Jul 8, 2014; Anaheim, CA, USA; Los Angeles Angels relief pitcher Cam Bedrosian (68) pitches against the Toronto Blue Jays during the ninth inning at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports
The Angels have replaced an ace with a journeyman and a prospect, promoting starter Wade Leblanc and reliever Cam Bedrosian in the wake of Garret Richards’ gruesome knee injury. Outfielder Brennan Boesch was also sent down to Triple-A Salt Lake to make room on the 25 man roster.
Leblanc, 30, will take Richards’ rotation spot, though replicating the fallen ace’s stellar production (13 wins, 2.61 ERA, 4.4 WAR) should prove an impossible task. The former Padres prospect is 20-32 with a 4.56 ERA for his career, his best season coming in 2012 when he posted a 3.67 ERA as a swingman in Miami. He was 10-3 with a 4.00 ERA and an 8.7 K/9 for Salt Lake before the call-up.
Bedrosian, 22, has had a breakout year in the Angels organization, one of the few standouts in an otherwise barren farm system. His numbers across three levels, from High-A to Triple-A, are reminiscent Chapman or Kimbrel: 1.30 ERA, 0.619 WHIP and 16.6 strikeouts against just 3.2 hits per nine innings. The campaign even earned him a handful major league call ups this season, though he has failed to make the most of them – 0-1, 7.96 ERA.
A year ago, this looked impossible.
A first round pick out of high school in 2010, Bedrosian underwent Tommy John after just 12 professional innings and never looked the same afterward. He got blasted for a 6.31 ERA when he returned as a starter in 2012, and looked no better out of the bullpen in 2013, with a 4.57 ERA and a 4.1 BB/9 across 44 appearances.
Bedrosian sudden success has not only been a product of his almost robotic ability to miss bats, but also of his sharpened command. Most high octane minor league relievers, miss the strike-zone almost as frequently as they miss bats. That was the case Bedrosian in 2013, as well as for his former teammate, since traded to San Diego, R.J. Alvarez. This year, though, he has walked just 3.0 batters per nine in the minors this season and the results have been evident.
So too have the results when Bedrosian has been erratic. His 5.9 BB/9 at the major league level is the root of his struggles there.
On the mound, Bedrosian fits into the classic late-inning reliever mold, with a mid-90’s fastball, a hard slider, and the ocassional change-up. He did not rank among MLB.com’s top 20 Angels prospects, a telling omission considering the barren state of Anaheim’s farm system.