Angels reliever Adam Cimber says new perspective has helped him on the mound

ANAHEIM — Adam Cimber is enjoying a hot start to his season on the mound, and he says it’s because of what’s happening off the mound.

The Angels reliever has a 2.60 ERA through his 18 games, and four of the five runs he allowed were in one game. He’s also stranded all 12 of the runners he’s inherited.

It is still something of a small sample size, and it’s not totally out of character for Cimber, who had a 3.49 ERA coming into the season.

Nonetheless, he says there is something different about this season. He’s now the father of a 2-year-old son and a daughter who is about to celebrate her first birthday, and he said the combination of his family and faith has helped him put baseball in the right perspective.

“I started prioritizing the other things in my life that I want to be, and the identity that I want, the person I want to be, the identity I want to have,” Cimber said. “It’s not baseball. That makes baseball easier too, when you realize that baseball is just what you do; it’s not who you are.”

Cimber, 33, said when he’s at home in the morning playing with his kids, he’s not thinking about the fact that he might inherit runners on the corners in a tight game later that day.

“I think this year I’m trying to live life in the moment,” Cimber said. “When those moments come and I’m in that moment on the mound, just attack with everything you got. If it works out, awesome. If it doesn’t, there will be more moments.  Next one, you just try to attack again. Chose to be happy and live life in those moments.”

Whatever the reasons for Cimber’s effectiveness, the Angels are thrilled with the early returns from a player who signed a one-year, $1.65-million deal last winter.

Only one reliever in the majors has inherited more runners without allowing any to score this season. Detroit Tigers right-hander Alex Lange has stranded all 13 of the runners he’s inherited.

Manager Ron Washington said Cimber’s success with runners on base is because of the way he pitches, with a release point that has dropped well below sidearm.

“He throws strikes and he has a funky delivery,” Washington said. “It’s tough to really lock into. And if he was one of those that had that funky delivery and couldn’t hit the strike zone with it, it wouldn’t be as effective, but it’s effective because he throws strikes and he’s coming from that funky angle.”

HOT AND COLD

First baseman Nolan Schanuel got a day off on Sunday, even though the Angels were facing a right-hander.

Schanuel hit .093 in his first 13 games, followed by .388 in his next 13, and then .133 in the last eight.

“Well, that’s baseball,” Washington said. “It goes in ebbs and flows, especially when you are a young kid. A veteran, when he finds his stuff at the beginning of a year, it’ll be a while before he loses it. This kid finds it. He loses it. He finds it. He loses it. He’s the one that has to decide how to hold on to it. And only way he’s gonna be able to hold on to it is to experience playing and and start believing. And I’m not saying he doesn’t believe in himself. But we are all trying to find that consistency. And he’s also trying to find that consistency. So it’s gonna be a battle until he locks it in.”

NOTES

As outfielder Jo Adell continues his strong start to the season, questions persist about whether Washington should move him up from the bottom of the order. Washington tried him briefly up in the order a couple weeks ago, and he didn’t like the way Adell seemed to change his approach. Now, he’s content to keep him where he is. “When you’ve got a kid that hasn’t had success, and he’s having success … I’m not going to test Jo Adell right now,” Washington said. “That’s not to say somewhere in the season he might not hit fourth, but right now I’m happy where he is and he’s not bugging me about moving.” …

Infielders Luis Rengifo (virus) and Miguel Sanó (knee inflammation) were both on the field doing drills before Sunday’s game. The Angels are hoping that Rengifo will be back sometime in the next week, and there’s no timetable for Sanó.

UP NEXT

Angels (RHP José Soriano, 1-4, 4.32) vs. Cardinals (LHP Matthew Liberatore, 1-1, 3.54) at Angel Stadium, 6:38 p.m. PT Monday, Bally Sports West, 830 AM.