After contentious discussions, the MLB lockout is over and teams have begun their spring training schedules. Opening Day has been pushed to April 14, which gives teams some extra time to finalize their rosters and rotations. In this series, TGH will be summarizing each team’s 2021 season and predicting their Opening Day pitching rotation. Here is the projected Los Angeles Angels pitching rotation for 2022.
Summary
Despite having a wealth of talent, the Angels have missed the postseason in seven straight seasons. Part of their bad record was due to missing Mike Trout for all but 36 games last year, but it was still disappointing for a team that has this much fire power.
Ohtani won the AL MVP, which was a bright spot, but the Angels’ 77-85 record was only good enough for fourth in the AL West. Along with the postseason drought, the team has also had six straight seasons under .500. Here is a lineup they can roll out to try to finally return to the postseason under Cubs’ curse breaker Joe Maddon.
1. Shohei Ohtani
Shohei Ohtani is an absolute phenom of a player, the likes of which the MLB has not seen in a very long time. His MVP award in 2021 was due to what he did on the plate as much as what he did on the mound, but he very much deserves to be at the top of the rotation. He had a 3.18 ERA in 130.1 innings pitched, and went 9-2 in 28 games started.
2. Noah Syndergaard
Syndergaard was a New York Mets staple from his debut in 2015 until 2021. The Angels scooped him up after pitching just two total innings in the last two seasons. That does not mean he cannot return to his All Star form, though. On potential alone, he deserves this spot in the rotation.
3. Patrick Sandoval
Sandoval was a bit of a revelation last year, earning the best ERA of his career on the biggest workload of his career. He had a 3.62 ERA over 87.2 innings pitched. He also grabbed 94 strikeouts during 2021, although he had bad luck in the win-loss column, going 3-6 in 17 appearances (14 starts).
4. Michael Lorenzen
In his seven-year career, Lorenzen only saw real starter-level innings in his first. In the next six years he was given long reliever-type work, but was always successful. He will get a spot in this Angels lineup as he has continued to prove he can handle enough work.
5. Jose Suarez
Suarez had 23 appearances and 14 starts in 2021. He went 8-8 in those appearances, pitching 98.1 innings and collecting a 3.75 ERA. The bottom of this rotation is based on potential, but Suarez could continue to surprise Los Angeles.
Featured image courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images
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