2020 Angels in review: Hansel Robles

After two really good seasons with the Angels, Hansel Robles struggled immensely in 2020. He had the best season of his career in 2019, and really looked to build on that as the Halos turned to 2020.

He found a really good role with the Angels as he became their closer last year, finishing the season with a career-high 23 saves. In 2020, Robles would record only one save, and ended up losing his closing job.

Right out of the gate he struggled to start the season. He allowed three runs to score in his first outing, and things just went downhill from there. Through his first seven games, Robles allowed 10 runs to come across the plate in only 6 ¹⁄₃ innings of work. Opponents hit .357 off him and had an OPS of nearly 1.200.

Robles actually had a pretty decent five-game stretch where he didn’t allow a run over 4 ¹⁄₃ innings with seven strikeouts. However, things quickly changed to close the season, as he posted a 10.38 ERA over his final nine games. Overall, Robles finished with career-low numbers across the board.

2020 particulars

Age: 30

Stats: 0-2, 10.26 ERA, 16 ²⁄₃ IP, 20 SO, 1.74 WHIP

Salary: $1,425,926

Game of the year

With so many disastrous outings in 2020, there were a few good ones for Robles. His best came on August 12 versus Oakland, when he struck out the side on 15 pitches. It was one of only two outings all season in which Robles recorded at least three strikeouts.

Roster status

Robles has five years and 119 days of service time. He’s eligible for arbitration, but after the season he just had it’s hard to see the Angels bringing him back.