Mike Morin

Morin's 20 mph difference between his fastball and changeup have many people thinking that he could become a high-leverage reliever for the Angels, but he stagnated during 2016. He maintained his historically strong control as depicted by his 2.4 BB/9, but he only mustered a 7.9 K/9 over 55.2 innings. He also had some trouble with the long ball, as his 1.0 HR/9 allowed led to a 4.37 ERA. That being said, it seemed like a brief stint with Triple-A Salt Lake helped the reliever sort things out, as he was able to post an improved 3.43 ERA and 8.6 K/9 over the final two months of the season following an early August recall. Morin doesn't overwhelm batters with his low-90s heater, but his impeccable control and ability to change speeds has him positioned to garner a more significant role in the Angels' bullpen, albeit one that likely keeps him two or three seats away from regular ninth-inning duty.

One would likely be hard-pressed to guess Morin's ERA in 2015 from looking at his peripherals, as he came away with an unsightly 6.37 despite notching 41 strikeouts while issuing just nine walks in 35.1 innings. While it seems like oversimplification to attribute the bulk of the struggles to bad luck, Morin was abused by a strand rate of just 44 percent, along with a batting average on balls in play of .344. His groundball rate dropped significantly in 2015 (44 percent to 39 percent), which could account for the rise in home runs, but his 2.85 FIP likely means that some sort of rebound is on the horizon. Still armed with a more than 20-mph differential between his fastball and his changeup, Morin appears to have the stuff to be a future closer but is unlikely to see much value in standard leagues while pitching behind Huston Street and Joe Smith in the Angels pecking order.

A 13th-round pick by the Angels in the 2012 draft, Morin moved quickly through the Halos' minor league system after posting a combined 1.93 ERA between High-A Inland Empire and Double-A Arkansas in 2013. Morin was called up from Triple-A Salt Lake at the end of April as an extra arm out of the bullpen, but the 23-year-old never returned to the minor leagues, posting a 2.90 ERA and 54 strikeouts in 59 innings with the Angels. There isn't much to dislike about Morin's skillset, as he walked just 24 batters in 113.2 innings in the minor leagues, while striking out 118 and allowing seven home runs. Morin features a fastball and a slider, but the most notable pitch in his arsenal is a devastating changeup, which can be thrown up to 20 mph slower than his fastball. His exciting repertoire, combined with his shining results, should make Morin a safe bet to begin 2015 in the Angels' bullpen.