Cam Bedrosian is coming back around for LA Angels

The LA Angels have a few players who earlier in the season were struggling that are now starting to pay dividends for the Angels for being patient.

When the LA Angels decided to give hard-throwing reliever Cam Bedrosian one more chance to prove himself in 2019, many fans rolled their eyes. Bedrosian has been an enigma most of his Angels career since he first was called up in 2014.

Bedrosian’s overall numbers don’t look bad, 16-13 with a 3.71 ERA, striking out 254 batters in 235.1 innings.  However if you dig deeper you see he is 9 for 24 in save opportunities and he also has a 1.37 WHIP. Not numbers you want to see from a reliever.

Bedrosian had one stellar season in 2016 when seemed to put everything together going 2-0 with a 1.12 ERA in 45 appearances with 51 strikeouts in 40.1 innings before having blood clot issues in his right arm that ended his season prematurely two days after getting his first major league save.

Hopes were high for a healthy Bedrosian going into 2017 as he won the closer role in Spring Training and started the season strong not giving up a run in his first nine appearances. A groin injury put Bedrosian back on the DL for a month.

When Bedrosian came back he had a couple of rough outings but was still holding his own through the all-star break which saw Bedrosian with a 1.69 ERA in 16 innings of work with a 0.88 WHIP (only 3 walks with 20 strikeouts).

Unfortunately, Bedrosian fell apart in the second half of the season giving up 18 earned runs in 24.1 innings of work (6.65 ERA). 2018 followed a similar pattern, but the Angels still gave Bedrosian another chance this Spring and the now 27-year old reliever tried to get back to the way he was in 2016.

Many Angel fans and even some media members were crying for the Angels to finally tear off the band-aid and send Bedrosian packing, but the Angels kept the faith.

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Bedrosian had a decent first month with 11 scoreless outings in April. However, he imploded twice in two separate outings against the Rangers where Bedrosian went 1.2 innings giving up seven hits and five runs that caused his ERA to jump to 3.07. Still many critics were clamoring for the Angels to get rid of Bedrosian, but he kept persevering each time.

In May it was more of the same eight solid outings, but four outings where he was touched for a run or two.  Through two months of the season Bedrosian had a 3.20 ERA in 24.2 innings with 27 strikeouts and 13 walks.  Respectable, but still not what the Angels were hoping for from Bedrosian.

Those Bedrosian critics clamoring for his release reached a fever pitch on May 5th after he gave up a grand slam against Houston’s Alex Bregman in a game played in Mexico City.

“I’ve just tried to keep pushing through. I know that I have the stuff, I just have trust it,” Bedrosian said. “The big thing for me is to be comfortable and have fun, throwing strikes and getting ahead of guys.”

However in June, Bedrosian has been lights out both as an opener and a reliever.  In 8.1 innings of work Bedrosian has struck out 12 batters and only walked two batters. Opponents are hitting .138 against Bedrosian in June with a 0.72 WHIP.

Everyone is starting to notice Cam Bedrosian’s success including LA Times Angels beat writer Maria Torres.

On Saturday Bedrosian came into the game against the Rays with the Angels clinging to a one-run lead against a team that had destroyed the Angel bullpen the day before.  Bedrosian proved to be up to the challenge pitching 1.1 scoreless innings allowing only one hit with a strikeout.

Where are those critics now?  Bedrosian has quieted them at least for the moment by pitching effectively. If Bedrosian can keep coming through for the Angels it will make the bullpen even stronger and also provide some support to some of the starters by being their opener.

Bedrosian continues to lean on his faith in God to get through the good times and the bad.

“My faith is one of the biggest parts to my success. There are always ups and downs in life, but God is always there,” Bedrosian said. “He will never take you somewhere where he can’t lead you out of. You just have to put your trust in him.”

Bedrosian’s overall number for the season are 2-3 with a 2.41 ERA with 39 strikeouts in 33 innings of work with a 1.10 WHIP and an opponents’ batting average of .177.  Not bad for someone who has been said to be washed up by many.

Keep up the good work Cam and keep proving your critics wrong