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Angels bullpen: 2 encouraging, 1 discouraging takeaway this season

By Zachary Rotman |
May 14, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Los Angeles Angels relief pitcher Carlos Estevez (53) throws a
May 14, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Los Angeles Angels relief pitcher Carlos Estevez (53) throws a / Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
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The bullpen was an area of concern for the Los Angeles Angels heading into this season. There was no Raisel Iglesias, and the Angels once again had to rely on free agent signings to carry the unit. We saw how that went last season with Aaron Loup and Ryan Tepera, and weren't really thrilled to go through it again.

Expectations were low, but the bullpen has exceeded them in my eyes. Angels relievers are seventh in ERA with a mark of 3.54, and they're fourth with a 2.4 fWAR.

ERA and WAR especially for relievers aren't the end-all-be-all, but last season the Angels were 18th with a 3.95 bullpen ERA and 25th with a 1.7 fWAR. They've already exceeded last year's WAR, and it's May 20th. This unit is much better, but is still not perfect or close to it. Here're some encouraging and discouraging takeaways so far.

Encouraging: The back-end of the LA Angels bullpen is unbelievable

Last season, the pitchers the Angels brought in were Aaron Loup and Ryan Tepera. Both had solid ERA's but blew games late, particularly early. This season Loup and Tepera have been even worse. Loup is now on the IL while Tepera has already been DFA'd. That's how bad he was.

When the Angels signed Carlos Estevez and Matt Moore I was excited, but you really never know what you're going to get. Relievers are so volatile and can be awesome after a horrible year, or can be awful after an amazing year. Both Estevez and Moore were coming off of fantastic seasons, so it was easy to fear the worst, especially after witnessing Loup and Tepera falter after their great seasons in 2021.

Now, I must ask, where would the Angels be without Moore and Estevez? I have no idea what their record would be, but I do know it'd be nowhere near what it is right now. They've been that good.

Estevez has a 1.29 ERA in 21 appearances and 21 innings pitched. He's converted 11 saves in 11 opportunities. The strikeouts are up, and the big right-hander is enjoying a career year pitching away from Colorado for the first time.

Moore was fantastic last season for Texas and has been even better this season. The southpaw has a 1.17 ERA in 20 appearances and 23 innings pitched. He can get both righties and lefties out, and he has a 0.739 WHIP.

Moore and Estevez have been the only two fully reliable arms in this bullpen all season. It's an issue, but they've also been absolute dynamite late in games. Estevez has 11 saves, Moore has ten holds. It's working beautifully.

Discouraging: The LA Angels have trouble getting to Moore and Estevez

Moore and Estevez have been phenomenal, but there are some issues. One, these guys can't pitch every day. Two, when they do pitch, they can't combine for four innings in one night.

Angels starting pitchers have given very little length for much of the season. This forces the bullpen to be responsible for ten to twelve outs mostly every night. We know Moore can give an inning or two when he goes and Estevez can give an inning as well when available, but getting to those two has been a major issue.

As mentioned prior, Estevez and Moore both have zero blown saves. Yet, the rest of the Angels bullpen has ten blown saves which is tied for second in all of baseball.

Andrew Wantz, Jimmy Herget, and Ryan Tepera have two blown saves each while Jaime Barria, Chris Devenski, Jose Quijada, and Aaron Loup have one blown save.

The only Angels relievers not named Moore and Estevez who have yet to blow a save are Tucker Davidson, Austin Warren, Chase Silseth, and Zack Weiss. Davidson is a long reliever, Warren is out for the season, Silseth is a starter now, and Weiss has made one appearance. Yeah, it's a real issue.

Hopefully the Angels can find a way to keep it together before the deadline when they can add other arms from outside of the organization, but my hopes aren't too high there.

Encouraging: The LA Angels long relievers have kept them in games

The Angels get very little length from their starting pitching and sometimes need someone to eat innings. Fortunately, the Halos have two long men in their bullpen in Tucker Davidson and Jaime Barria.

Davidson enjoyed a great start to his season allowing four earned run in his first 16 innings of work (2.25 ERA). Since May 4, he has really struggled, allowing ten runs in his last four innings of work. He had a miserable outing against Texas in which he allowed a close game to get out of reach, but other than that, Davidson has been solid as a long man.

The really good option the Angels have in that role is Jaime Barria. The 26-year-old has allowed eight runs (five earned) in his ten appearances and 23 innings of work. Four of the five earned runs he allowed came in his first appearance of the season. He's been spotless since.

Not only has Barria shown an ability to eat innings incredibly efficiently, but he's kept the Angels in games. Remember that comeback against Texas? Barria allowed just one unearned run in four innings to help them win that game. Little things like that go unnoticed, but are extremely valuable.

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