The Angels came to Victor Mederos this spring with a radical suggestion. They wanted to change his arm angle, which would also lead to significant changes in the types of pitches he could throw and the way he threw them.
\n
\n\u201cIt\u2019s a huge change,\u201d Mederos recalled being told. \u201cYour whole arsenal is going to change.\u201d Mederos said he did not hesitate. \u201cI\u2019m here for it,\u201d Mederos answered, describing the spring training conversation a day after his first major league start. \u201cI\u2019m here to do anything that\u2019s going to make me better.\u201d<\/p>\n
At this point, Mederos has a decent sample of minor-league performance to suggest that he is going to be better. In the big leagues, he\u2019s allowed five runs in eight innings, including three in four innings against the Dodgers on Tuesday night. The start against the Dodgers, which was on three days of rest from his previous outing in Triple-A, was enough for the Angels to keep him as the No. 5 starter, taking the spot vacated by Jack Kochanowicz. Mederos will make his next start \u2013 on six days of rest \u2013 against the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night at Angel Stadium.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love the way he competed,\u201d interim manager Ray Montgomery said on Wednesday. \u201cOn paper, it\u2019ll say four innings and three runs. But for what we needed last night, that was huge. And for him to compete through that and get through that, was big. And his growth is just going to continue from there.\u201d Mederos, 24, was the Angels\u2019 sixth-round draft pick in 2022 out of Oklahoma State. In his first 2\u00bd pro seasons, he had a 5.99 ERA in 50 minor-league starts and a 10.80 ERA in 8\u2153 innings in the majors.<\/p>\n
The direction of his career changed this spring, when minor league pitching coordinator Dom Chiti came to him with the idea of changing his arm angle. Mederos had been more over the top, but the Angels moved his arm down about 10 degrees. Mederos said the idea was to give him more deception and more movement. As he began working with the new arm angle, he and the Angels developed a new repertoire of pitches. The curveball he used to throw didn\u2019t work from the lower arm angle, so he started throwing a cutter (which is a cross between a slider and a fastball) and a sweeper (a cross between a slider and a curve). Mederos also abandoned his four-seam fastball in favor a two-seam fastball.<\/p>\n
Mederos began the season at Class-A as he got comfortable with the changes, and things really settled in for him when he moved to Triple-A. He said Triple-A pitching coach Shane Loux was instrumental in helping him. \u201cWe worked every single day on it, trying to smooth it out, and it\u2019s been working,\u201d Mederos said. At Salt Lake, Mederos had a 3.49 ERA, which is exceptional considering the hitter-friendly environment of that league and ballpark. In his last five starts before he was promoted, he had a 1.73 ERA. He gave up three runs in the first two innings against the Dodgers on Tuesday. He walked three and missed his location on an 0-and-2 changeup that Dalton Rushing hit for a two-run homer. He then settled down and pitched two scoreless innings. The Angels won, 7-6, in 10 innings.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it was a good first stepping stone,\u201d Mederos said. \u201cThere\u2019s definitely things I\u2019ve still got to work on but, the team really backed me, scoring a lot of runs. So it was good. It was good to get those last two zeroes and be able to win the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Outfielder Gustavo Campero was on crutches and wearing a boot when he was in the Angels\u2019 clubhouse after Tuesday\u2019s game. On Wednesday, Montgomery said Campero has a \u201cpretty good high ankle sprain.\u201d Montgomery stopped short of saying Campero would be out of the rest of the season, \u201cbut it\u2019s going to be a bit.\u201d \u2026 Second baseman Christian Moore was not in the lineup for the third straight game. He didn\u2019t start any of the games against the Dodgers. Montgomery has insisted that Moore will get regular playing time, but he acknowledged that one of the factors against the Dodgers is that they have four left-handed relievers. Starting third baseman Yo\u00e1n Moncada can\u2019t hit against lefties. Having Moore on the bench gives the Angels a response if the Dodgers bring in a lefty to get Moncada out of the game. Moore had two hits after coming off the bench on Tuesday night. \u201cHe played a huge part last night, not starting vs. contributing a big piece,\u201d Montgomery said. \u201cThere are going to be times he\u2019s going to play. He\u2019s going to have a huge career here. There are other times he won\u2019t start a game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Angels (LHP Yusei Kikuchi, 6-7, 3.37 ERA) at Athletics (TBD), Friday, 7:05 p.m., FDSN West, 830 AM<\/p>\n
Victor Mederos has shown significant improvement after changing his arm angle and developing a new repertoire of pitches. His first major league start against the Dodgers was a success, and he will continue to be the Angels’ No. 5 starter. Mederos’ growth and development will be crucial for the Angels’ success in the future.<\/p>\n
Q: What changes did the Angels make to Victor Mederos’ pitching style?
\nA: The Angels changed Mederos’ arm angle, moving it down about 10 degrees, and developed a new repertoire of pitches, including a cutter and a sweeper.
\nQ: What was Mederos’ performance like in his first major league start?
\nA: Mederos allowed three runs in four innings against the Dodgers, but settled down to pitch two scoreless innings and help the Angels win the game.
\nQ: What is the status of outfielder Gustavo Campero?
\nA: Campero has a "pretty good high ankle sprain" and will be out for an undetermined amount of time.
\nQ: Why was second baseman Christian Moore not in the lineup against the Dodgers?
\nA: Moore was not in the lineup because the Dodgers have four left-handed relievers, and starting third baseman Yo\u00e1n Moncada can’t hit against lefties. Having Moore on the bench gives the Angels a response if the Dodgers bring in a lefty to get Moncada out of the game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Introduction to Victor Mederos The Angels came to Victor Mederos this spring with a radical suggestion. They wanted to change his arm angle, which would also lead to significant changes in the types of pitches he could throw and the way he threw them. \u201cIt\u2019s a huge change,\u201d Mederos recalled being told. \u201cYour whole arsenal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":19861,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-19859","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/www.dailynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP25225118802801.jpg?w=1400px&strip=all&w=1400&resize=1400,933&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19859"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19859"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19859\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19862,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19859\/revisions\/19862"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}