3 Angels who don’t deserve to be on the 40-man roster

Kenny Rosenberg, LHP

Kenny Rosenberg isn't going to blow you away with his Statcast metrics. According to Baseball Savant, Rosenberg's fastball ranks only in the 10th percentile with an average velocity of 90.7 mph. Rosenberg relies, instead, on soft contact. Being a left-handed pitcher works in Rosenberg's favor, but even that might not be enough to save his 40-man roster spot.

Rosenberg came to Los Angeles in December of 2021 by way of the minor-league phase Rule 5 Draft. After falling short of expectations with the Tampa Bay Rays organization, Rosenberg found a second chance with the Angels.

While his cup of coffee with the big league club can offer some optimism, Rosenberg has a history of missing the strike zone. Even during his brief time with the Halos in 2023, Rosenberg walked 14 batters in 33 innings.

That's not going to cut it coming out of a major league bullpen. It's also a problem that's plagued Rosenberg the past two seasons in the minors. During that span, the southpaw has walked 10% of the batters he's faced. In the majors, that number jumps to 10.4%.

While Rosenberg had success against lefties last season, he was absolutely pummeled by right-handed bats. Of Rosenberg's 14 earned runs allowed in 2023, 12 came off right-handed hitters. With the three-batter minimum, the days of the LOOGY are over.

The Angels re-signed Matt Moore and traded for Tyler Thomas. Those two lefties make Rosenberg expendable heading into the 2024. It's going to take a Herculean effort for Rosenberg to remain on the Angels 40-man roster.