All Angels team 1965-2017, pitchers

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The Angels have had some high profile pitchers in their history, but sometimes there has been more sizzle than steak. Still, it's hard to knock the guys on the list. Some guys who missed the list are Clyde “Skeeter” Wright, Mark Langston and Mike Witt. George Burnett was 15 games under .500 at 54-69 but put up an ERA of 3.13. He was the poster boy of the won and lost record doesn't matter of his day. Here are the guys that did make the list.

Starting pitcher: Nolan Ryan After coming over from the Mets for Jim Fregosi, Nolan hit his stride with the Angels. Nolan spent eight seasons with the Halos, and hurled over 300 innings in two of those seasons. Nolan averaged 10 strikeouts per 9 innings during those eight seasons, going going 133-121. Nolan averaged 5.4 walks per 9 innings, but that was mitigated by his giving up only 6.3 hits per 9 innings. Nolan's WAR for those eight seasons in California was 40.2. His best season was 1979 when he put up a WAR of 7.7. Nolan also put up two seasons of 20+ wins. The numbers go on and on, but you get it, Nolan Ryan was one of the best pitchers in the history of the game.

Starting pitcher: Frank Tanana At his peak, Tanana teamed with Nolan Ryan to give the Angels a lethal 1-2 punch in their starting rotation. Frank's WAR totals from 1975-77 were 7.4-7.5-8.3. He led the AL in ERA in 1977 with a 2.54 mark. Early in his career, Frank was a strikeout guy with excellent control. Injuries later reduced him to being the proverbial crafty lefty. He adapted to that role really well, spending 21 years in the big leagues. Tanana spent 8 of those seasons with the Angels, going 102-78 with an ERA of 3.08. His total WAR with the Angels was 34.4. Frank slots in nicely as the number two starter for the Angels.

Starting pitcher: Chuck Finley Beyond being a pop culture reference, Chuck was a very good pitcher. You might remember Chuck was married to Tawny Kitaen. Sam Axe, from TV's Burn Notice, often used Chuck Finley as an alias. Baseball wise, Chuck is the winningest pitcher in Angels history, going 165-140. Finley had 6 seasons of 15 wins or more with the Angels. Finley spent 14 seasons in California, piling up a WAR of 52.2. He was a five time all star and all in all, was a durable, effective starter for his long tenure with the Angles. His ERA 3.72, while not bad, doesn't reflect his total value to the Angels.

Starting pitcher: Jered Weaver What Weaver did better than anything else in his time with the Angels was win. In 2012 he went 20-5 to lead the AL in wins. In 2014 he went 18-9 and again led the Al in wins. In 12 seasons with thew Angels he went 150-98. From 2006-2014 he had double digits in wins. His ERA for his time with the Angels was 3.55, but that's inflated by some rough seasons during the back end of his career. Three times he finished in the top 5 for the Cy Young Award. Weaver started 30 or more games seven times during his time with the Angels. Jered Weaver slots in nicely at number four in this Angels rotation.

Starting pitcher: Andy Messersmith Messersmith spent five seasons with the Angels and during that time his highest ERA was 3.01. Twice he allowed the fewest hits per 9 innings in the AL. Before going on to the Dodgers, Andy went 59-47 with an ERA 2.72. Messersmith won 20 games for the Angels in 1971. Because of his relatively short time with the Angels and the fact he split his prime between the Angels and Dodgers makes it easy to overlook Messersmith. That's a shame. The guy was very good.

Relief pitcher: Francisco Rodriguez In his seven seasons with the Angels, Rodriguez led the AL in saves three times. His 208 saves rank second on the Angles all time saves leaders. Rodriguez gets the top spot by virtue of a higher save percentage than Percival and a much lower ERA. Francisco struck out 11.7 hitters per 9 innings while with the Angels and allowed only 6.1 hits per 9 innings. Rodriguez maxed out in 2008 with 62 saves in 69 save opportunities. His body of work is good enough to get the number one slot on this list.

Relief pitcher: Troy Percival Troy spent 10 seasons with the Angles and amassed 308 saves during that time to become the Angles all time saves leader. Percival was a big strikeout guy, averaging 10.4 during his tenure in California. Troy's ERA for his time with the Angels was 2.99 to go with a WHIP of 1.101 Troy had between 27-42 saves for 9 of his seasons with the Halos, so he gets points for consistency.

Relief pitcher: Bryan Harvey Bryan Harvey rounds out the Angels pen. Harvey led the AL in saves with 46 in 1991. In six seasons out of the Angels pen, Harvey put together 126 saves with an ERA of 2.49. He was also a big strikeout guy, averaging 10.7 strikeouts per 9 innings. All three of the guys listed in the Angels pen were similar. They were all hard throwing right handers who were got a lot of strikeouts.

There are my pitchers for the Angels. What do you think? Agree? Disagree? If so why? Regardless I hope you enjoy the list.

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