Shohei Ohtani appears to have made the Los Angeles Angels’ starting rotation despite having a shaky spring.
On Thursday, the Angels announced several roster moves, which included the demotion of starting pitchers Parker Bridwell and Nick Tropeano to triple-A.
Today the #Angels optioned the following players to Salt Lake: Kaleb Cowart, Nolan Fontana, Juan Graterol, Parker Bridwell and Nick Tropeano
— Angels PR (@LAAngelsPR) March 22, 2018
Bridwell entered camp looking like he would be a part of the team’s rotation this season after going 10-3 with a 3.64 ERA last season. Seeing him sent down is a surprise and tells us two things. One – the team must not be too worried about the status of Andrew Heaney, who has elbow inflammation. Two – Ohtani is part of the rotation.
Bridwell and Tropeano being sent down leaves the Angels with a rotation that includes Garrett Richards, Matt Shoemaker, Tyler Skaggs and JC Ramirez. That’s only four starters. We know the Angels aren’t planning on going with a four-man rotation, so the likely case is that Ohtani is in the mix as well as Heaney, which would give them the six pitchers they were planning to use this season.
