All-Quarter Century Angels: Which pitchers make the cut?

This story was excerpted from Rhett Bollinger’s Angels Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

ANAHEIM -- In last week’s newsletter, we named the All-Angels team of the last 25 years from a position-player perspective, but this time it’s all about the pitchers.

The Angels saw Bartolo Colon win the AL Cy Young Award in 2005, while Francisco Rodriguez set the all-time single-season save record with 62 in ’08. Colon led the league with 21 wins in '05 and Jered Weaver tied for the league lead in wins in both '12 and '14. Weaver also paced the Majors with 233 strikeouts in '10, John Lackey won the ERA title in '07 and Griffin Canning won a Gold Glove in 2020.

Here’s the Angels’ quarter-century all-pitching team, with a five-man rotation and five relievers:

RHP Jered Weaver
Weaver was the club’s best pitcher over the last 25 years, leading the organization with 150 wins, 1,598 strikeouts and 2,025 innings from 2006-16. He was the club’s Opening Day starter a club-record seven times while being named an All-Star from 2010-12. He also threw a no-hitter against the Twins in 2012 and fared well in postseason action in '07, '08, '09 and '14, going 2-1 with a 2.60 ERA in seven appearances, including four starts.

RHP John Lackey
Lackey became an Angels legend as a rookie in 2002, earning the win in Game 7 of the World Series. He went on to have an impressive career, including eight strong seasons with the Halos. Lackey was an All-Star in ’07, when he led the AL with a 3.01 ERA. Like Weaver, he excelled in the playoffs, going 3-4 with a 3.12 ERA in 14 appearances (12 starts) in '02, '05, '07, '08 and '09.

RHP Ervin Santana
Santana had an underrated stint with the Angels from 2005-12, winning 96 games and posting a 4.33 ERA with 1,167 strikeouts in 1,475 2/3 innings. His best season came in 2008, when he was an All-Star and struck out 214 batters. He also threw a no-hitter against Cleveland in 2011 and earned memorable wins over the Yankees in the '05 and '09 playoffs.

LHP Jarrod Washburn
Washburn debuted in 1998, but his best seasons with the club came from 2000-05, when he went 65-49 with a 3.80 ERA in 1,017 2/3 innings. He finished fourth in the balloting for the AL Cy Young Award in 2002, when he had a 3.15 ERA in 206 innings and was a key member of the World Series-winning team.

RHP Bartolo Colon
Colon had a short but memorable stint with the club from 2004-07 and cemented his place on the list by winning the AL Cy Young Award in '05. He led the league with 21 wins, had a 3.48 ERA in 222 2/3 innings and was an All-Star that year.

RHP Francisco Rodríguez
Rodriguez burst onto the scene as an electric rookie in 2002, posting a 1.93 ERA in 11 postseason appearances and picking up five wins. He served as an elite setup reliever from 2003-04, including being an All-Star in '04 before becoming closer in '05. Rodríguez led the league with 45 saves in '05 and 47 in '06 before making history in his final season with the club with an MLB-record 62 saves in '08.

RHP Troy Percival
Percival had already established himself as a top reliever with the Angels from 1995-99 but remained an elite closer with the club from 2000-04. He was an All-Star in 2001 and posted a 2.79 ERA with seven saves in the 2002 postseason, including getting the final out of the World Series.

RHP Scot Shields
Shields was as reliable and durable as they come, as he posted a 3.18 ERA with 631 strikeouts in 697 innings from 2001-2010. He saw action in the '02 World Series to earn a ring and had a 3.20 ERA in 17 career postseason appearances with the club.

RHP Brendan Donnelly
Like Shields, Donnelly was never the club’s closer but was an elite setup reliever during his time with the club from 2002-06, posting a 2.87 ERA with 295 strikeouts in 295 innings. He impressed in the 2002 postseason with a 4.15 ERA and four holds in 11 appearances and was an All-Star in '03.

RHP Huston Street
Street finished his career with the Angels from '14-17, and while he was never an All-Star with the club, he was a dependable closer. He posted a 3.37 ERA with 66 saves in parts of four seasons with the Angels, including registering 40 saves in '15.