix and chill now that he’s back.

Tropeano was never the prospect that Heaney and Skaggs were, a junkballing control-monger who didn’t throw hard enough for the Astros, who traded him to Anaheim. Since hitting the bigs, though, Tropeano’s thrown much harder than projected, coming in consistently in the low-90s, allowing him to more effectively set up his change, splitter, and curve. Health is always an issue, but Tropeano has consistently performed beyond expectations. In his two previous seasons with the Angels, Tropeano’s combined for 106 innings for a 3.65 ERA and peripherals that suggest he’s no fluke.

The Angels had hoped to keep in in Triple-A to start the year, but injuries and need have changed those plans. Now, Tropeano’s own injury might change his plans for 2018. The Angels are claiming the DL stint is merely precautionary, but the Angels are notoriously unforthcoming where pitching injuries are concerned. For example, see Matt Shoemaker. The supposed #2 starter, Shoemaker’s strained right forearm was supposed to be nothing serious and his MRI “merely precautionary.” His precautionary stint on the 10-day DL has hit 30 days as of this writing, and the Angels don’t expect him to pitch until at least June. This is very possibly front office-speak for “he needs surgery.” Along with the loss of J.C. Ramirez, the Angels’ supposed surplus of starters became a dearth, forcing them to bring up…