LA Angels have no reason to worry about lackluster start from new top relief pitcher

Ryan Tepera has had an up-and-down first season for the LA Angels in 2022. Posting a 4.26 ERA and 4.31 FIP, Tepera's ERA+ is just 90. The overall big numbers obviously look disappointing in his first 19 outings on the year.

He's had 15 outings where he didn't allow any runs, but this early in the season, even few appearances where a reliever gives up some runs can have major effects on a relief pitcher's stats.

His worst game of the season came this past Tuesday, where he came in and didn't record a single out. Allowing five earned runs, he walked a pair and surrendered three hits. While he isn't off to the best start for the Halos, though, it's important to see through the rough patches and understand what he's doing right.

Ryan Tepera has a 1.000 WHIP for the LA Angels this season.

Therefore, it's clear that Ryan Tepera hasn't allowed a lot of baserunners for the LA Angels. If he continues to pitch the way he has, the numbers will even out as far as the runs go due to him not giving too many guys chances.

Perhaps this wouldn't matter if he's prone to giving up the long ball, but that's not the case. He's only allowed 0.9 homers per nine innings. Last year, he only allowed 0.6 per nine, and the year before 0.9 per nine. The issue really is the free passes. Tepera is giving out 4.3 walks per nine innings this season.

Nobody's getting hits off of him. He's surrendered just 4.7 per nine frames. It's the free tickets to first base that seem to be haunting Tepera. It's plagued him in his career, but it's also worth remembering that despite it plaguing him throughout his career--he's had a terrific career.

Entering this year, Tepera sported a 3.48 ERA and 125 ERA+. It goes to show that even if these walk struggles continue, history shows that he still has a chance to be a productive player. Nobody's getting hits off of him, and nobody's going long off of him.

He had a worse WHIP in his career coming into this season (1.117) than his season WHIP in 2022. Tepera's actually been a pretty similar type of pitcher that he's been throughout his impressive eight year run in the Big Leagues. The numbers will work themselves out.