Spring Training is here, which means the march to Opening Day has begun.
To prepare for the upcoming 2021 season, we’re going to begin a position preview at Crashing the Pearly Gates. We’ll break this series down into four segments: infield, outfield, rotation, and bullpen. At each position, we’ll rank the players from the best to worst, as projected by the Fangraphs depth charts WAR (Wins Above Replacement) projections, and include the possible options on the bench. Things could change in the coming weeks, whether it be player acquisitions or injuries, but a lot of the roster is likely set in stone already.
We already took a look at the infield, outfield, and rotation. Now, it’s time to finish with a bullpen unit that will look drastically different than the one the Angels rolled out on Opening Day in 2020.
Raisel Iglesias (1.1 WAR)
The Angels have not employed a reliever of Iglesias’s caliber in quite some time. The year-to-year dominance is a rarity for a reliever and Iglesias has shown no signs of slowing down. Iglesias set career-best marks in both strikeouts (34.7 percent) and walks (5.1 percent). His fastball velocity hasn’t budged (96 mph) and he pairs his heater with two legitimate out pitches in his slider (48.4 percent whiff rate in 2020) and change-up (42 percent). Volatility is the name of the game for relievers so sudden declines are always possible but Iglesias has been one of baseball’s steady relievers for a half-decade.
Mike Mayers (0.7 WAR)
Mayers was one of the biggest surprises for the 2020 squad, striking out 35.5 percent of hitters en route to a 2.10 ERA. The 29-year-old took home American League Reliever of the Month honors in September/October, allowing just two runs the entire month. Mayers brought a new cutter to Anaheim, giving him a third pitch to pair with his fastball and slider. All three pitches generated a whiff rate above 30 percent in the shortened 2020 season. I’m buying the changes from Mayers but fully recognize the danger in trusting a 30-inning stint from a reliever. He’ll start the season as a high-leverage reliever for the bullpen.
Ty Buttrey (0.5 WAR)
Buttrey is the toughest reliever to evaluate heading into the season. On one hand, his numbers have declined across the board in each of his seasons with the Angels. His whiff rate had a staggering 10 percent drop from 2018 to 2020 and he saw his ERA balloon up to 5.81 last year. On the other hand, his pitch characteristics and strike-throwing abilities are largely intact. I don’t think Buttrey is by any means a stud reliever but I think he’ll bounce back to be much closer to his 2018-2019 levels.
Félix Peña (0.4 WAR)
No pitcher in all of baseball experienced a bigger velocity boost on his fastball than Peña did in 2020 (2.9 mph). Part of that was due to shifting full-time to the bullpen. But even if that’s the case, it’s a meaningful change for someone who will likely be a full-time reliever in 2021. In addition to the velocity boost, Peña posted a career-best strikeout rate (25.2 percent) and walk rate (7 percent). With a harder fastball, improving change-up, and one of baseball’s best sliders (56.5 percent whiff rate in 2020), Peña has a starter’s profile in a relief role, giving him a chance to be a very good reliever.
Alex Claudio (0.2 WAR)
Claudio is your classic LOOGY (left-handed one-out guy) and will be used as such with the Angels. The new three-batter minimum rule reduces some of Claudio’s value but he’ll still fill a role in the bullpen. Claudio is a rarity in today’s game as a true junkballer, coming at hitters with a mid 80’s sinker and high 70’s change-up. It works for Claudio, however, who limits hard contact with the best of any pitcher in the sport (100th percentile in exit velocity last year). For what it’s worth, Claudio is dealing with a hip infection but should be back in the next few weeks.
Other options
- Aaron Slegers
- Jaime Barria
- Junior Guerra
- Gerardo Reyes
- Luke Bard
- Kyle Keller
- José Quijada
- Jake Farria
- Jose Alberto Rivera
I feel pretty confident in saying that Iglesias, Mayers, Buttrey, Peña, and Claudio are locks for the bullpen. After that, it could a mad dash to grab the last few spots. As discussed in the rotation preview, Jaime Barria, who is out of options, is probably a lock to make the roster as well. With no available spot in the rotation, he probably starts the year in the bullpen. That leaves either one or two spots in the bullpen, depending on how many relievers the club plans to roll with.
Slegers, Bard, Keller, Quijada, and Reyes all have minor-league options remaining, meaning they could all start the year in Triple-A. Guerra and Farria, two pitchers with previous MLB time, are non-roster invitees and have real shots to squeeze onto the roster. Rivera, meanwhile, was the club’s Rule 5 selection and has to either start the year on the MLB roster or the Injured List to avoid being returned back to the Houston Astros.
Beyond these options, it can’t be ruled out that the Angels grab another MLB-caliber reliever in the coming weeks. While the free-agent well has dried up for relievers, plenty of rostered relievers will be let go during Spring Training.
Overall evaluation
The 2021 bullpen is going to look drastically different. After non-tendering five pitchers in December, the club basically cleaned house in an effort to revamp a mediocre bullpen. From the looks of it, the organization did a pretty good job in doing so. The addition of Iglesias is a huge one, giving the club a legitimate high-leverage closer. Mayers, Buttrey, and Peña, three holdovers from the 2020 roster, give the club a nice trio to utilize in medium-to-high-leverage innings. Claudio is a capable MLB reliever who can handle left-handed hitters.
As you probably gathered, things get tricky beyond the top-5 guys. While any number of relievers could grab a spot, the club does have a fair amount of options to choose from. Given the nature of relievers in general, there will probably be one or two guys who explode on the scene this spring. A month from now, we’ll have a much better idea of how the back-end of the bullpen will shape up. But as things currently stand, this could be an above-average bullpen with real weapons to utilize in high-leverage situations.
*All GIFS courtesy of MLB*
Over reliant on one guy. If Iglesias is healthy for 150 games, then ok. But if Iglesias gets hurt, it’s just like last year. They needed to sign one more power arm, or strong veteran to fill in just in case.
I agree – one more arm would have been nice. But I am a little optimistic… I think Pena could be a force out of the bullpen especially considering he can easily give us more than one inning. His slider is nasty enough where he can give us a big K late in the game if needed.
“I Believe!” that this years Pen will Rock, yep it will surprise us big time. Go Angels!
Agreed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFez84xaR6Q
I would say the bullpen is vastly improved due to the Raicell addition. I think overall it’s a net neutral to slight positive which is a big step forward over a net negative. If the bullpen can bring home 7 or 8 more wins as victories rather than losing those games in the late innings- that could be the difference this season. It’s wait and see for me with an edge towards slight optimism mostly due to Raicell.
Raisels nickname should be Duracell
Good one!
I’m fine with the bull pen arms, the problem is the stupid man on second for extra innings.
Yep. With a top-10 offense, a lockdown bullpen can probably help make up for the rotation deficiencies.
I think the bullpen will actually be pretty solid this year, but I was still disappointed in the lack of activity after the Igeslias trade. Really thought they’d add one more stud (how good would Rosenthal look with this group?). Claudio’s fine but doesn’t get me too jazzed up. Really depends on Buttrey pitching more to his ability, Mayers 2020 not being a SSS mirage, Pena putting all together over a full season as a reliever, and the emergence of some other solid contributors.
You summed it up perfectly. I absolutely wanted another veteran addition with a track record (Petit, Soria, Melancon) but I still like the pen enough as it stands. I’d imagine we’ll have a reliever blow up in spring too that will force his way onto the roster, adding to the depth in the pen.
You can add Jesse Chavez to the mix now too for one of the final bullpen spots.
I’d consider him more as AAA depth at this point. With Barria out of options, I’m not sure there is enough room for two long-relief-type starters in the pen.
Lots of meat on this bone. Another great write up My two pennies.
9th inning should be locked down in a way we haven’t seen in years. The bridge getting there will make or break the season.
Mayers new pitch? The league has video and will adjust. Let’s see if he’s still a lock down type. I think he’ll settle in at less than he was in September but better than average. A third pitch really helps.
Claudio is best vs. lefties but his overall numbers compare nearly identically to Noe’s except one: HR rate. Claudio gives up HR at half the rate Noe did.
The real key is middle relief. Starters will typically go 5-6 so multi inning guys will need to shine. Barria and Pena get the first cracks at this with Guerra and Slegers as the next wave. I like Sandoval in this role, too.
This leaves a competition between Buttrey, Rivera, and Reyes to find another dependable arm. I’m still pissed we didn’t add Melancon or Wilson to this mix, but think there’s enough here for a decent to good bullpen.
Bullpen volatility makes this whole practice so tough but I like the potential trio of Mayers-Pena-Buttrey behind Iglesias.
I would’ve liked another surefire arm in the mix but I think there are enough pieces in place to have a strong pen.
Bring the pain.
For us or our opponent?
Yes.
Hopefully against the other teams?