5 free agent starting pitchers the Angels should stay far away from this offseason

The LA Angels should stay far away from Mike Clevinger this offseason

Just five years ago, Mike Clevinger looked like another future ace developed by the Cleveland organization. In 2018 he had an ERA of 3.02 in 32 starts and 200 innings pitched. That's an ace season right there. Unfortunately, after the 2018 season is when injuries started happening. He made 21 starts in 2019 and underwent Tommy John in 2020.

Clevinger missed all of 2021 and looked like a shell of himself last season. Last offseason saw Clevinger sign a one-year prove-it deal with the White Sox and he's had himself a nice year. He has a 3.42 ERA in 22 starts and 123.2 innings pitched. Despite the solid year, he's not a pitcher the Angels should be considering.

First, Clevinger has topped 130 innings just once in his career, and that came back in the aforementioned 2018 season. He should do it again this season, but that'd only be his second time in seven seasons. He will have made 30 starts just once. Durability is a concern.

Clevinger has a solid ERA, but has a 4.07 FIP, a 5.07 xFIP, and an xERA approaching 4.00 as well. He's done a nice job limiting hard contact, but there has been luck involved with Clevinger keeping his ERA where it is.

The right-hander is allowing fewer ground balls than he ever has, and his strikeout rate is the second-lowest of his career. It's extremely hard to not only see Clevinger make enough starts for the Angels, but coming close to duplicating this season he has had for Chicago.