Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com<\/a> did an update on the current state of these battles, so let\u2019s take a closer look at where things are.<\/p>\nAdvertisement<\/p>\n
The closer battle<\/p>\n
By now most Angels fans know that prospective closer Robert Stephenson will start the season on teh injured list, which means relievers Kirby Yates, Jordan Romano and Drew Pomeranz are competing for the closer job, with Ben Joyce waiting in the wings as he continues to recover from shoulder surgery last May.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s still ongoing,\u201d said manager Kurt Suzuki. \u201cWe still haven’t decided if we’re gonna name one or just use the three high-leverage guys and mix and match.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yates and Romano are both once-proven commodities who haven\u2019t done well in a while, and they both pitched scoreless innings on Sunday. Both have low ERAs, but there\u2019s really no good test for closers in spring training given the intrinsic lack of high-leverage situations. Pomeranz, meanwhile, has been hit hard this spring, with his ERA currently at 13.50, but that may not mean much, either.<\/p>\n
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Second base is still up for grabs<\/p>\n
Top prospect Christian Moore was the presumptive favorite coming into spring training, but he and infielder Kyren Paris were both optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake on Sunday. That leaves non-roster invitee Adam Frazier, who\u2019s had a strong spring at the plate, but Oswald Peraza has also done well, and Vaughn Grissom is in he mix despite the fact that he\u2019s barely hit at all. What complicates this situation is that both Peraza and Grissom are out of minor league options, so that will factor into the final call.<\/p>\n
Someone needs to seize that last rotation spot<\/p>\n
Grayson Rodriguez and Alek Manoah are the two candidates here, but they\u2019re going in opposite directions. Manoah started strong but has struggled in recent starts, while Rodriguez finally looks like he\u2019s starting to find himself after a long layoff due to injuries. Another good start from Rodriguez would likely give him the nod, with Manoah either being sent back to the minors or slotting in as the long reliever.<\/p>\n
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There\u2019s other competition in the mix as well. Right-hander George Klassen has had some strong spring starts, and Jack Kochanowicz is in the mix as well. It\u2019s really up to Rodriguez, though, to take control and deliver on the potential that led the Angels to give up outfielder Taylor Ward to get him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Los Angeles Angels still have a lot to figure out as spring training starts to wind down,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":628257,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2390],"tags":[8007,7900,291,5,12571,582,758,44345,3766,1165,446,3223,774,56,3224,3222,4,1841,18311,13048,19544,151,5694,1229],"class_list":["post-628256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles-angels","tag-adam-frazier","tag-alek-manoah","tag-angels","tag-baseball","tag-christian-moore","tag-grayson-rodriguez","tag-jack-kochanowicz","tag-kurt-suzuki","tag-kyren-paris","tag-la","tag-la-angels","tag-laangels","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-angels","tag-losangeles","tag-losangelesangels","tag-mlb","tag-oswald-peraza","tag-pomeranz","tag-rhett-bollinger","tag-romano","tag-spring-training","tag-taylor-ward","tag-vaughn-grissom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116245093606484585","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=628256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628256\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/628257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=628256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=628256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=628256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}