clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Tonight's Opposing Starter: Trevor Bell

No Sean O'Sullivan (he's currently trying to give up A-Rod's 600th homerun) means tonight's starter is Trevor Bell.

Bell has been been, over fifteen appearances, one of the Angels' few good relievers in 2010. Despite a 6.05 ERA, he's managed a 2.90 in Fielding Independent Pitching and a 3.78 xFIP. His career rates are 4.11 and 4.58, respectively.

He gets the strikeouts, average 6.81 per nine innings over his career, but also gives up some walks (3.40). So far this year, however, the Ks have been up and the walks have been down.

Some of that is being a reliever, which is, obviously, easier. Last season he got four starts, and none went particularly well. He never went further than 5.1 innings and had just one more strikeout than walks in those games, where he put up a 7.47 ERA.

Bell -- a righty -- throws a low-90s, extremely straight fastball in a little fewer than half his pitches. Pitchf/x also puts him as having a cutter, which he throws roughly 1/5 of the time at the same velocity. But rather than breaking in on lefties hands, it merely breaks less towards righties than his normal fastball. Whether these are really two different pitches I'm not sure.

Bell throws his mid-80s slider a little less often than the cutter. It, too, is relatively straight, but it has been his only above-average pitch at FanGraphs this season.

Bell's last pitch, a simple changeup, comes in at around eight miles per hour behind his fastball. And, just like the fastball, it's pretty straight.

The Rangers should probably expect to score at least five, and maybe closer to six runs, against Bell and the Angels' pen, unless he finds a gear he hasn't yet shown over a long period of time in his MLB career. Any less, and the worry about the offense's struggles can continue. One element to remember is that Bell has not ever gone deep in to games, and the Angels' middle relief is actually stronger than their set-up and closing unit. Bell will likely be the best pitcher to score runs against unless the game is still close in the final innings.

Photographs by jamesbrandon, jdtornow, phlezk, flygraphix, mcdlttx, tomasland, and literalbarrage used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.