OC Register: Angels’ José Suarez might be pitching for his job Sunday

[AngelsWin.com]

MILWAUKEE — José Suarez is going to get the ball again Sunday, with his job on the line.

While Manager Phil Nevin won’t publicly say that Suarez is going to lose his spot in the rotation if he doesn’t pitch well against the Milwaukee Brewers, he did concede earlier this week that they are now going “start to start” with Suarez after he began the year with four disappointing outings.

Suarez, a 25-year-old lefty who had a 3.86 ERA over 207 1/3 innings in the previous two seasons, has a 10.26 ERA this season. Opponents have hit .382 with an OPS of 1.184 against him.

Nevin oversaw the work the pitching coaches did with Suarez during his bullpen session Thursday. A manager would not normally be around for a routine bullpen session.

“Working on being more consistent with his location, more consistent with his delivery,” Nevin said. “That’s the only thing we see. I stood down there, watched film, everything.”

Suarez’s poor command has led to him throwing a first-pitch ball 43% of the time, up from 35% last year.

When he has gotten ahead, he’s still gotten hit hard, because his put-away pitches have missed their spots. Opponents are hitting .379 with a 1.276 OPS when Suarez is ahead in the count. Last year it was .184 and .489.

In his seven-run debacle Monday, Suarez gave up homers on a 1-and-2 pitch and an 0-and-2 pitch. The latter was a hanging sweeper to No. 9 hitter Kevin Smith, who at that point was hitting .171.

“I think that when you’re trying to put a hitter away and throwing harder, you’re losing your mechanics,” Nevin said. “When he’s trying to bury one and he doesn’t quite get it there and he leaves it in the middle, those are the balls that get hit.”

Suarez, like many pitchers nowadays, throws a harder slider and a sweeper. Last year he threw his slider an average of 81.7 mph, and opponents hit .167 against it. This year it’s averaged 83.9 mph. The extra effort he’s putting into the pitch to get the extra velocity could be affecting his mechanics, causing the poor command. Most pitchers this side of Shohei Ohtani also lose movement as they add velocity, and Suarez is getting about three inches less drop on his slider this year.

Less break plus poor location have led to opponents hitting .588 against his slider.

“I wasn’t executing (the slider) at all,” Suarez said through an interpreter Saturday. “That’s what I’m working on.”

The other issue with Suarez was possible pitch-tipping during his last start against the A’s. Nevin said they investigated that and dismissed it.

“I don’t think that’s real,” he said.

The pitches Suarez was burned on in that game were simply poorly located. In the final two innings, he located better and didn’t give up any more runs.

There was no suggestion of tipping from Suarez’s first three starts, but he was still hit hard simply because his location was bad.

Nevin said they have made some changes that they believe will help Suarez have more consistent mechanics, which will help him get the ball where he wants it.

“We’re just getting him to repeat and repeat,” Nevin said. “I think he took a different approach to his last bullpen.”

Suarez said he understands what has been going wrong and he said he was happy with the work since his last start.

“I feel really good,” Suarez said. “I feel 100% confident. I feel it coming back.”

If it doesn’t work, the Angels will likely have no choice but to send him to the bullpen, putting either Tucker Davidson or Chase Silseth in the rotation.

WARD MOVED

Nevin moved Taylor Ward down from the leadoff spot to No. 7, a recognition of the slump that he’s been in for most of the first month of the season. Ward was hitting .216 with a .649 OPS. Rookie Zach Neto moved up to the leadoff spot.

“It’s just more trying to find the right fit for the moment,” Nevin said. “Nothing’s etched in stone with any spot in the lineup. Net’s been swinging the bat great. Wardo, let’s get him more at-bats maybe with runners on in front of him. His at-bats have been a little better in those situations. So maybe that’ll be something to get him going.”

Ward said he was cheating to get to inside pitches and that was causing him to come off the ball instead of having an approach to hit the ball up the middle or to right center.

DEVENSKI ARRIVES

Right-hander Chris Devenski joined the Angels, replacing left-hander José Quijada. Devenski, 32, was an All-Star reliever with the Houston Astros in 2017, but two surgeries in the past three years sent his career off the rails. He had pitched nine innings so far at Triple-A, allowing four runs.

“I felt like I was throwing well,” Devenski said. “I felt like I was executing my pitches. (The Pacific Coast League) is a tough league to pitch in. Every league’s tough to pitch in. Pitching is hard. But I felt like I was throwing well.”

Devenski is a product of Gahr High and Cal State Fullerton who grew up rooting for the Angels.

There is no timetable for Quijada’s return. He felt some discomfort in his elbow when he woke up Friday and underwent an MRI later in the day. He was traveling back to Southern California on Saturday to be evaluated by Angels doctors, Nevin said. They are expecting more information in the next couple days, Nevin said.

NOTES

Right-hander Ryan Tepera (shoulder inflammation) “felt good” a day after pitching a perfect inning for Class-A Inland Empire, Nevin said. The plan is for him to pitch another inning Sunday and be re-evaluated. He would be eligible to be activated for the start of the Angels’ series in St. Louis on Tuesday. …

The Angels moved catcher Logan O’Hoppe to the 60-day injured list to create a spot on the 40-man roster for Devenski. O’Hoppe is going to be out at least four months after undergoing shoulder surgery. …

The Angels don’t have a day off planned for Ohtani. Nevin said he would play Sunday and they would then talk about when he might need a day off.

UP NEXT

Angels (LHP José Suarez, 0-1, 10.26) vs. Brewers (RHP Colin Rea, 0-1, 5.17), 11:10 a.m. Sunday, Angel Stadium, Bally Sports West, 830 AM.

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[jsnpritchett]

"The other issue with Suarez was possible pitch-tipping during his last start against the A’s. Nevin said they investigated that and dismissed it.

“I don’t think that’s real,” he said."

I actually think this is worse, since it means they're just teeing off on him because the stuff he's throwing is garbage.

[Revad]

21 minutes ago, jsnpritchett said:

I actually think this is worse, since it means they're just teeing off on him because the stuff he's throwing is garbage.

Yes, if he has a good outing tomorrow he’ll need to throw much better.

[Jeff Fletcher]

52 minutes ago, jsnpritchett said:

"The other issue with Suarez was possible pitch-tipping during his last start against the A’s. Nevin said they investigated that and dismissed it.

“I don’t think that’s real,” he said."

I actually think this is worse, since it means they're just teeing off on him because the stuff he's throwing is garbage.

Well, Nevin would correct that: the places he was throwing it were garbage.

[jsnpritchett]

19 minutes ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

Well, Nevin would correct that: the places he was throwing it were garbage.

Semantics.  I should have used another word than "stuff," as I didn't mean that in the way that it's used to refer to a "pitcher's stuff." 

Regardless, the point is that I'd almost prefer that he had been tipping his pitches.

[Angel Oracle]

I’ll believe it when I see it (good outing).

FIVE HRs against a pathetic A’s offense, no excuse for that whatsoever!

[UndertheHalo]

Do they even *need* to run him out there again tomorrow? Why? This is a game that counts in probably the most consequential season they’ve had in decades.  Why are they doing this test balloon shit.  He looks fucking terrible.  Let him go figure it out in the minors.  Start Canning or Silseth.  Baffling bullshit. 

Edited April 30, 2023 by UndertheHalo

[Stradling]

1 minute ago, UndertheHalo said:

Do they even *need* to run him out there again tomorrow? Why? This is a game that counts in probably the most consequential season they’ve had in decades.  Why are they doing this test balloon shit.  He looks fucking terrible.  Let him go figure it out in the minors.  Start Canning or Silseth.  Baffling bullshit. 

They can’t let him figure it out in the minors, he’s out of options. 

[Taylor]

About a 17% chance we avoid a sweep.

[UndertheHalo]

5 minutes ago, Stradling said:

They can’t let him figure it out in the minors, he’s out of options. 

My bad, you’re right. So skip his start.  Who cares.  Why should he should start? If this is already a “pitch for your job” game in April then don’t we already have the answer here?  He’s not the person they should be putting on the mound.  It’s not like he’s earned any kind of deference or long rope.  He’s at best been an extremely unreliable player.  Only ever good in meaningless games. 

Edited April 30, 2023 by UndertheHalo

[Stradling]

1 minute ago, UndertheHalo said:

My bad, you’re right. So skip his start.  Who cares.  Why should he should start? If this already a “pitch for your job” game in April then don’t we already have the answer here?  He’s not the person they should be putting on the mound.  It’s not like he’s earned any kind of deference or long rope.  He’s at best been an extremely unreliable player.  Only ever good in meaningless games. 

Two years of 3.8 ERA says he’s earned a leash longer than 4 starts. 

[UndertheHalo]

Just now, Stradling said:

Two years of 3.8 ERA says he’s earned a leash longer than 4 starts. 

 

[OhtaniSan]

I added him to my fantasy team for tomorrows start so i’m all in 

[jsnpritchett]

I guess the good news is that the Brewers' pitcher on Sunday is their worst pitcher, so maybe the Angels can win something like a 6-5-type game? 

[fan_since79]

14 hours ago, UndertheHalo said:

Do they even *need* to run him out there again tomorrow? Why? This is a game that counts in probably the most consequential season they’ve had in decades.  Why are they doing this test balloon shit.  He looks fucking terrible.  Let him go figure it out in the minors.  Start Canning or Silseth.  Baffling bullshit. 

Well, Nevin probably thinks since we're only a couple games out he can try some things at this early part of the season. The problem is that Texas, Houston, and maybe Seattle will probably start playing a lot better soon and all of a sudden we'll be 5-7 games out and still moving pieces around.

Every game is important now. We need to fix things asap. 

[OhtaniSan]

16 hours ago, OhtaniSan said:

I added him to my fantasy team for tomorrows start so i’m all in 

Being right feels so good