LA Angels: Three Players Exceeding Expectations this Spring Training

Each week, the crew at Halo Hangout will be answering a roundtable question about the LA Angels. This week, we each gave a player we believe has been performing far above what we thought they’d be doing, and how it could impact the 2019 season.

Dillon Peters

By David Rice (@HaloHangout)

Dillon Peters is a pitcher with minimal major league experience who the LA Angels acquired in the off-season from the Florida Marlins for next to nothing.  Peters is left-handed which always makes a pitcher a little more valuable.  Angels general manager Billy Eppler saw something in Peters mechanics that made him think that Peters may be a diamond in the rough.

So far Peters has looked pretty good in the Spring through two appearances. Peters got the Spring Training Opener nod pitching two scoreless innings giving up only one hit and striking out one batter.  Peters then pitched on Thursday in relief of Tyler Skaggs and pitched two innings again giving two runs only one that was earned and striking one batter.

Peters has a 2.25 ERA in the two starts and has looked good overall.  He is in the mix for the fifth starter spot although he is a long shot for that role.  However, Peters could win a roster spot by getting lefties out consistently and becoming the lefty specialist in the Angels bullpen which the race is wide-open for at this point with Greg Mahle, Williams Jerez, Dan Jennings, and Peters all in the mix.

The amount of innings that Peters has pitched thus far is too small of a sample-size to get overly excited about, but he is still making the most of his opportunity.  We will see in another two weeks if Peters is still pitching well.