Angels reporters' updates on José Suarez's Opening Day status will make you cringe

The Angels only have a select few pitchers left in camp who could crack the Opening Day bullpen, but one pitcher who fans malign might have the inside track to take a spot. José Suarez, who is out of minor league options, would be in roster limbo if he does not make the Opening Day roster. According to the beat writers, it seems like the Angels will not run the risk of designating Suarez for assignment and potentially lose his 5.03 career FIP...despite the fact that he cleared waivers last season.

Here's MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger:

"With Perdomo now in the mix, he’s expected to join a bullpen that includes closer Kenley Jansen, Ben Joyce, Brock Burke, Ryan Zeferjahn, José Quijada and José Suarez. Suarez scuffled in a recent start but is still likely to be the long reliever."

Rhett Bollinger

Bollinger is referring to the aptly named Angel Perdomo, a left-handed reliever who was acquired to shore up the Angels' bullpen that might boast up to five lefties in Burke, Quijada, Suarez, Perdomo, and either Reid Detmers or Garrett McDaniels. Detmers still has options left, but McDaniels would be offered back to the Dodgers given that the Angels selected him in the Rule-5 Draft and needs to stay on the big league roster.

In addition to Bollinger predicting that the 27-year-old Suarez will crack the Opening Day roster, Sam Blum of The Athletic believes Suarez has a bullpen spot "sewn up." Jeff Fletcher of The OC Register is less bullish about Suarez's chances, but suggests he "still could get a spot."

Hey Angels -- what are we doing?

Angels reporters' updates on José Suarez's Opening Day status will make you cringe

Suarez has average stuff, and it appears to be getting worse. In his latest outing against the Cincinnati Reds, the future Angels' long reliever was an underwhelming 91-93mph with his heater. He has both a slider and a sweeper, but both look like below average offerings. His "sweeper" did not exactly sweep against the Reds, as none of his sweepers got to double digit inches horizontal despite being in the upper-70s. It looked like a floating slider with 0 juice whatsoever. Suarez has been below average in terms of his Pitching+ and Location+ the past couple of seasons as well.

The Angels used José Soriano as a long reliever last season at the beginning of the season before switching him to the rotation. That experiment was a great success. If Suarez is going to be their long reliever, it means they will not run back that same experiment with Detmers out of camp unless they redundantly keep two left-handed long relievers. Yet another option to Triple-A for Detmers might severely damage the youngster's already waning confidence. Especially if it's in favor of Suarez. Keeping Suarez over either Detmers or McDaniels is a mistake, and could cost the team dearly.

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