Why the Angels Bullpen is Struggling So Badly: Key Reasons Behind the Collapse

The 2026 Angels bullpen is atrocious. A second consecutive blown lead last night was embarrassing and further confirmed just how far the Angels are from playoff contention. Sadly, the offense and starting pitching continue to give the team a chance to win only to see the bullpen falter.

To call the current state of the bullpen a collapse, though, is a bit of hyperbole. It has been years since the Angels fielded a competent bullpen. But there is a difference between being below average and standing as the worst in all of MLB. In 2026, the Angels bullpen has reached a new low.

Kenley Jansen, Reid Detmers, and Brock Burke were the Angels only good relievers in 2025 and none are in the 2026 bullpen.

Last season the Angels bullpen ranked 28th in MLB in terms of ERA. In a league with 30 teams, that is not good. They did so despite the fact Jansen, Detmers, and Burke were both solid and healthy all season.

That trio combined to produce 5.2 bWAR in 185.1 innings. The rest of the bullpen, however, was so bad the Angels ended up having 40 players pitch for them during the season.

In 2026, all are out of the bullpen. Kenley Jansen was let go as a free agent as the club slashed payroll by $80 million from last year. Reid Detmers was moved into the rotation in a very practical and so far productive move but was not replaced. Finally, Brock Burke was traded for a clearly declining left fielder in a trade that is just crushing the team.

With no true bullpen prospects, the Angels are forced to sign inexpensive relievers.

Apr 15, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; Los Angeles Angels relief pitcher Jordan Romano (68) follows through on a pitch against the New York Yankees during the ninth inning at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Good teams develop their own bullpen arms. They draft starting pitchers with one or two plus pitches, try to add a wider pitch mix, then transition them to bullpen roles when that does not work. In Perry Minasian's case, he drafts pitchers like Chase Shores and Chris Cortez who profile as relievers and tries to convert them to starters. The result is he has drafted over 60 pitchers in 5 years and has a whopping 2 in the Angels bullpen: Sam Bachman and Chase Silseth.

When a general manager has failed to produce talent on the farm he is forced to sign free agents. Filling multiple holes in the bullpen while facing a declining budget is a tough spot for a GM. But in this case this is a spot of Minasian's own making.

Lacking a true closer, the Angels clearly prioritized closing experience while finding the least expensive arms they could sign. Jordan Romano hasn't been good in years, but the Angels were desperate so they gave him $2 million. Drew Pomeranz is aging but he was good last year and cheap, so he was brough on board.

The Kirby Yates signing had solid logic behind it. He works well with Mike Maddux and was cheap. Unfortunately injuries have prevented Yates from pitching this season. Yates should be back soon.

These guys are doing the best they can, but they simply aren't as good as they used to be. Angels fans will point at the declining reliever on the screen but the blame lies with Perry Minsasian.

The Angels organization will blame injuries but that is a cop out.

Every year the Angels are cited as a team with no depth. Then when the inevitable injuries occur the team blames injuries for underperformance as though winning teams don't also have injuries.

In this case, the mantra will be that had Robert Stephenson and Ben Joyce been in the Angels bullpen the season would have gone differently. Yes, and if the Easter Bunny was real I would not have needed to buy my son candy a few weeks ago.

Robert Stephenson has pitched a total of 10 innings the last 2 years and was coming off surgery and reports of thoracic outlet syndrome. Which rational organization would just bank on him being healthy?

Ben Joyce has battled injuries since his college days and was coming off major shoulder surgery. Again, what rational organization would simply count him as their closer for the season?

The 2026 Angels bullpen is the epitome of Arte Moreno's tenure as owner.

Stop me if you've heard this before: the Angels signed a bunch of cheap old veterans to fill out a team around Mike Trout but it did not work. Pretty much sounds like every year since 2014 which is the last time the team made the playoffs.

Major League Baseball is now a game of bullpens. We are seeing that on a nightly basis. Solid starting pitching will get you through 6 maybe 7 innings. Getting those last 6 to 10 outs is just as important as getting the first 21.

When an organization fails to produce pitchers who can get those outs they are forced to sign free agents. When that same organization then cuts payroll it is forced to shop in the bargain bin. And that is the current Angels.

Arte Moreno took over a team fresh off a World Series title and with a highly rated farm system. He has turned that into the longest payroll drought in MLB and his farm systems have routinely ranked at or near the bottom of the list. It is an unprecedented level of failure as an owner of the Angels.

Why is the Angels bullpen so bad? A bad owner who can not identify talent hired and inexperienced general manager who can not identify talent. That GM then drafted players lacking talent and coaches lacking the ability to improve them. Ultimately, when the GM had produced no talent, he had limited resources to spend signing talent. Considering the GM is not good at identifying talent, that plan failed.

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