High-priced reliever on the cusp of finally making his Angels debut

It's no secret whatsoever that the Angels have the worst bullpen in the league. The Angels' relievers 6.45 ERA is the worst in baseball. Their 5.33 FIP? The worst in baseball. How about their 1.70 WHIP? You guessed it, it's the worst in baseball. The same goes for their 1.73 HR/9 and average exit velocity of 90.8 MPH. Well, let's hope that they have themselves a white knight en route...

High-priced reliever on the cusp of finally making his Angels debut

Perry Minasian's big splash before the 2024 season was signing Robert Stephenson to a three-year, $33 million deal. He is finally on the verge of his Angels debut, as it was reported that he has made his way from Triple-A Salt Lake to the Angels' clubhouse and should be activated from the 60-day injured list before the team's second game of their series against the New York Yankees. Stephenson's presence as Kenley Jansen's set-up man should be a welcome sight for Angels fans, especially if he can actually live up to the expectation.

Stephenson made five rehab appearances -- two at Low-A Inland Empire and three at Triple-A Salt Lake. He threw just one inning in each of his five rehab assignments. In those five innings at the Angels' affiliates, he allowed four hits, including two solo home runs, and posted a 5:0 K:BB. Throw out the traditional stats, what really matters is his stuff. His four-seam touched 98 MPH in his last outing on Sunday May 25th.

It was expected that Stephenson would need more outings before getting activated, but it appears that the Angels' evaluators deem him to be game-ready. The relief pitcher had surgery on his UCL last May, and it was reported that he would be back by early June. Hopefully it's not ALL out of necessity, but it sure will feel nice to have him back in late-May (unless the Angels want him to throw in a sim game in Anaheim before getting activated, which is still in play).

Who the Angels decide to designate for assignment in order to activate Stephenson is not worth fully speculating on. It seems probable that the team will simply option Jake Eder back to the Bees, given that he has two minor league options left. If the Angels wanted to, they could DFA and subsequently release either Connor Brogdon, Hunter Strickland or Hector Néris instead.

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