Kirby Yates Could Be a Major Weapon For the Angels

In 2024 newly signed Angels reliever Kirby Yates put up video game quality numbers while pitching for the Texas Rangers. His pitching coach at the time was Mike Maddux, who the Angels hired in the same capacity this off season. With the duo reunited, the Angels are hoping Yates can recapture his 2024 and be a weapon out of the bullpen.

Just how good was Yates in 2024? By all metrics he was incredible: 1.17 ERA across 61.2 innings, 85 strikeouts against 5 walks, and only 3 home runs allowed. He struck out a gaudy 12.4 batters per 9 innings with a WHIP (walks and hits divided by innings pitched) of 0.827; meaning less than one batter reached base per inning. Yates also posted an incredible ERA+ of 326 which indicates he was more than 3 times better than the average MLB pitcher.

Those were clearly the best numbers of Yates' career and he regressed last year as a Dodger, but there are reasons to believe Yates can recapture some of his 2024 form. The key, according to the data, is regaining mastery of his split finger fastball.

Yates Split Finger Is The Key

In looking at Yates' baseballsavant page, you can see he relies on 2 pitches. One is a four seam fastball that averages about 93 miles per hour. It plays off an 86 mile per hour split finger that generates swings and misses and typcially generates plenty ground balls. However, the split finger was not as effective in 2025 as it was in 2024 and batters made more hard contact against it.

In 2024, Yates split finger was simply dominant. Despite the fact he threw it at nearly the same velocity and with the same vertical drop in 2025 as he did in 2024, he did not get the same results. Hitters tee'd off on the split finger at an unprecedented rate.

In 2024, Yates threw his split finger at an average of 86.3 miles per hour with 36.7 inches of vertical drop. Last season those numbers were quite similar at 85.9 miles per houir and 37 inches of vertical drop.

However, hitters slugged a paltry .139 in 2024 but crushed the pitch to the tune of a .520 slugging percentage in 2025. Yates command with the pitch simply was not there and MLB hitters made him pay.

If pitching coach Mike Maddux can again get Kirby Yates throwing his best split finger, look for Yates to be reliever Angels fans want to see on the mound in high leverage situations. The pairing worked magic once before. The Angels and Yates are hoping it can work again.