[closing_time list_id=”16889″ season=”2018″ include_stats=”1″]

Another week and another closer for the Angels, as it looks like for now, Keynan Middleton is Mike Scioscia’s preferred 9th inning option. While he’s one bad outing away from going back to working in the 6th inning and Jim Johnson seeing save opportunities, I’ll still argue that Middleton is worth an add just in case he is allowed to keep the job. We got a taste of just how good his stuff is last season as he posted a 35.25% Whf/Sw%, 77% Z-Contact and 16.7 SwStr% over 58.1 innings. He also showed fairly good command for someone with his pitch mix, with the only knocks on him being a somewhat high HR rate. If he can string together a few more clean outings, hopefully, that gives him some leeway with Scioscia. Because while I do like Middleton a lot, he’ll surely have to earn his trust a great deal to keep the role for the foreseeable future.