Time to start catching up in the division
Road trip! The A’s are down in Southern California today to kick off a three-game series against their division rivals, the Los Angeles Angels. These two teams have already seen each other once this season, getting swept at home in four games and getting outscored 31-18 right in the middle of that horrible 11-game losing streak the team suffered last month.
- Angels W/L record: 30-34 (4th in AL West)
- Run differential: -55
- Team OPS: .693 (19th of 30)
- Team ERA: 4.85 (24th of 30)
Since seeing these guys last time they’ve gone just 6-9 but that’s a better record than the Athletics’ 4-12 mark. The Angels have been doing their best to tread water without superstar Mike Trout. He’s finally returned to their lineup and is looking like his usual self in the batter’s box after missing nearly a month this year due to a bone bruise in his knee, but he’s still only able to DH as of this moment. That makes things harder for them since regular right fielder Jorge Soler is dealing with a hamstring strain and can’t man the field. It’ll be interesting to see how they handle this situation over the next few games. The A’s didn’t see Trout in their previous series so it’ll be the first time we see him suit up against the team this season.
Los Angeles has gotten lots of power out of the rest of their lineup, ranking 3rd in all of baseball with 93 long balls. Outfielder Taylor Ward leads the team with 18 homers and they have five players with double-digit home runs. The Angels’ most consistent hitter this year has been shortstop Zach Neto, who has a team-leading .800 OPS while playing just about everyday. But while they’ve been swinging for the fences, they’ve been allergic to walks with the second-fewest in the sport and an accompanying 3rd-worst OBP. If the A’s start issuing free passes it’ll be hard to avoid game-changing homers all week.
Things with their pitching haven’t gotten much better. While they’ve kept getting lucky in that they haven’t had any pitching injuries to their starters, they still rank in the bottom third in most pitching categories. Tyler Anderson was the club’s best pitcher in the first month of the season but has regressed back to his normal numbers, and two of their five starting pitchers have ERA’s in the 5’s. Things in their bullpen haven’t improved either as their 5.49 group ERA is 28th in the league, but still ahead of the Athletics’ own bullpen.
For the second straight series, the A’s aren’t revealing their pitching plans right away. That indicates that the team will be turning to the opener strategy once again. It could be anyone opening tonight’s first game but it’s lined up to be a bulk start for left-hander Jeffrey Springs on Monday night. The team used this strategy last time out against the Twins and the team got great results, so hopefully it’ll be more of the same tonight to start the series. Springs didn’t make an appearance during the previous series against these guys. Right-hander Mitch Spence should also be getting a start during this series, which would be his second of the season. He could really lock down a rotation spot with another big outing against the Angels this week.
The Angels will counter with their own lefty in veteran Yusei Kikuchi. The 7-year veteran is just 1-5 so far in his first season in Anaheim but he’s pitched to a much better 3.23 ERA through 13 starts, which currently leads the team. Like Springs, Kikuchi didn’t make a start in the last series so this will be the A’s batters’ first time seeing him this season. Tonight could end up shaping up into a pitching duel between these two lefties.
Tuesday evening’s contest will see Los Angeles throw out right-hander Jose Soriano for what will be his 13th start. The 26-year-old was solid in his lone start against the Athletics last month, tossing six innings of 3-run ball en route to his third win of the season. His previous start did not go nearly as well though as he allowed seven runs in less than four innings of work against the Boston Red Sox.
Wrapping up the series on Wednesday afternoon the Angels will turn to veteran Kyle Hendricks, who the A’s will see for the second time this season as well. The longtime Cub hasn’t bounced like Los Angeles hoped he would in his first season in LA, posting a 5.40 ERA on the year. On the plus side he hasn’t had many meltdown outings, only allowing more than four runs twice in his 13 starts for the Angels. His last outing against the Athletics was enough for his second win in an Angels uniform, pitching into the sixth inning in a blowout win for the Athletics’ division rival.
The team won’t be able to catch the Angels in the standings during this series but Los Angeles is the team that the Athletics have the best chance at hopping up the standings. That would start tonight with a series-opening win. Let’s see if they can get a two-game winning streak going!