There are seemingly infinite ways to sum up how much the Angels’ offense has struggled in the season’s first six weeks. You could point out that their .643 OPS is the worst in the American League by more than 30 points, and that they have 153 fewer total bases than the Royals. Or you could dwell on how, until Saturday, they hadn’t scored more than five runs in a game in the entire month of May, and how they’ve scored 6+ runs only seven times all year — the Dodgers, meanwhile, have done it 18 (!) times. Or you could simply glance at the club’s AL-worst 3.72 runs per game. All do a fair job of illuminating how impotent the Angels have been with the bat this year.
The number that really cuts to the core of the team’s offensive woes, though, is this one:
23.
As in, opposing starters have racked up 23 quality starts against the Halos in just 36 games. That comes out to a quality-start rate of 64% for Angels opponents, higher than any single pitching staff can boast this season. And these aren’t your cheap six innings of three-run ball quality starts either — only one of the 23 actually fits that description. No, these are mostly dominant starts, with a cumulative 2.23 RA and all but seven lasting at least into the seventh inning.
And it’s only becoming worse as the season wears on.
The Angels have played 14 games so far in May. You know how many of those have featured quality starts by the opponent? I guarantee you it’s more than you’re thinking, because the answer is difficult to comprehend given that the Halos have a winning record (8-6) this month. Ready?
It’s 12.
Seriously. All but two games this month have featured quality starts by the opposing pitcher, and one of those two was on account of Rockies starter Jordan Lyles getting hurt in the first inning. If we cheat and say his replacement counts as a sort of second starter, then Christian Bergman’s 5.1 innings of one-run ball added to Lyles’ scoreless frame effectively makes it 13 quality starts this month.
This kind of thing isn’t supposed to happen outside of 1968. As starters turn through the lineup a second and third time, getting outs is meant to become more difficult — familiarity plus fatigue is supposed to equal hits. Not so with the Angels.
The offense has been its same disappointing self no matter how many times it sees a certain starting pitcher. It’s only reprieve this month has been the promise of seeing the bullpen at some point late in the game. Twenty-five of the team’s 45 runs this month have come in the seventh inning or later, mostly against relief arms. While starters have recorded a 2.59 RA in 94 May innings against the Angels, relievers have put up twice the RA (~5.00) in a third of the time.
There’s no telling when or if the offense will eventually snap out of its funk, but at least we now what to keep an eye on. The team can’t expect to succeed in the long-term if the opposition is throwing down quality starts every other night. The only reason the Angels are anywhere close to .500 is because their own pitching has matched other team’s more often than not — their 3.37 ERA is the AL’s best. However, it’s hard to trust that C.J. Wilson and Hector Santiago will both have sub-2.50 ERAs when all is said and done, so some sign of life from the offense would be nice.
Preferably before the seventh inning.
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