Orange County Register

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.

As foretold here, the Angels gave their bullpen a good shake following tonight’s game.

Jose Arredondo was sent down to Triple-A Salt Lake and replaced by Kevin Jepsen. Arredondo was understandably caught by surprise when given the news after the game.

“A little bit,yeah,” he said, his eyes clearly showing that it was more than a little bit of a surprise.

“I don’t know (what to make of it). I can’t say, “No.” I have to go.”

Arredondo has been far from the dynamic reliever he was a year ago as a rookie when he was 10-2 with a 1.62 ERA in 52 appearances and held opposing batters to a .190 average.

This season, he has a 5.55 ERA with 28 hits and 12 walks in 24 1/3 innings.

“Jose needs to work things out,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “We saw what his upside was last year and how much we were counting on his continued progress this year. He’s obviously taken a small step bakwards.

“He needs to find it. Hopefully, he’ll find it quickly and be back up here.”

Jepsen was sent down to Triple-A to “find it,” too. He doesn’t appear to have but he’s coming back anyway. He had a 9.00 ERA in Salt Lake.

“His role is going to be when he gets in there, go get some guys out,” Scioscia said.

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