Is he a reliever? Is he a starter? Cory Rasmus had a successful 2014 as long as your bar for success doesn’t include knowing what his role is.
Was Rasmus good as a reliever?
Yes, not that anybody noticed, but thanks for asking. Rasmus had a 2.68 ERA and 3.11 FIP as a reliever with a 9.24 K/9 and 2.92 BB/9. That’s pretty dang good, but he also didn’t pitch in high leverage unless the Angels had no other choice. For all intents and purposes, Rasmus was the long man in the bullpen and the guy that they could shuttle to and from the minors whenever they needed a roster spot. That makes it awfully hard for a guy to stand out.
Was Rasmus good as a starter?
His numbers were good, that’s for sure. He made six starts out of necessity down the stretch and genuinely looked great. He somehow was better as a starter with a 2.37 ERA, 3.29 FIP, 9.00 K/9 and 2.37 BB/9. That’s pretty shocking because it is supposed to work the other way around.
The thing is that Ramsus wasn’t a “real” starter. He never went more than four innings in those six starts, meaning he never went through the order for a third time. In fact, he never really even went through the order a full second time as the most batters he faced in one start was 15. Call it a start if you want, but it was really just a glorified long relief outing that happened to begin in the first inning.
That shouldn’t diminish what Cory did though, at least not much. He still had to get the hitters out and specifically had to deal with lineups stacked with lefties. That’s something he didn’t have to worry about as a reliever, but he succeeded in the face of that challenge with really only one bad start to show for it.
Should he be a starter or a reliever?
This seems like it should be a pretty easy decisions. Starters are categorically more valuable than relievers. Even if Rasmus can only be a #5 starter, that is a much more useful than him being a pretty good middle reliever. Besides, the Angels already have too many relievers and not enough starting pitching depth. The fact that this hasn’t already been decided is almost laughable.
The reason it isn’t though is that Rasmus used to be a starter back when he was in the Braves farm system. The problem is that he couldn’t stay healthy. That’s kind of an issue because a healthy middle reliever is a lot more useful than a potential #4 starter with a shredded elbow. Only Cory, the Angels and the doctors know how much of a health risk converting Rasmus to a starter would be.
One added wrinkle is that even if Rasmus did convert back to a starter, he would be a longshot to make the Opening Day rotation. As a reliever, he has a much better shot at breaking camp with the team. Being a starter might be better for him in the long-term, but it means he has to be willing to risk spending most of 2014 playing in the minors and pulling a minor league paycheck.
Why is he missing an “e” in his first name?
I don’t know, but I suspect it ran off and eloped with the missing second “o” in Huston Street‘s first name.
Final Answer
Rasmus did well for himself to just make it clear that he belongs in the majors in some sort of role after an uninspiring 21.2 innings in 2013. While the starter/reliever decision is a big one, there is little doubt that Rasmus will play a role with the Angels in some way this coming season.
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