Once a rising star in the Cleveland bullpen, the Tribe pretty much gave up on Vinnie Pestano. Well, one man’s trash could be another man’s treasure. In this case, the Angels have positioned themselves to be the garbageman benefactor.
Wasn’t Pestano supposed to be the “closer of the future” in Cleveland?
He sure was, but the best laid plans of mice and men blah, blah, blah… So, yeah. That didn’t end up happening. Turns out relievers are volatile commodities. Who knew? (Everyone, everyone knew.)
Pestano looked amazing in 2011 then fell off a bit in 2012, but that was more of a function of him being exposed to more left-handed hitters. In 2013, however, he legitimately struggled. His command abandoned him and he suddenly couldn’t kill righties anymore. As he explains it, the issue was that he got hurt and didn’t handle his recovery well.
He got healthy in 2014, but by then he had fallen out of favor with the Tribe, so they decided to cash out on him while he still had some value.
Could Pestano be a dominant reliever with the Angels?
Yes, but only if used properly. The whole “Pestano as closer” thing was probably never actually going to happen. He is sheer death on righties in his career with a .234 wOBA allowed and a 40.2% strikeout rate in his career. Lefties, however, not so much. They they have tagged Vinnie for a .361 wOBA and have just a 16.7% strikeout rate in his career. That’s not nearly good enough for those critical late inning roles.
However, it can’t be overstated how absurdly good he is against right-handed hitters. When he faces righties, he’s basically Craig Kimbrel. Even if he’s lousy against lefties, that still makes Pestano very useful. Granted, it is a specialization role, but he is very special at that specialization.
Were the Angels right to re-sign him?
Some folks thought he might be non-tendered this offseason, but that was just foolishness. Pestano was very good in his brief time with the Angels to the point that he essentially forced his way onto the postseason roster. Besides, Dipoto didn’t give up a live arm like Mike Clevinger just so he could rent Pestano for 17.2 innings, eight of which were spent in Triple-A. With a price tag like $1.15 million, non-tendering Pestano would’ve been more about clearing a roster spot than saving on the pocket change that is his salary. Dipoto just isn’t going to do that. Their roster isn’t deep enough and Jerry seems to think that it is impossible to have too many quality relievers. After the first two years of his tenure, I can’t say I blame him for wanting to stockpile bullpen arms.
Is the Monkey over the moon about a suddenly sidearm heavy bullpen?
First Smith, then Pestano. The Angels are making my dreams come true with these relievers with weird arm angles. But now that they have two sidearmers, I won’t be happy until they add a submariner to the arsenal.
Final Answer
Pestano isn’t going anywhere. He may not be a major part of the Angels bullpen, but he’s got a very special set of skills that should keep him around as part of a very deep and hopefully potent Angels bullpen.
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