OC Register: Angels sticking with José Suarez for his next start, despite his 9.26 ERA

[AngelsWin.com]

ANAHEIM — José Suarez will get at least one more chance to prove he should remain in the Angels’ rotation.

The left-hander has a 9.26 ERA after four starts, including a nightmarish outing in which he gave up seven runs on five homers on Monday. Nonetheless, Manager Phil Nevin said, in a bit of a surprising development, that Suarez will take his next turn, on Sunday in Milwaukee.

The Angels had a fairly simple solution available if they had seen enough of Suarez in the rotation. Left-hander Tucker Davidson, who has a 2.40 ERA in 15 innings, could have taken Suarez’s spot in the rotation, with Suarez working to get himself right while pitching out of the bullpen.

But Nevin said they weren’t ready to pull the plug on Suarez after 11-2/3 innings.

“It’s been four starts, I just don’t think that’s enough to yank somebody out of a job,” Nevin said on Tuesday. “I understand we’re three, four weeks into the season. There’s a shorter leash certainly. He needs to get better. He knows that. Right now I feel like he is still our best option when he’s right. And we’ve got to get him right. That’s part of our jobs.”

The Angels are still clinging to the hope that Suarez, 25, can be the pitcher he was in 2021 and 2022, when he posted a 3.86 ERA over 207-1/3 innings.

Last year he had a 6.35 ERA in his first four starts and was then sent down to Triple-A. Suarez had a 3.79 ERA over 14 starts after he returned, including a 2.81 ERA over his final 11 starts after adding a second changeup to his repertoire.

Nevin also said the Angels believe Suarez was tipping his pitches during the first three innings on Monday. They talked to him about it in the dugout and he responded by pitching two scoreless innings in the fourth and fifth.

Asked if Suarez could still work on whatever he needs to do, but while pitching out of the bullpen, Nevin said they decided that wasn’t the best course of action.

“I’m just not ready to move him out (to the bullpen),” Nevin said. “I don’t think it’s as productive for him to go out there. I gotta be honest. Right now we’re kind of start to start with him. I think he knows that. It’s not a scare tactic or anything like that. We all know the situation and he knows it. We’ve got to get better.”

BULLPEN USAGE

Nevin said he’s going to stick with his plan of being cautious with his reliever usage, even though one of the reasons they dropped a 10-inning game on Monday night was that four relievers were unavailable.

“I’m probably going to err on the side of caution more often than not,” Nevin said. “I care about those guys. It would kill me to hurt one of them. But at the end of the day, there’s gonna come a time when we’re gonna push them a little more. I just didn’t feel like in the middle of April is the time to do it.”

Generally speaking, relievers don’t pitch three days in a row, which is why left-hander Matt Moore and right-hander Austin Warren were not available on Monday night. Also, using a pitcher three out of four days is something teams try to avoid, although not quite as strictly.

Right-hander Carlos Estévez and left-hander José Quijada would each have been pitching for the third time in four days on Monday.

Over the past six days, only 11 relievers of the 230-plus in the majors have worked three times in any four-day span, according to Roster Resource.

NOTES

Outfielder Hunter Renfroe got a day off on Tuesday. He was the only player who had been on the Opening Day roster who had played in every game. Luis Rengifo got the start in right field. He has started this season in all three outfield spots, second base, shortstop and third base. …

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UP NEXT

Angels (LHP Patrick Sandoval, 1-1, 3.38) vs. A’s (RHP Luis Medina, MLB debut), Wednesday, 6:38 p.m., Bally Sports West,  830 AM

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[jsnpritchett]

Suarez has a 10.26 ERA, but who's counting?

[Swordsman78]

1 minute ago, jsnpritchett said:

Suarez has a 10.26 ERA, but who's counting?

What's the era when he's NOT tipping pitches?

Also, as if there is currently a plethora of alternatives.

Thought guys on Angelswin would be more knowledgeable than the the basic twitter yahbo.   Guess there are exceptions.  Probably more than the admin would like to admit.

[Make Angels Great Again]

4 minutes ago, Swordsman78 said:

What's the era when he's NOT tipping pitches?

Also, as if there is currently a plethora of alternatives.

Thought guys on Angelswin would be more knowledgeable than the the basic twitter yahbo.   Guess there are exceptions.  Probably more than the admin would like to admit.

You really are a miserable SOB aren’t you?

[Angel Oracle]

12 minutes ago, Swordsman78 said:

What's the era when he's NOT tipping pitches?

Also, as if there is currently a plethora of alternatives.

Thought guys on Angelswin would be more knowledgeable than the the basic twitter yahbo.   Guess there are exceptions.  Probably more than the admin would like to admit.

Here’s the question I wish I knew the answer to.

Was he tipping the pitches the previous 3 starts?   If so, okay.

But if he wasn’t tipping pitches those previous starts, isn’t that a concern?

[jsnpritchett]

Just now, Angel Oracle said:

Here’s the question I wish I knew the answer to.

Was he tipping the pitches the previous 3 starts?   If so, okay.

But if he wasn’t tipping pitches those previous starts, isn’t that a concern?

To me, neither answer is very comforting.  If he WAS tipping in the three previous starts, why were the other teams able to pick up on it, but the Angels coaching staff wasn't?  And if he WASN'T tipping in those starts, then I don't take much solace in his two scoreless innings last night after they corrected his tipping.

[greginpsca]

2 minutes ago, jsnpritchett said:

To me, neither answer is very comforting.  If he WAS tipping in the three previous starts, why were the other teams able to pick up on it, but the Angels coaching staff wasn't?  And if he WASN'T tipping in those starts, then I don't take much solace in his two scoreless innings last night after they corrected his tipping.

It was not tipping pitches in the first 3 starts. It was Ball one, ball 2, 3balls 2 strikes, ball 4. 

[Inside Pitch]

7 minutes ago, jsnpritchett said:

To me, neither answer is very comforting.  If he WAS tipping in the three previous starts, why were the other teams able to pick up on it, but the Angels coaching staff wasn't?  And if he WASN'T tipping in those starts, then I don't take much solace in his two scoreless innings last night after they corrected his tipping.

I didn't watch last night, no clue if he was tipping pitches but his command was absolute dogshit those first three starts. I like Suarez, I think he's better than he's shown but he simply can't pitch when his command is off, it just becomes way too easy for hitters to sit FB and boom.

 

[greginpsca]

The decision to keep him in the rotation must have been made by someone with a size 10 neck and 3 hat.

[TroutField]

The “I don’t want to push them yet, it’s April” comment from Nevin is annoying. 
 

we can’t afford to keep dropping these games, they count as much as the games in September so. We have no choice but to make the playoffs somehow someway and letting games slip away from the A’s is going to be costly.

[AngelsFaninGA]

47 minutes ago, TroutField said:

The “I don’t want to push them yet, it’s April” comment from Nevin is annoying. 
 

we can’t afford to keep dropping these games, they count as much as the games in September so. We have no choice but to make the playoffs somehow someway and letting games slip away from the A’s is going to be costly.

For all the talk about how this front office is making more "tough" decisions, the reality is that they're just picking off low hanging fruit like with Fletcher. Zero reason why Suarez should get another start this year. Likewise, Loup should really be off the roster entirely. 

[Stradling]

2 hours ago, AngelsFaninGA said:

For all the talk about how this front office is making more "tough" decisions, the reality is that they're just picking off low hanging fruit like with Fletcher. Zero reason why Suarez should get another start this year. Likewise, Loup should really be off the roster entirely. 

Well there’s one pretty good reason to keep giving Suarez chances.  He’s 25 and the last two full seasons he’s pitched to better than league average performance. Granted he won’t get you deep into games but the last couple years his ERA is a very respectable 3.8.  I’d prefer him in the pen but I get why they are slow to pull him. 

[Angelsjunky]

OK, give him another start or two. But shorten the leash so the Angels have a chance to win the ballgame. 

[gurn67]

Well, at least the Brewers got some good news.

[Inside Pitch]

7 hours ago, AngelsFaninGA said:

For all the talk about how this front office is making more "tough" decisions, the reality is that they're just picking off low hanging fruit like with Fletcher. Zero reason why Suarez should get another start this year. Likewise, Loup should really be off the roster entirely. 

Yeah, because the intelligent thing would be to disregard his previous 207 innings of 3.86 ERA (4.01 FIP) 110 ERA+ pitching in favor of 16 innings where he's been utter dogshit.  That's the smart thing to do, because "fans".

[TroutField]

5 hours ago, Stradling said:

Well there’s one pretty good reason to keep giving Suarez chances.  He’s 25 and the last two full seasons he’s pitched to better than league average performance. Granted he won’t get you deep into games but the last couple years his ERA is a very respectable 3.8.  I’d prefer him in the pen but I get why they are slow to pull him. 

That’s fine but he can’t be figuring it out on the big league club’s starting rotation. 
 

make up an injury and send him on a rehab assignment or send him back to long relief. 

[Inside Pitch]

59 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

OK, give him another start or two. But shorten the leash so the Angels have a chance to win the ballgame. 

Suarez is one of those guys who you can tell pretty quick if he's right or not.  He's either got his command or he doesn't -- I can't really remember a time where he started off missing and got it together but I'm sure that's the usual selective memory thing.  But yeah, if there's one guy on the staff you can feel comfortable giving a quick hook to it's him IMO.

[IheartLA]

Nevin is a player's manager he knows Suarez will take to heart that even against outside pressure Nevin is sticking with him for at least another round and hope to get an Aztec warrior reaction from him. It's early in the season, not a do or die playoff game, I admire the man management strategy but I think Jose is not going to be as good as prior years. I remember a few years ago that he started to really slow down pitch by pitch and saw better results because of it. I think the pitch clock is harming him. He's a short fat guy with probably questionable athleticism/coordination. He needs to set his body and mind to get everything working. Otherwise he's walking 6 batters in 3 innings or giving up 5 bombs.

[DMVol]

Canning has been solid, as has Davidson, and if Silseth is stretched out enough to start, the leash is going to be short, obviously.....Suarez has had some success in long relief, as has Barria....not sure why but if that is the role that best suits both of them, you can plug them both in that role.....problem is, with Loup struggling, you need a deep pen and slotting two guys for long relief is a bit of a luxury....

[Vlad27Trout27]

first, Give Suarez one more start, but this is it! its going to be a short lease.

Second, Keep Davidson at where he is! he's been solid and lights out! why change it

third, Silseth should be next in line. 

 

[AngelsFaninGA]

1 hour ago, Inside Pitch said:

Yeah, because the intelligent thing would be to disregard his previous 207 innings of 3.86 ERA (4.01 FIP) 110 ERA+ pitching in favor of 16 innings where he's been utter dogshit.  That's the smart thing to do, because "fans".

Which innings are you referring to? I think that number is skewed by favorable reliever splits from 2021 plus him pitching well in low-leverage starts at the end of last season after we were out of the playoff picture. 

But as you said, it's clear from the start whether he's on or off and our analytics isn't telling us to pull him after 3 batters if he's off and leave him in for 6 innings if he's on. 

[Slegnaac]

2 hours ago, Inside Pitch said:

Yeah, because the intelligent thing would be to disregard his previous 207 innings of 3.86 ERA (4.01 FIP) 110 ERA+ pitching in favor of 16 innings where he's been utter dogshit.  That's the smart thing to do, because "fans".

What have you done for me lately syndrome 

[Inside Pitch]

2 hours ago, AngelsFaninGA said:

Which innings are you referring to? I think that number is skewed by favorable reliever splits from 2021 plus him pitching well in low-leverage starts at the end of last season after we wre out of the playoff picture.

LOL, clown comment.  Yeah, he's pitched all but 34 innings (27.1  in 21, 6.2 in 22) during that span as a SP, but those 34 innings are skewing the numbers for the 207 total...   Was he the only pitcher benefiting from us being out of contention or does your BS logic only apply to him? 

You don't like him, many here likely agree with you but don't destroy your own arguments with complete BS.  He's pitched better than you are either willing to admit or realize.  That said, he's also been absolutely awful all season and that too is easy to prove without having to resort to made up BS.

When push comes to shove Suarez's actual performance is going to make or break his tenure as on of the top 6 SPs.  Again, I believe he's better than he's shown, and while I thought the pitch clock would be the issue, it's 100% been command.  Either way the dude should be on a short leash and he's easily the first guy in the rotation that gets moved to the pen.

[AngelsFaninGA]

1 minute ago, Inside Pitch said:

LOL, clown comment.  Yeah, he's pitched all but 34 innings (27.1  in 21, 6.2 in 22) during that span as a SP, but those 34 innings are skewing the numbers for the 207 total...   Was he the only pitcher benefiting from us being out of contention or does your BS logic only apply to him? 

You don't like him, many here likely agree with you but don't destroy your own arguments with complete BS.  He's pitched better than you are either willing to admit or realize.  That said, he's also been absolutely awful all season and that too is easy to prove without having to resort to made up BS.

When push comes to shove Suarez's actual performance is going to make or break his tenure as on of the top 6 SPs.  Again, I believe he's better than he's shown, and while I thought the pitch clock would be the issue, it's 100% been command.  Either way the dude should be on a short leash and he's easily the first guy in the rotation that gets moved to the pen.

He pitched 71 innings as a starter in 2021 with a 4.44 ERA (so decent but nothing special), then had a 5.60 ERA in 45 innings the first half last year when the team was still playing semi-competitive games. He then had a 2.81 ERA in 64 innings in the 2nd half last year, which is nice, but the team had basically mailed it in by that point. Yeah, I do tend to discount low-leverage August/September stats put up by players on out-of-contention teams, because I'm that asshole like everyone on this boards already knows me as. 

[Stradling]

I think discounting stats because the team he’s pitching on isn’t in contention for a playoff spot is pretty dumb. It ignores the fact that he likely pitched really well down the stretch against teams that were in contention.