The Los Angeles Angels are at a point where they must act now, or lose the opportunity to win with Mike Trout. A couple months back, they acquired Cameron Maybin and Danny Espinosa to solidify the lineup. To add some pitching depth, the Angels have signed RHP Yusmeiro Petit to a minor league deal.
According to the report, the deal includes an invitation to Spring Training.
The #Angels have signed RHP Yusmeiro Petit to a minor league contract with an invite to Major League Spring Training camp.
— Angels PR (@LAAngelsPR) February 8, 2017
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Petit, now 32 years old, is not your typical pitcher. He spent 2016 with the Nationals, posting a 4.50 ERA in 62.0 innings. From a statistical standpoint, he’s been rather unspectacular across 8 major league seasons. His career ERA of 4.58 matches up fairly well with his FIP (4.37) and xFIP (4.13), meaning he isn’t a victim of bad luck. Really, he’s quite an average pitcher. He doesn’t strike out many batters (7.79 K/9), walks more than two per game (2.38 BB/9), and induces ground balls only about one third of the time (33.6 GB %). Despite his statistical mediocrity, Petit has still managed to strand opposing runners on base at a solid 71.4% throughout his career.
What really makes Petit stand out is the fact that he’s pitched as a starter and a reliever in every season of his career, excluding his lone appearance in 2012 with the Giants. He’s only started two games in the last two seasons, but made 12 starts in ’14. In many ways, he’s a right-handed version of Travis Wood.
Though his overall numbers aren’t very good, Petit has improved vastly since playing for the Giants. In 307.2 innings since 2012, his ERA has been a much more acceptable 3.83. Even his FIP (3.56) and xFIP (3.70) are vastly improved. He’s striking out more batters (8.45), and walking less (1.96) than he used to. For an Angels pitching staff that is anything but reliable, Petit is a great no-risk asset to bring on.
Although he only got a minor league deal, I expect that we’ll see plenty of Yusmeiro Petit in 2017. The Angels rotation has taken major blows in recent years, as young starters Garrett Richards and Matt Shoemaker have battled injuries. Jered Weaver is no longer the same pitcher, and likely won’t be back next year. Bringing on an experienced swingman like Petit will solidify a pitching staff that desperately lacked depth in 2016.