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3 relievers the Angels desperately need to step up in 2023

By Zachary Rotman |
Jul 27, 2022; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Los Angeles Angels relief pitcher Ryan Tepera (52) leaves
Jul 27, 2022; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Los Angeles Angels relief pitcher Ryan Tepera (52) leaves / Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports
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The Los Angeles Angels have a bullpen issue. They traded Raisel Iglesias away at the deadline right after signing him to a lucrative four-year contract last offseason. Outside of two veterans, they have a very young and inexperienced bullpen.

The 'pen ranked 18th in ERA which isn't horrible, but they were 25th in K/9 and 28th in HR/9. The Angels need to upgrade their bullpen, but also have to rely on some key pieces to step up this season.

The Angels need Aaron Loup to step up in 2023

2022 was not a good introduction made by Aaron Loup to Angels fans. He came to Anaheim after a career year with the Mets. He wasn't horrible but wasn't anything near what fans had hoped.

Loup had a 3.84 ERA in 65 appearances. He allowed too many hits (8.3 H/9) and too many walks (3.4 BB/9). He allowed more earned runs in the month of May (nine) than he allowed in the entire 2021 season (six).

It's unreasonable to expect Loup to pitch to a 0.95 ERA again, but it's reasonable to hope for better. He in all likelihood will be the primary lefty in this bullpen. He's going to be the guy the Angels go to when they need to get big left handed hitters like Yordan Alvarez, Kyle Tucker, and Corey Seager out.

Loup primarily has to do better with his most-used pitch, his sinker. Opponents hit .279 against that pitch this past season with a 9.5% whiff rate. They hit .188 against that pitch in 2021 with a 20.3% whiff rate. He uses it around 50% of the time, so it's crucial for that pitch to be much improved. He lost 1.2 mph on that pitch, hopefully that loss doesn't ruin the pitch completely.

The Angels need Loup to be a reliable option late in games as a primary lefty if they want to get back to the postseason.

The Angels need Jimmy Herget to prove 2022 wasn't a fluke

Jimmy Herget came out of nowhere and was the best and most consistent reliever the Angels had all season.

HIs career high in appearances came in 2020 with 20 back when he was with the Rangers. He appeared in just 14 games for the Angels in 2021.

Herget allowed four runs while recording just one out in the Angels' second game of the season. He allowed just 15 earned runs the rest of the season. If you exclude that outing and a different outing where he allowed three runs while recording one out against the Mets, he will have allowed just seven runs in 68.1 innings pitched. He'd have a sub-1.00 ERA.

Unfortunately, bad outings cannot be erased, but it really shows how consistently dominant he was outside of those two blips. He ended the season as the Angels closer and recorded nine saves in 12 opportunities overall. As of now, he'd begin next season in that same role.

Something special about Herget was his ability to record more than three outs in an outing. He did this 22 times in his 49 appearances, and he even recorded as many as 11 outs in an outing while allowing just one hit in Seattle.

The Angels need Herget to prove 2022 wasn't a fluke. He had never really found a permanent spot in a bullpen before this season. He will be in some sort of high leverage role. Whether that's serving as the closer or not remains to be seen, but Herget has to have another really good season for the Angels.

The Angels need Ryan Tepera to bounce back

The Angels focused heavily on their bullpen last offseason, signing Loup and Ryan Tepera to two-year deals. Tepera signed a two-year $14 million dollar deal with the Halos after pitching really well for both Chicago teams in 2021.

Tepera had a 3.61 ERA in 59 appearances which isn't so bad but he had a 4.21 FIP which suggests he got a little lucky with that ERA.

Tepera allowed just about as many hits, home runs, and walks as he has in his career, but saw a noticeable dip in strikeouts. He struck out just 7.4 batters per nine this season, well below his career mark of 9.0 and his 2021 mark of 10.9.

Tepera saw big drops in whiff rate against his two best pitches, his slider and four-seam fastball. After whiffing at 50.6% of the sliders Tepera threw in 2021, opponents whiffed at 42.1% of them this past season. After whiffing at 18.2% of his fastballs thrown in 2021, opponents whiffed at 13.1% of them this season. There wasn't a noticeable decline in velocity or movement, it's just about location and keeping hitters off balance.

Tepera used his slider as a put-away pitch (a pitch that results in a strikeout) 31.5% of the time in 2021. That number shrunk down to 21.1% this past season. His fastball was a put-away pitch 19.1% of the time in 2021, and just 8.8% of the time this past season. His two best pitches just didn't get the results they did in the past.

Tepera has to be a good late-inning arm as well. He's making $7 million dollars this season and is one of the few veterans this Angels bullpen has. He has to show the Angels why they signed him with a good performance this season.

Next. Where do the Angels stand right now in the AL West?. dark

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