The Angels have reportedly agreed to a three-year $33 million contract with right-handed reliever Robert Stephenson, according to Jomboy Media’s Jack Oliver.
Stephenson will turn 31 years old next month and sported a career-low 3.10 ERA in 52.1 innings pitched with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Tampa Bay Rays last season. As a Pirate, Stephenson struggled with a 5.14 ERA in 14 pitched innings, and all his earned runs came in May. On June 2, he was traded to the Rays for shortstop Alika Williams and turned into a shutdown reliever for the Rays with a 2.35 ERA in 38.1 innings pitched. Stephenson finished the 2023 campaign strong, only giving up one earned run in his last 16 innings of work. In his eight-year career, Stephenson has a 4.64 ERA.
The 2023 season was the best in Stephenson’s career, with the previously mentioned career-low ERA and the career-high strikeout rate at an astounding 38.3 K%. His walk rate was perfectly average at 8.0 BB%. Stephenson’s average fastball velocity in 2023 was 96.8 miles per hour, with 3.3 inches of horizontal movement more than the average fastball, according to Baseball Savant. The two other pitches in his arsenal used more than 10% of the time are his slider and cutter. The slider is effective with a 41.8 Whiff%, but his cutter is deadly at a lofty 59.9 Whiff%, according to Baseball Savant. Although Stepehenson’s chase rate is also bloated (41.3 Chase%), his in-zone contact given up remains low at 70.1 Zone Contact%, according to Baseball Savant. One thing that Stephenson struggled with in 2023 was hard contact. Obviously, he does not get hit a ton, but when he does, it gets hit hard. Stephenson had a 13.0 Barrel%, which is almost double the league average.
This is the second multi-year contract that a pitcher has agreed to with the Angels since relief pitcher Joe Blanton signed a two-year deal back in 2012, with the first being just last offseason with starting pitcher Tyler Anderson signing a three-year deal. The Angels bullpen struggled in 2023, and Stephenson can significantly help that. The Angels will have to do more this offseason, though, if they want to be competitive in 2024.
