Joe Maddon, who publicly campaigned for the Angels to add more pitching last September, has been unequivocal each time in the past week when he’s been asked about the current state of Angels pitching.

“I like our pitching a lot,” the Angels manager said. “I think our starting pitching has a chance to really surprise a lot of people. I think we’re already getting recognition for the bullpen and I think the lack of recognition for the starters is the fact that some are young. But they’re really good. So I’m eager to watch this.”

Those outside the Angels’ clubhouse are understandably cynical.

The Angels have acknowledged a need to improve their pitching for the past few years, but so far they have failed. Since 2019, the Angels have ranked 25th, 26th and 22nd in the major leagues in earned-run average.

In the winter prior to the 2019 season, the Angels made runs at Patrick Corbin and Nate Eovaldi, and they settled for Trevor Cahill and Matt Harvey. The next winter, Gerrit Cole, Zack Wheeler, Stephen Strasburg and Corey Kluber were the targets, and they ended up with Dylan Bundy and Julio Teheran.

Prior to 2021, Trevor Bauer was the top free agent, and the trade candidates included Yu Darvish and Blake Snell. The Angels traded for Alex Cobb and signed José Quintana.

And this past winter, while fans had their hearts set on Max Scherzer, Robbie Ray, Marcus Stroman or Carlos Rodon, the Angels delivered Noah Syndergaard and Michael Lorenzen.

Why should anyone believe that the results this season will be any different?

At the top of the list of the reasons for optimism is the bullpen. While so much of the focus in the past few years has been the lack of starting pitching, the Angels believe they can still help the overall pitching with the deepest bullpen they’ve had in years.

The Angels brought back closer Raisel Iglesias and added right-handers Ryan Tepera and Archie Bradley and left-hander Aaron Loup.

The three new relievers combined to work 169 innings with a 2.45 ERA last season. Adding in the 145 innings pitched last season by Iglesias and Mike Mayers, and the Angels’ top five relievers this season combined for 314 innings with a 2.80 ERA in 2021.

“It’s stacked,” starter Patrick Sandoval said of the bullpen. “Even before coming into camp we had a really good bullpen and now we have a lot of depth. That’s huge in a long season.”

While there is some risk of regression because of the ages of Iglesias (32), Tepera (34) and Loup (34), the Angels also believe their presence will help in the development of their replacements. Younger pitchers like Austin Warren, Andrew Wantz, Jimmy Herget, José Marte and Oliver Ortega can now continue to develop in lower-leverage roles or even the minors.

“With the veteran guys we’ve acquired, the younger guys are going to have more time,” Maddon said. “With the experiences that they’ll have, I believe they’re going to be good bullpen pieces for the future too.”

As for the rotation, the ace is Shohei Ohtani, who posted a 3.18 ERA over 23 starts last season. After that, the Angels are hoping that Syndergaard can return to his pre-surgery form and that Lorenzen can succeed in his first starting opportunity since 2015.

Mostly, though, as Maddon said, they are banking on their young lefties: Sandoval, José Suarez and Reid Detmers. Although they haven’t done enough to be considered sure things, two of them have already done more than most of the young pitchers the Angels have tried.

Since 2000, the Angels have only had seven pitchers post a sub-4.00 ERA with at least 14 starts at age 24 or younger, and two of them were last year. There were only 10 pitches in the majors in 2021 who met those standards, and the Angels were the only team with more than one.

Sandoval had a 3.62 ERA in his age-24 season and Suarez had a 3.75 ERA in his age-23 season.

“They’ve done everything we’ve asked,” pitching coach Matt Wise said of the two young lefties. “There were times when it took a lot of deep conversations to get to know what these guys do and for them to understand the kind of the direction we want them to go. But I think last year was a really positive year for them to learn how to handle being at the major league level. They have looked absolutely the part of established major league pitchers, whether it be in their bullpens or on the mound. We’re happy with where they’re at.”

That Wise is overseeing these pitchers for the second year in a row is encouraging in itself. The Angels have not had the same pitching coach in consecutive seasons since Charles Nagy in 2017-18. Last year, Wise was thrust into the role when Mickey Callaway was suspended just before spring training. Now, Wise has had more than a year to get comfortable in his job.

It’s also the second straight year with Dom Chiti as the bullpen coach and assistant general manager Alex Tamin serving in a key role of helping use analytics to shape the pitching strategies.

Related Articles

“There’s a lot less curiosity of what will happen,” Wise said. “It’s just getting down to work.”

That work will be to change the narrative. It’s no secret that the pitching has been the primary reason that the Angels are in the midst of a seven-year playoff drought. When Bradley spoke to reporters on his first day in an Angels uniform, he acknowledged what other players thought.

“From the outside looking in, you’ve always been like ‘Man, if the Angels just had some pitching …’” Bradley said.

Sandoval, who made his debut in 2019, is fed up with it.

“We’re tired of hearing about the Angels’ starting pitching,” Sandoval said. “Wasting Trout. Wasting Ohtani. We don’t want it to be on us. We’re taking responsibility. I think this year is different. It’s a different tone. Everyone wants to get better, to help each other. Everyone just wants to win, bottom line.”