Ron Washington’s reliance on this reliever in important spots is costing Angels wins

Los Angeles Angels fans who have watched the team play this year are not confused by the bullpen being among the worst in baseball. Outside of Ben Joyce, Hunter Strickland, and the soon-to-be traded Carlos Estevez, the unit is populated with guys who struggle to find the strike zone and can't get swings and misses.

Given what he has to work with, Angels manager Ron Washington can only be blamed so much for the bullpen's struggles. If he had more to work with and Robert Stephenson wasn't hurt, it is likely that we are having a very different discussion today.

However, one quirk of Washington's is that he has continued to rely on Luis Garcia out of the bullpen in really important situations, and that has proven to be a bit of a problem.

Angels' lack of bullpen depth is apparent in how they are having to use Luis Garcia

The Angels' 6-5 loss to the Rangers on July 9 is a classic example of the problems LA faces here. It was a tie game and both Strickland and Joyce had already been used, so Washington once again turned to Garcia to bridge the gap to Estevez in the ninth inning. One homer given up to Adolis Garcia later, and Texas stole the lead late and the Angels were sent home with another loss on their ledger.

On the surface, Garcia seems reasonable as a bullpen piece. He throws pretty hard, gets ground balls, and doesn't walk a ton of batters (although there are some). With a 4.08 ERA, Garcia appears like a reasonable (if mediocre) reliever that should work as a middle relief sort of guy.

The problem is that Washington uses Garcia in high-leverage situations and close games far more than he should. Since May 1, Garcia has given up earned runs in eight of his 28 appearances, and that doesn't include unearned runs (that he should bear some responsibility for) and inherited runners scoring. In five of those eight games where he gave up one or more earned runs, the game was decided by two runs or fewer.

Utilizing Garcia in close games during the late innings presents a few problems. Sure, he is among the Angels' best current options to come in and get a ground ball out of the bullpen. However, his strikeout and whiff rates are mediocre, he gets hit hard a lot (42.1%), and his off-speed stuff is the only part of his arsenal that grades out well going back to last season.

Unfortunately, Garcia's usage is also a function of the Angels' roster construction. To be blunt, the Angels don't have the arms to cover the innings they need to right now, although it would be nice if Washington could use the guys he does have in a different order sometimes.

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