LA Angels' bullpen woes another failure by Perry Minasian

Whether or not the LA Angels were going to be competitive in 2025, they were going to need a better bullpen. While Ben Joyce and Ryan Zeferjahn seemed like solid building blocks, you need depth to field a competent bullpen - especially with how shaky the Angels' rotation looked going into the season.

Instead, general manager Perry Minasian opted to sign Kenley Jansen, who struggled mightily to end the season for the Red Sox last season. He hoped former top prospect Reid Detmers could provide some juice out of the bullpen, while relying on Rule 5 Draft pick Garrett McDaniels and failed starter Ian Anderson to fill the innings that Joyce, Zeferjahn, and Jansen could not.

So far in 2025, only one player has a sub-4.00 pitching out of the bullpen. Out of all of the players to throw a single inning of relief for the Halos in 2025, the only second baseman Nicky Lopez has an ERA under 4.00, thanks to his infamous inning of relief on Opening Day. On top of that, oft-injured Joyce has been on the IL for almost a month with shoulder inflammation. McDaniels joins him with bicep tendinitis.

So with all of these failures, and his team free falling, Minasian fielded some questions from the press on Friday. With his usual dodginess and disinterest, he first tackled questions about Joyce, explaining, "It's concerning in the sense that he didn't feel great. If he could pitch tomorrow, that would have been awesome. But again, sometimes it takes longer for certain guys." There was, unsurprisingly no idea of a return date or even what exactly is bothering Joyce, just that he is taking longer than expected. Sometimes that explanation is enough, but when it is the status quo as it is with Minasian, it begins to have a different one.

So, Joyce is injured and it is worse than originally thought. The Angels have been slipping in the standings, but the season is young and they're a good week away from having hope again. How does Minasian plan to handle the bullpen?

Short answer: he doesn't.

Minasian explained that, "[Ryan] Johnson has thrown the ball well. [Reid] Detmers has thrown the ball well except for the last two nights [Wednesday and Thursday]... the back end of our bullpen has pitched well. The front end hasn't. So the front end needs to definitely be better."

Ryan Johnson has had an up-and-down rookie season. It is very clear that, if the Angels could afford it, he would benefit with some time in the minors. He has allowed nearly as many runs as he has strikeouts. And he is very likely the Angels' best or second-best non-closer option. Detmers has been solid out of the bullpen this season, but his back-to-back losses last week were an obvious cause for concern. And while he has been good, he has allowed traffic very consistently out of the bullpen. His only outing where he did not allow any baserunners was 0.1 innings of relief over two months ago. So while his 8.16 ERA is not entirely indicative of his true value this year, he has not been the shutdown reliever that Minasian seemed to be implying.

Nevertheless, the bullpen is once again in dire straits due to a poorly assembled crew. And while Minasian implied he has not given up on this season, his activity (or lack thereof) seems to say the opposite.

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