Angels vs. Royals Series Preview: Revenge of the ALDS

Oh, good. Angels vs.  Royals, so early in the season. Just who I was hoping for the Angels to see. I was really hoping to be forced to relive the tragedy that was the ALDS before the new season even really got going. Do we really have to do this? I really don’t want to talk about this. Please don’t make me talk about this.

LAST TIME ON ANGELS VS. ROYALS…
I SAID I DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT!!!

THE NARRATIVE
Alright, fine. Obviously the storyline for this series is going to primarily focus on how the Royals rolled the Angels in the ALDS. It will mostly talk about how the Royals are full of magic and wonder and the Angels weren’t built for the postseason. Forget about the fact that the first two games were extra inning affairs, which are essentially coin flips. The Angels very easily could’ve taken a 2-0 lead rather than going down 0-2. No, nobody cares about that part of the narrative. They just want to remind the Angels that their big stars and payroll got thumped in Game 3 and make the Angels relive their shame. Like this:
[mlbvideo id=”36760193″ width=”400″ height=”224″ /]

THE MATCH-UPS
FRIDAY, 4/10: Hector Santiago vs. Jason Vargas
Ah, old friend Jason Vargas returned. I actually quite liked having Jason Vargas on the Halos and one could make a pretty good case that had the Angels re-signed Vargas, they wouldn’t have dealt for Hector Santiago, who I really don’t like having on the Angels.

SATURDAY, 4/11: Jered Weaver vs. Jeremy Guthrie
Another start spent worrying about Jered Weaver’s velocity? C’mon, man. We don’t have time for that.

That’s totally what this game is going to be all about though. After dropping all the way to 83.5 MPH in his first start, we’ll be lucky to get three pitches into the game before everyone either declares Jered forever broken or completely fixed. Me? I just hope it is warm out.

SUNDAY, 4/12: C.J. Wilson vs. Yordano Ventura
Did you know that C.J. Wilson made the shortest start in MLB postseason history? Oh, you did, well I’m sure you’ll only be reminded of it anyway another three dozen times before this game is over.

OFFICIAL PREDICTION
After predicting the Angels to handily win the ALDS, I’ve learned my lesson and am setting my hubris aside. The Angels will win the first game of the series, just to prove that they are not totally helpless against KC’s devil magic, only to drop the next two games in frustrating fashion. Just like old times!

UNOFFICIAL PREDICTION (so don’t hold me to it)
Jered Weaver’s average fastball will be over 86 MPH, but barely. This will be cause for great celebration.