Keynan Middleton earns spot in Angels’ late-inning mix as team surges in wild-card race

He had a disappointing spring training, and Angels manager Mike Scioscia said at the time that he “never really found himself.”

But reliever Keynan Middleton went back to work with an arm that can blow away hitters, no matter what level. He now finds himself in the Angels’ closer mix as their playoff chase resumes Tuesday with two games in Washington against the Nationals.

“I’m really looking forward to that [role],” Middleton said recently. “Ever since I moved to the bullpen last year, my one goal is that I want to be the closer for this team in the long run.”

Middleton, 23, has played an important part in his team’s current surge, emerging as a high-leverage workhorse as the Angels have gone 10-3 in August, including the current six-game winning streak that has moved them into the lead in the race for the second American League wild-card playoff berth.

Middleton has appeared in five of those six games, recording two wins and two saves. He earned his second career save Sunday and got the win in the two previous games as the Angels swept the Seattle Mariners.

Scioscia has spread out the bullpen duty to preserve arms, and Middleton is part of that plan going forward. His ascension to a key late-inning role seems a quick turnaround from his spring struggles.

A third-round draft pick in 2013, Middleton turned heads with his velocity when he became a reliever. He throws in the mid-90s and higher, primarily with two pitches.

He didn’t seem to be initially aware of Scioscia’s plan when he was told to warm up before the ninth inning of a taut Aug. 8 game against the Baltimore Orioles.

He experienced the tightrope walk of a closer when he allowed a two-out home run before he secured a 3-2 win.

“It wasn’t that cool,” Middleton said of his first major league save.

Middleton pitched a scoreless eighth inning against the Orioles the next night, then pitched three times during the four-game sweep at Seattle that followed. He worked another scoreless eighth on Friday and got the last out in the seventh on Saturday, earning wins both nights, and pitched the ninth Sunday, when he gave up three hits and a run before securing the final out for the save.

He takes a big-picture view about being asked to end a game.

“I was pretty surprised, but I was ready to do it,” Middleton said. “That’s the spot I want to be in. That’s what I want to do.”

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