Heading into the winter, improving the Angels’ starting rotation was paramount for Billy Eppler and the Angels’ front office. While much attention was given to the Angels coming up empty on the marquee names on the free agent market, the 2020 Angels rotation is in much better shape than a year ago. The key has always been maintaining the health of their starters and two new additions, while one key return to the rotation will boost the 2020 Angels club.
Shohei Ohtani was the prized acquisition of the 2017-18 offseason as the Angels acquired the two-way phenom from Japan. Ohtani burst onto the scene with several outstanding starts in 2018 before being derailed by a right elbow injury in June of that year. He went on to finish the season as the team’s designated hitter and won Rookie of the Year honors before undergoing Tommy John surgery at season’s end. He spent 2019 recovering from Tommy John and playing strictly as the Angels’ designated hitter throughout last season. Now, Ohtani will go into 2020 expecting to start on the mound once every week for the Angels, providing them an ace performance for 26 starts.
Injuries and the inability to get innings from their starting rotation have plagued the club with injuries to starters like Tyler Skaggs, Andrew Heaney, and Garret Richards in recent seasons. The Angels have added two new arms to their rotation with a track record of providing solid innings in Dylan Bundy and Julio Teheran. Bundy was acquired by trade from Baltimore and has averaged 167 innings pitched across the past three seasons. Teheran’s one of only four pitchers to 170 or more innings each of the past seven seasons. These two will provide the Angels much-needed innings from a starting rotation that has lacked that consistency the past three to four seasons.
The emergence of a future ace in Griffin Canning is probably one of the most overlooked aspects of the Angels 2020 rotation. Canning’s rookie season was shut down early due to pain in his elbow but his potential top of the rotation stuff will complement Ohtani and company greatly in rotation for the next five years. If Canning can remain healthy for the entire upcoming season, he may be the name baseball is looking at as the reason the Angels were a playoff team in 2020.
Following Canning up the Angels ranks as potential breakout starters are Patrick Sandoval, Jose Suarez, and Jaime Barria. While Barria stumbled in his sophomore season after a strong rookie season, Sandoval and Suarez made their debuts last year after being rushed into the rotation because of injuries. Both could benefit from more time in the minors and the return of Ohtani and acquisitions of Bundy and Teheran could provide them that luxury. All three have shown glimpses of greatness in the minors and brief MLB stints and any of them could break out for the Angels this year.
Andrew Heaney was acquired from the Dodgers prior to 2015 as the potential future ace of the staff. Instead, Heaney has been sidelined by injuries throughout most of his first five seasons with the Angels. When Heaney has been healthy, he has pitched like a pitcher who could hold his own in playoff competition as he did in 2018, starting 30 games and pitching 180 innings. A healthy Andrew Heaney has a strong likelihood of outperforming some of this year’s second-tier free agent pitchers. The Angels will remain optimistic this is the Andrew Heaney they have in 2020.
Dillon Peters, Felix Pena, and Adalberto Mejia will be among the additional pitchers providing organizational depth and a chance to offer back-of-the-rotation help to Angels. In a perfect world, the Angels will not be seeing many starts from this group as they look at Ohtani, Canning, Heaney, Bundy, Teheran, and either Sandoval, Barria, or Suarez taking up the rest of the starts. Of course, we still have several weeks until camp starts and plenty of opportunities for additions through trade and remaining free agents.
Beyond the current players mentioned the Angels have a bevy of young talent in the lower levels that could be pushing for a look in the near future. Aaron Hernandez, Jose Soriano, and Hector Yan are all considered top-10 talent in the farm system and could be getting looks at Double-A level or higher as soon as next season.
Angels This Week
The Angels made another small deal Monday with potential upside to their 2020 bullpen. Los Angeles acquired right-handed pitcher Kyle Keller from the Miami Marlins in exchange for minor league catcher Jose Estrada. The 26-year-old Keller made his major-league debut last season for the Marlins, appearing in 10 games out of the bullpen and compiling a 3.38 ERA in 10.2 innings. He held MLB opposing hitters to a .139 batting average but did suffer with control, walking eight while striking out 11. Keller has a good mid-90s fastball and hard slider and could find himself in the mix for a spot in the Angels’ Opening Day bullpen. The 19-year-old Jose Estrada was catching for the Angels’ Dominican Summer League team last year in his first taste of professional baseball. The Angels also designated pitcher Jake Jewell for assignment to make room for Keller on the team’s 40-man roster.
Last week, the Angels announced Matt Wise would take over bullpen coach duties for Andrew Bailey, who has joined the San Francisco Giants’ coaching staff as their pitching coach. The Cal State Fullerton product was drafted by the Angels in 1997, developed in the Angels farm system, and made his MLB debut with the Halos in 2000. He appeared in 209 MLB games during his career and has been serving in the Angels system as pitching coach in Arizona Instructional League.
The Angels also have added former MLB infielder and one-time top prospect Ryan Garko to the major league coaching staff as a coaches’ assistant. Garko was a veteran of six MLB seasons as a player for Cleveland, San Francisco, and Texas before retiring in 2013. He recently stepped down as head baseball coach at the University of Pacific and has previous coaching experience at his alumni, Stanford, and in the Dodgers farm system as manager for Double-A Tulsa during the 2016 and 2017 seasons.
MLB Network’s J.P. Morosi reported that the Angels have been having trade discussions involving starting pitcher Mike Clevinger. The report suggests that talks have stalled based on Cleveland demanding MLB top prospect outfielder Jo Adell in return. The Angels are understandably reluctant to deal the everyday talent of a potential superstar in Adell for a starting pitcher at this point. It is indeed a high price for a pitcher with a history of injuries that has only started more than 21 games in a season once in his career. The Angels will continue to look to improve their rotation which can be enhanced through trade between now and the July 31 trade deadline. Clevinger was originally drafted and developed by Angels prior to being traded to Cleveland for reliever Vinnie Pestano in 2014.
Angels Down on the Farm Report
The Angels recently added some organizational depth through three Minor League free agent signings. First baseman Joey Curletta, shortstop Luis Aviles, and outfielder Victor Acosta were all signed in recent weeks by the Angels.
Curletta, 25, split last season between the Seattle and Boston organizations, finishing the season for Double-A Portland (Boston). Curletta has hit .257/.338/.417 across eight minor league seasons since being drafted by the Dodgers in the sixth round of the 2012 MLB draft out of Mountain Pointe High School in Phoenix.
Aviles, 24, played 84 games last season for Milwaukee’s Double-A Biloxi club in the Southern League. The speedy Aviles hit .257 while swiping 27 bases for Biloxi in his first full season at the Double-A level. Aviles has stolen 138 bases across seven professional seasons in the Brewers’ organization, primarily playing the shortstop position. Aviles will provide much-needed middle infield depth at the Double- or Triple-A levels for the Angels this season.
Acosta, 23, has played the past seven seasons of professional baseball in the Boston Red Sox organization since being signed as a teenager out of his native Venezuela. Acosta has never played above the High-A level but could make that jump this season as a member of the Angels’ new Double-A affiliate Rocket City outfield. Acosta has not demonstrated much power during this professional career but has been a .272 career hitter and will provide Angels organization outfield depth at High-A or Double-A this year.
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