Loup to Team USA
When left-hander Aaron Loup pitched in an exhibition against Team USA on Thursday, he did so with an ulterior motive.
“I kind of wanted to show them, ‘Hey I’m over here, you might have forgotten about me,’ ” Loup said Saturday. “Anytime you face a lineup like those guys had over there, I always like a challenge. It definitely brought a little bit of the best out of me, for sure.”
Loup pitched a scoreless inning against Team USA, and it impressed Manager Mark Derosa enough that he asked for Loup to join the team after lefthander Brooks Raley got hurt.
Loup did not hesitate in saying yes.
“It’s really exciting,” Loup said. “For doing what I’ve done in my career and gotten to this point to be able to have a chance to go and pitch for your country and play for something as big as this is, it’s definitely an honor.”
Loup, 35, is trying to bounce back from an up-and-down season in which he struggled early and then settled down to post a 3.84 ERA. He has not allowed a run in two Cactus League games or the exhibition against Team USA.
“For me, it’s the best I’ve felt in camp in a long time,” Loup said. “It’s shown the way I’ve pitched the first two or three times. Felt great. Pitching great. Stuff’s been working, so I’ve got no complaints.”
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Manager Phil Nevin said the Angels are not “leaning toward anything right now” in terms of whether they’ll use a traditional sixth starter or have that spot be filled by someone who goes between starting and relieving. The top candidates for that spot would seem to be lefthander Tucker Davidson and right-handers Jaime Barria, Griffin Canning and Chase Silseth. Nevin conceded that the plan of using a swingman would be affected by which pitcher wins the job. Canning, for example, has never pitched in relief, so the Angels might prefer to have him on a more predictable schedule. Nevin said the Angels will make those decisions when “when we get a week or so away” from the season.