Angels Believe They Have Jewel In Jewell

ANAHEIM—There is a tendency to look at Jake Jewell’s body, a fastball that has touched 99 mph and his second-half struggles as a starter last season and surmise that the 6-foot-3, 215-pound righthander is better suited for relief.

But the Angels have no immediate plans to move Jewell, a fifth-round pick in 2014, to the bullpen.

“He’s definitely a starter,” said Mike LaCassa, the team’s director of minor league operations. “You always have that question two or three years down the road—what would his stuff look like out of the bullpen? I have no idea, but right now, there is no red flag as to why he couldn’t start.”

Jewell, who went 6-8, 4.77 in 31 games, 15 of them starts, at low Class A Burlington last season, is athletic with a strong, sturdy frame. He has an easy, repeatable delivery and creates some deception with his arm angle.

“All of those things combined point to us thinking he can start,” LaCassa said. “But what really put him over hump was the development of his repertoire.”

Jewell has a heavy fastball with late tail that sits between 92-95 mph, and he can spin a slider and a curve.

He did not have enough confidence in his changeup to throw it in a game for the first month of 2015. But he gained a feel for the pitch in side sessions that were part of what the Angels call their “changeup challenge,” a program they put some prospects through in an effort to master the tricky offspeed pitch.

“He really took off with it,” LaCassa said of Jewell. “It went from a pitch he wasn’t able to throw in a game in April to his best pitch.”

Jewell showed good command throughout 2015, striking out 110 and walking 31 in 111 innings for nine-inning rates of 8.9 strikeouts and 2.5 walks.

Jewell will likely open 2016 at high Class A Inland Empire, and the Angels expect him to spend the entire season in the rotation and make about 27 starts.

“From what we’ve seen, his stuff could play in a big league rotation,” LaCassa said. “All the pieces add up.”

ANGEL FOOD

• Rule 5 pick Taylor Featherston spent all of 2015 on the big league roster despite being overmatched at the plate, but the Angels designated the infielder for assignment in early February and subsequently sold him to the Phillies.

• The Angels signed Javy Guerra to a minor league deal with an invitation to big league camp. The righthander served a 50-game suspension for a second positive test for a drug of abuse last season.