Angels Opening Day Bullpen Set, Fingers Crossed

Well it ain't Donnely-to-Percival and it ain't Shields-to-Frankie and it ain't Minton-to-Harvey but it is Joe Smith to Ernesto Frieri and the 2014 Angels shall enter the season with this Setup-Closer combo until further notice. Frieri had ten one-inning appearances in Spring without surrendering a run.

Veteran Halo relievers Kevin Jepsen and Michael Kohn will likely be the seventh inning guys. The other three relievers are Fernando Salas (underwhelmingly acquired as part of the Peter Bourjos trade) and lefty Nick Maronde (the only Lefty and not a good one at that), and finally, the man who takes Joe Blanton's spot as the designated innings-eating mopper-upper in case disaster hits, the bearded wizard himself, Matt Shoemaker.

Recently acquired Jose Alvarez (acquired for Andrew Romine) goes to AAA while righty reliever Cory Rasmus (acquired last summer for Scott Downs) goes there as well. Relief bubble arm Ryan Brasier hops onto the DL with a sore elbow. It is a crowded DL with Sean Burnett, Brian Moran and Dane De La Rosa hanging out in the infirmary too.