Following his fourth rough outing of the season, the Los Angeles Angels staff will continue to evaluate José Suarez and their options moving forward.
Suarez opened Monday’s game with two quick outs before allowing back-to-back homers to Brent Rooker and Jesus Aguilar, giving the Oakland Athletics a 2-0 lead. He would then allow a three-run shot in the second inning before Rooker and Aguilar hit their second set of back-to-back shots.
The A’s lead by a 7-1 score before the Angels had a chance to blink. Manager Phil Nevin understood that the bullpen had logged 12 innings since Saturday and needed a break, which is the main reason why Suarez stayed in past the second inning.
Suarez exited after five innings, allowing seven earned runs on eight hits, including five home runs. His season ERA ballooned to 10.26 and he escaped with a no-decision. The 25-year-old addressed his tough start to the season on Monday, via Sarah Valenzuela of the L.A. Times:
“I’ve been working on all my pitches,” Suarez said in Spanish after the game. “To tell you the truth, I don’t know what’s happening.”
It’s too early to say he’s completely lost, but after tossing 109 innings in 2022 to the tune of a very solid 3.96 ERA, Suarez is in the middle of his rough stretch outside of the 2020 season.
His spin-rate data is on-par with career averages, and he logged 15 whiffs on Monday. But his real problems rest in his ability to strike hitters out and miss barrels. He ranks in the bottom 1% in wOBA and is allowing his highest hard-hit rate in the past two seasons.
The Angels and Suarez haven’t changed his usage between his pitches, it’s just he’s missing location on nearly every pitch in the heart of the plate when comparing this year to his 2022 seasons.
Like José Suarez, Tyler Anderson has struggled to find a handle on mechanics
With a lifetime 4.62 ERA prior to joining the Dodgers, Tyler Anderson flipped his entire career on a dime. In 28 starts he posted a 2.57 ERA, 3.31 FIP, and a 15-5 record, making his first-ever All-Star Game appearance.
Minasian inked Anderson to a three-year $39 million contract, which could be one of two things, a bargain for a starter coming off that level of production, or a gamble because of his one season with the Dodgers and their pitching laboratory.
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