Los Angeles Angels: Huston Street Injured with Triceps Irritation
Huston Street hurt his arm during a spring training game with the Los Angeles Angels on Friday.
Jeff Todd of MLB Trade Rumors reports that the Los Angeles Angels will be missing reliever Huston Street for the near future. The righty exited Friday’s spring training game with triceps irritation, and further diagnosis is pending an MRI. Given Street’s current position with the team, this certainly does not forebode well for his future.
Street, 33, long served as a top closer, but that changed this past season. Instead of his usual greatness, he pitched just 22.1 innings across 26 appearances, collecting nine saves and abysmal peripherals. He allowed a whopping 16 earned runs, 31 hits, and 12 walks in that timeframe against just 14 strikeouts.
Interestingly enough, his velocity kept its typical pace in 2016. Usually, players see a big dip in speed accompany and drastic changes in play, but this deterioration went differently. This said, Street has never exactly boasted a blazing fastball. Predominantly a sinker-baller, his pitches have clocked in the upper 80’s since 2007. His fastball did start out a little slower than usual and pick up some pace, but its average velocity of 88.2 miles per hour is essentially the same as the 2015’s 88.4.
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Delving a bit deeper, Brooks Baseball showed that the movement on his pitches roughly matched his normal work. His fastball, change-up, and slider exhibited no significant differences in horizontal or vertical movements. Some parts of these pitches varied in an inch or so in movement over their prior versions, but it is highly unlikely that this severely affected his performance.
If the former closer can work his way back from this setback, he would serve as an excellent asset for the Los Angeles Angels. From the time that he broke into the big leagues in 2005 through 2015, he routinely posted excellent seasons. Never did his earned run average exceed four, and he even managed to toss sub-two earned run averages three times.
Over those eleven years, he accrued 315 saves with four different teams. Although never a true power pitcher, he prevented walks while still punching out his fair share of batters. He has broken the ten strikeouts per nine innings barrier three times, peaking at 11.34 in 2007.
This upcoming season will be of great importance to Huston Street, as the Los Angeles Angels face a decision on his 2018 team option. They can either activate it a $10 million or choose to let him walk for a $1 million buyout. The $9 million difference is certainly no small chunk of change, and it could be hard to replicate on the free market should he disappoint for the second year in a row.