Jaime Barria continues to be invaluable Swiss Army Knife for the Angels

It takes a big man to do whatever it takes for the team to win. Jaime Barria is that big man doing whatever it takes to help the Los Angeles Angels win.

After a breakout year in 2022, Barria made it very clear he wanted a spot in the rotation. He was given the opportunity to earn it, but lost it to the likes of Jose Suarez and Griffin Canning. Instead of pouting, Barria took the opportunity to be a part of this team in stride, and shoved out of the bullpen.

In his ten appearances out of the bullpen, Barria pitched to a 1.96 ERA in 23 innings of work. Four of the five earned runs he allowed came in his first outing of the year. From then on, he was dominant out of the bullpen.

Barria's bullpen dominance plus the struggles of Chase Silseth and injury to Jose Suarez earned him the opportunity to start. His first start against the Red Sox was more of the same that we've seen from Barria, five scoreless and a win. He made four starts overall and allowed three runs or fewer in all four. The team, to the surprise of nobody went 4-0 in those starts. His 2.79 ERA as a starter has made him more than worthy to stick around in the rotation.

With the Angels having two off-days coming up, Phil Nevin decided to skip Barria's turn in the rotation and use him out of the bullpen. Back and forth he goes, and Barria continued to shove with another outstanding performance yesterday.

Jaime Barria proving to be invaluable piece of the LA Angels pitching staff in any role

Whether you use him as a starter or as a reliever Jaime Barria continues to be dominant. He's shown he's more than capable of starting and despite that being what he wants, he still does whatever it takes for this team to win.

With an exhausted bullpen the Angels desperately needed something out of Tyler Anderson yesterday. The southpaw pitched decently allowing two runs but he only went five. This left four innings for the bullpen to cover. We knew Carlos Estevez was going to be available if the game was close, but needed the other three innings to be covered. Enter Barria.

The right-hander needed just 42 pitches to deliver three spotless innings. He gave up two hits and walked a batter. That's it. He gave the Angels three scoreless innings to help preserve the 5-2 lead which Carlos Estevez would eventually save.

As a starter, Barria has helped the Angels go 4-0 thanks in large part to his 2.79 ERA. As a reliever, his ERA sits at 1.67 in 12 appearances. His ability to eat innings out of the bullpen has been extremely valuable for an Angels team that has struggled to get length out of its starters.

Barria has proven the Angels can trust him in any role. If they want to acquire a starter and use him out of the bullpen, he'll pitch well. If they decide they like him as a starter and look to acquire another bullpen arm, he's earned that chance to keep starting.

His ability to bounce back and forth has proven to be extremely valuable for this team. He's become one of the Angels unsung heroes without a doubt.