Jason Isringhausen says ’70 percent’ chance he’ll retire after Angels’ season
Jason Isringhausen said there’s a “70 percent” chance he’ll retire after this season. (Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)
Los Angeles Angels reliever Jason Isringhausen said there’s a “70 percent” chance he’ll retire after this season, according to a report Thursday from Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com.
He said that if he does return to the big leagues for his 16th season, he would want it to be with the Kansas City Royals or St. Louis Cardinals so that he can be closer to his family in Illinois.
Isringhausen, who turned 40 years old earlier in September, said he wants to spend more time with his two daughters after admitting that teams may not be in need of his services anymore. He said teams probably don’t want an older pitcher when there’s younger guys who can pitch faster. He also said that his decision right now to lean towards retirement is a result of his sub par pitching as of late; he has a 4.14 ERA on the season and 5.74 since the All-Star break:
“When I’m not pitching, that makes me miss them more,” he said. “I want to be home and my role on the team is not definitive anymore, and I don’t like that part. I want to have more fun, more pitching. But if I had pitched better down the stretch, I’d probably be pitching more now. Not too many teams need a 40-year-old who’s throwing 90 [mph] when they have kids throwing 96.”
Once this season wraps, Isringhausen said he will continue to stay in shape and resume pitching in December. Whenever he does retire, he said he would consider being a high school or college coach, or a special instructor in the MLB. But he said he doesn’t want to coach in the big leagues because it would be counterintuitive to his wish to be closer to home:
“I’ve had 20 years of being gone from home, and I want my next 20 to be at home.”
