Angels News: Writer Predicts Breakout Year For This Halos Reliever
The Angels have done quite a bit this offseason to address their areas of need, both in lineup depth and on the pitching side. Tyler Anderson brings a solid starting pitcher, and Carlos Estevez could be a lights-out closer for the Halos. Throw in Hunter Renfroe, Gio Urshela, Brandon Drury, and others on the offensive side, and GM Perry Minasian had a really good winter.
Over at Bleacher Report, Zachary D. Rymer wrote about one player for each team who could be an unexpected big contributor in 2023, and his pick for the Angels isn't one of the new additions. It's actually someone who has spent the last three seasons with the Halos.
"The Angels did well to load up on depth during the offseason, but their bullpen remains a source of concern. To wit, it's projected by FanGraphs to be the worst in the league.
"José Quijada might have something to say about that. There's something about his fastball—it does, as Max Stassi eloquently put it, "different stuff"—that bothers hitters. They managed just a .179 average against it in 2022 even though they knew it was coming. He threw 84.9 percent of the time.
"As his average velocity has gone from 93.3 to 94.6 mph in a span of just three years, it's reasonable to think that Quijada may be able to add still more zip on his heater in 2023. If so, he'll have more high-leverage assignments headed his way."
Quijada has played a pretty big role in the LA bullpen the last two years. The big question will be whether he can cut down his walk rate while keeping his strikeout rate up — last year, both numbers went down compared to 2021, but the walk rate (4.6 walks per nine innings) is still too high. He can survive at last year's 11.5 K/9, although 2021's 13.3 would obviously be better.
If, as Rymer suggests, Quijada really does have another gear for his fastball velocity, he could turn into a very important part of the Angels bullpen. He was death to lefties last year, but another tick on his velo could help him better neutralize righties, who posted a .739 OPS against him last year.
Quijada will definitely be someone to keep an eye on this spring.
