3 Angels players we should raise the bar for in 2024

3) Jose Soriano

The Angels bullpen is a mess. It has been a mess for years, and last season was no exception as the team ranked 25th in bullpen ERA and were in the top seven in blown saves.

Going through the appearance leaders for the Angels in 2023, it's hard to find much to look forward to until you find Jose Soriano's name. Carlos Estevez had a great first half, but his rocky finish has Angels fans worrying about him being the team's closer in 2024. Aaron Loup was a disaster from the start and is a free agent. Matt Moore was great but is also a free agent. Fourth on the appearance list was Jose Soriano who impressed in his 38 games of action.

The right-hander posted a 3.64 ERA in 42 innings of work for the Angels. Command eluded him at times which wasn't a surprise, but he displayed elite strikeout stuff and limited to home run ball, allowing just four roundtrippers.

Soriano wound up racking up 15 holds compared to just one blown save. He worked his way to the primary set-up role when Moore and Reynaldo Lopez left via waivers and outside of one horrific September outing, pitched well.

The only area the Angels have address thus far is the bullpen, as they've added three relievers on MLB deals. The only issue with the relievers they've added is none of them profile as a late-game arm. At least they shouldn't rank ahead of Soriano. As of now, he'd be Estevez's primary set-up man. He'll certainly have a big role in this bullpen. He pitched well as a rookie, and it's not unreasonable to expect more of the same, if not better, from this electric right-hander in 2024.