Analyzing the Angels' bullpen options at this point in spring training

The options at the Angels' disposal to fill out their bullpen are plentiful. The certainties are few. As the game of baseball has evolved, greater and greater emphasis has been placed on the bullpen and leveraging multiple pieces to maximum effect to win ball games.

The Angels will have some serious decisions to make. While two spots are easily locked down, the others are not. For the purposes of this exercise, we'll break down the "incumbents" based on FanGraph's Roster Resource's projections and then break down the other options.

Kenley Jansen and Ben Joyce will batten down the hatches

Here's the easy part, breaking down who will be the closer and primary set up man is no secret. Those roles will be filled by Kenley Jansen and Ben Joyce, respectively, which is something that should delight Angels fans.

Jansen's spring stats are irrelevant as the 15-year vet has nothing to prove and preserving his health while giving him just enough run to knock off the rust is the priority this spring. But for the sake of being thorough, Jansen has made two appearances this spring, tossing two perfect innings with two strikeouts.

The active saves leader signed a one-year $10 million contract on the eve of spring training. While he's no longer arguably the best reliever in baseball as he was in his prime with the Dodgers, he's still very good and a huge upgrade for the Halos.

Last season with the Boston Red Sox he made 54 appearances, tossed 54.2 innings, and posted a 3.29 ERA and 3.00 FIP while posting 10.21 K/9 and logging 27 saves along the way. A repeat of that performance will be completely acceptable in 2025.

Bottom line, Jansen comes to Anaheim with two main objectives. First, reliably close out wins in close games, and second, serve as a mentor to his heir apparent, Ben Joyce, just as previous great Angels' closers have tutored their eventual replacements in the past.

Speaking of Ben Joyce, the electrifying 24-year-old will look to make a serious leap forward in 2025. Armed with a fastball that can exceed 105 miles-per-hour, a devastating "splinker" and a slider that is no slouch in its own right, he'll look to take on a larger workload in the season ahead.

Like Jansen, Joyce has been used sparingly to this point in the spring, logging two innings over two appearances, striking out two, surrendering two hits and a walk, and allowing no earned runs.

In 2024, Joyce made 31 appearances and logged 34.2 innings while posting a 2.08 ERA. The numbers are good, but the flamethrowing righty pitched back-to-back days just three times. In 2025, he wants to make 70-plus appearances, something the Angels will desperately need, and he'll have to prove his durability and health can hold up over the grind of a full season.

If he can answer those questions in the affirmative, the rest of the league will have a lot of problems with the Halos' late innings one-two punch.