Analysis: Angels should let the young relievers take over
More than two months ago, as Perry Minasian stood under the Arizona sun at the start of spring training and described his eagerness to give opportunity to his young players, he was asked why that didn't apply to the bullpen.
Why sign veterans like Kirby Yates, Jordan Romano and Drew Pomeranz?
"We didn't want to thrust guys in positions they haven't been in before," Minasian said. "One of the things we wanted to do was have some back-end experience."
Minasian went on to say that "the rest of the good arms," like Ryan Zeferjahn and José Fermin "could eventually graduate into those roles."
Just over a month into the season, it's time to get out the caps and gowns.
It's graduation time.
The bullpen has been the Angels' biggest issue so far. They've lost four games when they had a lead in the ninth inning, and another one when they had a four-run lead in the seventh.
Those five games are the difference between being 17-15 and their actual record of 12-20.
To the Angels' credit, they aren't standing pat. Romano, the 33-year-old who blew two of the saves, was released. Pomeranz, the 37-year-old who blew two of them, was notably absent from the save situation Wednesday.
Instead, the Angels gave the ball to Zeferjahn, 28, for the ninth. The two pitchers who preceded him to the mound with a lead were 25-year-old Chase Silseth and 26-year-old Sam Bachman.
All three have fastballs of 95 mph or harder with complementary breaking pitches that generate strikeouts and whiffs.
The trio came within one out of protecting the lead, before Pomeranz allowed the automatic runner to score in the 10th. Ultimately, the three young relievers recorded 10 outs while allowing one run, which ought to be sufficient. That's a 2.70 ERA. (Truth be told, Wednesday's 3-2 loss was mostly on the ineffective offense, not the bullpen.)
Hours after that gut-wrenching loss, 25-year-old right-hander Ben Joyce pitched for Class-A Rancho Cucamonga. Joyce, who is rehabbing from shoulder surgery, pitched a scoreless inning, reaching 101 mph with his fastball. At his best, Joyce has hit 105 mph.
A day earlier, the Angels got a second straight solid performance from 24-year-old José Fermin, who replaced Romano on the roster. Fermin also has a 97 mph fastball and a swing-and-miss slider.
Within a week or two, if the Angels can add Joyce to Zeferjahn, Bachman, Silseth and Fermin, they have the potential to have a high-octane bullpen that opposing hitters won't be eager to see.
Zeferjahn, Bachman and Silseth have struck out 46 batters in 42⅔ innings. Strikeouts, obviously, don't leave any room for error from the defense, like a pop-up that drops because of a miscommunication, for example.
There's still risk with that group, because all five of those pitchers walk too many hitters. Walks can be overcome more than homers, though, and that's what happens when 92 mph fastballs are in the wrong location.
Pomeranz, Romano and Brent Suter combined to allow eight homers in 38⅔ innings this year. Zeferjahn, Bachman and Silseth have allowed two homers in 42⅔ innings.
The Angels also could get even better work from their young relievers by using them differently.
Right now, Manager Kurt Suzuki and pitching coach Mike Maddux are clearly bending over backward to optimize matchups, rather than simply giving each pitcher a clean inning.
The Angels lead the majors with 48 relief appearances in which the pitcher has entered with men on base. The major-league average is 30. They're last in the majors in relief appearances in which the pitcher enters with the bases empty (53).
The Angels are also tied for fourth-most relief appearances that span more than one inning (43). The major-league average is 30.
Zeferjahn has pitched in multiple innings in nine of his 11 games. When he first comes to the mound, he has allowed one run in nine innings, with 11 strikeouts and two walks. After returning to the mound for a second (or third) time, he has allowed nine earned runs in 7⅓ innings, with six walks and 10 strikeouts.
Zeferjahn struck out the side in the eighth inning Wednesday, and then he hit a batter and gave up a game-tying triple in the ninth. He acknowledged after the game that "going out again" is an issue he's trying to fix.
The Angels know they should avoid it, but they were stuck doing it Wednesday because of the way two other pitchers were used.
Silseth has come in with runners on base in 11 of 15 games, and it wasn't until Wednesday that he returned for a second inning. (That pattern has meant they've gotten only 11 innings out of him in 15 games.) When the Angels finally did try to get a second inning out of Silseth on Wednesday, he walked two of the first three hitters. Bachman had to work hard to bail him out of the seventh.
That left Zeferjahn, with six outs to go.
If the Angels would have trusted Mitch Farris to retire .159-hitting Edgar Quero to finish the sixth, the Angels might have been able to go with Silseth, Bachman and Zeferjahn for one clean inning apiece. Every reliever will tell you that's how he's most comfortable being used.
In order to do that, the Angels need to trust their high-leverage relievers against righties and lefties. Bachman should probably be limited against lefties until his changeup develops more, but Zeferjahn and Silseth already have the tools to get out both.
Adding Joyce to the mix, or giving Fermin the opportunity to hold leads would help too. Suzuki will have extra arms to give someone a day off, or to use one of the pitchers to escape a jam without needing him to come back for the next inning.
All of this is to say that the Angels might already have the pieces for a better bullpen if they would just use the pitchers they have in a different way.
What about Suter, Pomeranz and Yates, who could be back from the injured list soon? They all have valuable experience to share with the young pitchers. And all three could still provide some quality innings.
Suter has mostly been good this year. Pomeranz was good last year and Yates was good last year until he got hurt. All three are worth having. If Suter continues to do what he's done, especially providing length, and Pomeranz and Yates can find their form, the Angels will take it. Right-hander Nick Sandlin also has a good track record, so he could still prove to be productive once he gets settled in. He missed most of last year with an elbow injury.
In the meantime, the Angels should – and probably will – turn the high-leverage spots over to the young guys, the ones who can light up the radar gun and rack up strikeouts.
There will still be hiccups and growing pains, but at this point in the Angels' development cycle, it's the right risk to take.
UP NEXT
Mets (RHP Christian Scott, 0-0, 6.75 ERA) at Angels (RHP Walbert Ureña, 0-3, 4.76), Friday, 6:38 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network, 830 AM
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This story was originally published April 30, 2026 at 12:24 PM.