Angels appear to have found a good fit for ninth-inning role in well-traveled Bailey

With his first pitch at his first home Monday, the Angels’ Andrew Bailey fired an errant fastball. When he received the ball back from his catcher, he surreptitiously glanced at the radar-gun reading flashing near Oakland Coliseum’s left-field foul pole.

Angels second baseman Cliff Pennington noticed, and so he shouted the number out to his old friend: 92.4 mph. With the second pitch, Bailey fired another fastball, which was fouled off by an Oakland rookie. Both Bailey and Pennington watched 92.4 mph flit again.

“You don’t even have to look,” Pennington shouted. “It’s the same.”

Velocity is paramount to the 32-year-old right-hander, who has fought for years to recapture most of what he once had. Perhaps he finally has. In his first week with the Angels, Bailey has become the club’s unofficial closer, succeeding in both of his save chances, including one here Monday after he stopped checking the radar gun.

“As a friend,” Pennington said, “this is like the coolest thing ever.”

In 174 innings for the Athletics from 2009 to 2011, Bailey logged 75 saves and a 2.07 earned-run average, fifth-best in the major leagues. He was twice an All-Star and one of the sport’s top closers. Oakland then traded him to Boston for a package fronted by future Dodger Josh Reddick.

In 88 innings since the trade, Bailey has a 5.32 ERA. He tore a ligament in his thumb in a spring-training collision at first base before he could pitch, missed more than four months and was not right when he returned to the Red Sox. He strained his biceps the following April.

“That was pretty much the start of everything,” Bailey said. “I just wasn’t the same after that.”

He returned again unsound and pitched through pain for seven weeks, until it overwhelmed him. He saw doctors and was told he would effectively require a full shoulder reconstruction. Dr. David Altchek, the New York Mets’ medical director, performed an anterior capsule repair and dredged through his labrum and rotator cuff. He told Bailey he would need at least 18 months, and probably two years, to pitch again, if he ever did. Two-time Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana had the same surgery the same year and never made it back.

Sixteen months later, after the treachery of rehab, Bailey signed with the New York Yankees, where Billy Eppler, now the Angels’ general manager, encountered him. Last week, Eppler wistfully recalled the March 2015 day Bailey first faced hitters during a spring-training road game. From his seat, he saw every Yankee who traveled along the dugout railing, audibly pulling for the pitcher.

“It’s our human nature to root for that,” Eppler said. “You can’t help but feel that this guy’s endured a lot, he’s fought a lot.”

Bailey made it up to the Yankees in September 2015 and signed with his hometown Philadelphia Phillies in December. He nearly won the closing role in spring training, but settled in middle relief and walked too many hitters to be useful.

The Phillies released him Aug. 6. Eppler called within the week and offered him a triple-A spot. Bailey accepted it, succeeded, and was then called up Friday.

“I felt like I could’ve just got on a horse and rode it into the sunset,” Bailey said. “But, unfortunately, I didn’t make the most of the opportunity. I feel like here is a great opportunity to prove myself again.”

The day he was called up, Eppler described Bailey as a “pretty special guy” and said, “A lot of the guys in that clubhouse will feel that way as they get to know him.”

Many in Oakland do. On the field here Tuesday, Bailey hugged Eric Raleigh, a longtime stadium security guard he saw regularly as an Athletic. The backyard of Raleigh’s Bay Area home features a steep grade he must climb in order to mow his lawn. In 2010 or 2011, Bailey offered him a pair of his used cleats to make it easier.

“I use his cleats. I still do,” Raleigh said. “I don’t want to sound trite, like when people say, ‘That guy just gets it.’ But I just think that’s how he was. He was glad to be here. He is glad to be here.”

Short hops

The Angels lost, 3-2, to Oakland on Tuesday. Right-hander Ricky Nolasco carried a perfect-game bid into the sixth and shut out the Athletics for seven innings, but lost his release point in the eighth and loaded the bases without an out. Reliever Mike Morin entered and yielded the two go-ahead singles. . . . Right-hander Matt Shoemaker, who suffered a skull fracture when he was struck by a line drive while pitching Sunday and underwent emergency surgery Monday, was released from Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. He could return home Wednesday. The club will insert a starter into Shoemaker’s rotation spot Saturday against Texas. . . . The Angels activated outfielder Shane Robinson but do not plan to add anyone else to their roster this month. Tim Lincecum and Johnny Giavotella’s seasons likely are over.

pedro.moura@latimes.com

Twitter: @pedromoura