LA Angels: 3 players who could be DFA’d or traded after Albert Pujols release

Jose Quintana hasn’t pitched well for the Angels in 2021, and that’s putting it lightly.

In five starts this season, the lefty has posted a 10.59 ERA, 4.58 FIP, 2.235 WHIP, and a 7.4 BB/9 ratio across just 17 innings pitched. Those are all career worsts, and the ERA is the worst for any Halos pitcher in their first five outings with the team.

If there’s been any positives to Quintana’s game, it’s been his strikeouts as he currently owns a 14.8 K/9 rate. There’s been a lot bad luck involved, including a mediocre bullpen of late and an Angels defense who leads the majors with 32 errors this season.

Those are some of the reasons manager Joe Maddon is not giving up on Quintana as the pair remains optimistic he can turn things around fairly soon. I’ll admit the bad luck and poor defense is part of the struggles, but the line needs to be drawn at some point.

A lot of the scenarios that have been escalated due to bad fielding and soft contact are attributed to Quintana allowing walks and hard hits as well. It shouldn’t be an excuse for two months worth of bad outings. At some point, a move to the bullpen needs to be considered or the Angels need to cut their losses and DFA Quintana as he has little to no trade value right now. The 31-year-old signed a one-year, $8 million deal with the Angels this past offseason.

Jose Quintana is running out of time with the Angels.

A move to the starting rotation for Angels No.4 prospect Chris Rodriguez will likely be further delayed after shoulder inflammation landed him on the IL.

Instead, I believe the first man up will be Patrick Sandoval. In two outings since getting called up, Sandoval has allowed just one earned run on three hits while walking four and striking out seven in 5.1 innings out of the bullpen.

The Halos have been spent the last two seasons gauging if Sandoval has the makings of as an asset to the team, and now he can get his full-time opportunity if Quintana continues to struggle.