LA Angels: 3 New Year’s resolutions for the 2021 season

Find a Pitching Philosophy that Works

While there’s no doubt the Angels need to acquire starting pitching to upgrade their rotation, they also need to figure things internally if they want to compete in the AL West. I’ve been saying this in previous posts, but I’m going to be stressing this again as the Angels will need to get more out of the starters they have.

Even Angels manager, Joe Maddon, has expressed this himself in a zoom call with reporters in December stating:

“For me, it’s about building a better pitching method, pitching philosophy internally.”

Other than Dylan Bundy, no Angels starter had a ERA under 3.50 which is something that has to improve with young starters such as Patrick Sandoval, Griffin Canning, and Jaime Barria.

The Angels could use at least two starting pitchers as Maddon has also said himself, and with those starters, they could add a fresh set of eyes to struggling young starters. Someone like Bauer, who calls his own game plan, could offer some advice and maybe see things when he’s not making his start. This would come down to leadership in a sense, as while Andrew Heaney has been the number one starter for the Angels, he hasn’t pitched like it. Heaney has his own issues to figure out as he finished with an ERA of 4.46 in 2020, if the Angels are going to add starting pitchers that are going to be leaders in the rotation, they will have to be well established.

Get into the Postseason

This is the complete package of the other two resolutions and as a team as the Angels need to get into their first postseason since 2014. Of course, this is easier said than done as the Angels will have their hands full with figuring out the previously mentioned pitching problems as well as many other glaring issues such as what they plan to do with Shohei Ohtani, making sure their young prospects produce at the Major League level, and completing the rest of the bullpen.

All of these issues are being handled by multiple parts within the Angels organization with cooperation from Joe Maddon and Perry Minasian. Minasian has been rebuilding the Angels bullpen as the team non-tendered a majority of their previous relief pitchers and acquiring names such as Raisel Iglesias and Alex Claudio. The Ohtani concern will also be met cooperatively as the organization will have to see whether they want him to keep pitching and hitting, or fully convert to one in order to reduce risk of injury.

The other issue regarding their young prospects comes with the struggles that Jo Adell faced in 2020 with the lack of having a normal year. Joe Maddon has mentioned Adell might be needing some extra time in the minor leagues to figure things out as they might not be such a bad idea as the Angels need their top prospects to produce. Should they figure out these key issues, they will be in a much better shape to get into the postseason.