How deep are the 2025 Los Angeles Angels -- in the bullpen?

One overlooked bright spot of the Angels' 2024 season was the way their bullpen quietly developed into a genuine strength. As Jon Frisch from Locked On Angels outlines, after June 15th the Halos had the third best bullpen ERA in the league and several of those arms are back for 2025.

Ben Joyce is generating a ton of excitement amongst Angels fans, and deservedly so. In his first extended trip to the Show, Joyce added a splinker to complement his devastating fastballs (both four-seam and sinker), and seems ready be the closer in 2025. A big question remains concerning his ability to pitch on back-to-back days, something he only did three times last year. However, if he proves capable, coaches and fans alike should breathe a little easier around the ninth inning of close games.

A pitcher who relished his first taste of the majors was Ryan Zeferjhan. He came over from the Red Sox in what is increasingly feeling like a brilliant deadline trade for Luis Garcia, and held a 0.765 WHIP, albeit over only 12 games. Brock Burke, another midseason acquisition, arrived from Texas with a 9.22 ERA, but improved significantly with the Angels – which is not a sentence anyone has been able to type often over recent years.

José Quijada was activated from the IL in July, but recently avoided arbitration with an affordable extension which includes a club option for 2026. He desperately needs to add to his repertoire – a whopping 94.5% of his pitches in 2024 were 4-seam fastballs, per Baseball Savant – but should see plenty of action in later innings.

Two players currently have a whiff of mystery attached to them. Robert Stephenson was one of the headliners of the 2023 offseason, after a superb second half of 2022 in Tampa Bay. The Angels gave him a 3-year, $33 million deal - with an unusual clause stating that if he missed any significant time with an arm injury, they can keep him for 2027 for just $2.5 million. Either the Angels knew something, or their lawyers deserve a bonus, because that clause kicked in almost immediately. Stephenson underwent Tommy John surgery, missed all of 2024, and is likely to be put back on the 60-day IL as soon as pitchers and catchers report to Tempe in a few days. Whenever he finally takes the mound in an Angels uniform, will he be the strikeout machine he became with the Rays, or the roughly league-average pitcher he was for the first 7 years of his career?

And then there’s José Suarez. The fact that he’s still on the roster is baffling to many Angels fans, who have every right to wonder if he’s the only guy with the password to the team WhatsApp account, or knows how to summon the Rally Monkey, or knows something that’s kept them from dropping him. The fact that he’s even being discussed as a reliever here is a bit of blind optimism that we won’t see him starting ever again. He was simply awful for most of 2024, leading to him being DFA'd in June. Unsurprisingly, he cleared waivers, returned to the Angels and got called up again in September – where, to his credit, he looked like a totally different guy. His velocity improved, he only gave up three runs in 17 innings, and he even picked up his first career save. He’s a candidate to start the season as a long reliever, but he’s out of options, so at the first sign of trouble the calls for the team to cut their losses will be loud.

All of the above names could, for better or for worse, be considered locks for the 2025 bullpen. But there are plenty of others who will head to spring training with an eye on getting the call at some point. Víctor Mederos is yet another quick mover from his draft in 2022, and has been a starter in the minors. Kelvin Caceres missed all of 2024 with a shoulder injury, but has shown flashes of promise. Jack Dashwood and Garrett McDaniels were at opposite ends of the Rule 5 pendulum, being respectively protected and claimed, so both have something to prove. Non-roster invitees Connor Brogdon, Dakota Hudson and Victor González will be aiming to revive their careers, whilst Micheal Darrell-Hicks and Ryan Johnson will be trying to book the next tickets on the Angels Express from the minors to the Show. Lastly, there’s a whole list of guys in the mix as starters who could also make an impact in the ‘pen, and the (admittedly dwindling) chance of a late impact signing.

All in all, while no part of any baseball team is as unpredictable as it’s bullpen, the Angels have a fascinating mix of proven and potential talent, and a deeper pool of possible pieces than they have anywhere else on the roster. Relief, indeed.

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