Angels big ticket reliever finally makes his long awaited team debut in shutout loss

When the Angels signed Robert Stephenson to a three-year, $33 million deal ahead of the 2024 season, the selling point to a fan base frustrated by a lack of investment in putting together a winner was that the team was looking to build a dominant bullpen.

In the wake of losing Shohei Ohtani to the crosstown Dodgers, the Stephenson signing became the Angels' only free-agent addition of consequence, further ramping up the pressure on the then-31-year-old reliever to perform. However, hidden in the contract details was a hint that the Halos knew that wasn't going to come to fruition any time soon.

In addition to the $33 million that he was guaranteed, there was a clause that gave the Halos a conditional fourth-year option for just $2.5 million should Stephenson miss 130 consecutive days due to an elbow ligament injury. The star setup man would go on to have Tommy John surgery in April of 2024, making it pretty clear the club knew there was something wrong with his elbow at the time of his signing.

Sixteen months later, Stephenson finally joins a reeling bullpen that ranks dead last in the majors in ERA with a 6.17 mark. The club has suffered significant injuries to key pieces like setup man Ben Joyce, further impacting its ability to put together an acceptable performance as the unit has been made over several times on the fly during the 2025 season.

Robert Stephenson shines in long awaited Angels debut

No one knew what to expect from Stephenson in his return to the mound. Originally a top prospect of the Cincinnati Reds, Stephenson flamed out as a starting pitcher and reinvented himself as a reliever, a process that took some time for him to find his footing.

When he signed with the Angels, Stephenson was coming off the most dominant campaign of his career, recording a 3.10 ERA and 13.24 K/9 between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Tampa Bay Rays, both career bests. After such a long layoff, it was unclear how long it would take him to find his groove again.

In what would be a pitchers' duel between the Yankees and Angels, the Halos found themselves down 1-0 early after an Anthony Volpe sac fly in the first. Starter Yusei Kikuchi would settle down and not allow another run in his five-inning outing, before handing the reins to Stephenson in the sixth.

It took Stephenson just 12 pitches to set the Yankee lineup down in order in the sixth, recording two strikeouts and seeing nine of his 12 pitches go for strikes. His bread-and-butter, the cutter, generated five whiffs on six swings, looking untouchable in the process. His four-seamer came in with more than enough velocity, reaching 97.9 and 98.5 miles per hour on the two that he threw.

Unfortunately, the Angels were unable to scratch across a single run and ultimately fell to the mighty Yankees by a score of 1-0. In a silver lining, the three Angels relievers who followed Stephenson -- Ryan Zeferjahn, Reid Detmers, and Brock Burke -- allowed a combined three hits, zero walks, and tallied seven strikeouts over the final three innings.

It's far too soon to declare Stephenson "back." We'll still need to see how he responds in future games and when he'll be able to pitch back-to-back nights, but his return to action couldn't have gone any better. In the best-case scenario, he'll be a stabilizing force in a bullpen that desperately needs a steady presence.

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