Those two pitchers you mention are making $15.5 million combined this season. I think the Angels are praying for that, or else Loup would have been DFA’d by now. Do you think Aaron Loup and Ryan Tepera will get back to their pre-Angels form? - Jay G.

It seems like the Angels’ biggest problem this season is going to be the lack of reliable bullpen pitchers. It’s a question of if the Angels are willing to call up a 20-year-old prospect from Double A. To me, this isn’t a question of how many games, however. If he is called up, maybe he’ll play 70 to 80 games. Either the Angels are willing to call him up and have him play consistently, or they won’t call him up at all. What over/under do you set for Edgar Quero starts for the Angels this season? - Matthew M. But his underperformance hurts their depth. The Angels don’t need to rely on him in order to be successful. Rengifo’s playing time might shrivel if he hasn’t turned things around by then. It’ll be interesting to see what the Angels do when Jared Walsh returns. His walk numbers are way up, which is a good sign. 200 with one homer and has made several defensive and mental blunders. It was the first time he’s played where it looked like he could be a viable major leaguer.īut he’s hitting just. Rengifo was impressive last year - particularly on a team without many impressive hitters. And he notably did not start on Friday against a left-handed pitcher, which is rare. His playing time has definitely fallen off a bit recently. Why is Luis Rengifo still getting playing time? - David T. The most likely reality: Nevin is making decisions based on a mutually agreed upon organizational philosophy. They seem to be way more on the same page. I don’t necessarily think that the dynamic between the front office and Maddon is the same as the FO and Nevin. He also wrote about the front office directing certain decisions in his book. He made a reference last year saying that he couldn’t use Oliver Ortega in a specific situation and cited organizational preference. The evidence against it, obviously, is coming from ex-manager Joe Maddon.

The front office will provide usage data on pitchers, but the front office isn’t saying who is available or not. My understanding from talking to people in the organization is that he’s telling the truth. You’re correct in saying that Nevin has asserted on the record that he makes bullpen decisions. Have you seen evidence that would suggest that is so and not the front office and analytics? - Jacob C. We’ve heard from Phil Nevin that he’s the one managing bullpen usage and the rotation. After one month of baseball, we wanted to take your questions.

Angels & demons dan brown