Kevin Jepsen spent 2009 and 2010 as a setup man for the Angels, throwing 114 innings with a 4.43 ERA and 109 strikeouts, but last night the 27-year-old right-hander was demoted to Triple-A for the second straight season.
This time around Jepsen earned the demotion by coughing up nine runs in seven innings, whereas last year he allowed 11 runs in 13 innings and wasn’t a whole lot better at Triple-A before undergoing knee surgery in September.
One of the main issues with his performance in 2011 was a drop in velocity, as Jepsen’s average fastball declined from 95.7 miles per hour to 93.7 mph, but that hasn’t been the problem this season as his velocity is back to 95.8 mph.
So what’s the problem, then? Mike Scioscia told Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com that “his command, his ability to pitch in, his ability to command a breaking ball for a strike, are all things that he needs to find.”
But other than that ...
