As bad as the Angels offense has been this season — and it’s been really, really bad — I think Boston’s has been the bigger disappointment. Most projection systems had the Red Sox coasting to the AL East title on the back of the league’s best offense. It didn’t matter how underwhelming the rotation was, because the offense was primed to score 5+ runs a game. Except, well, that hasn’t happened.
The Sox are averaging just 3.83 runs per game and their .678 OPS is the third worst in the American League. Not one Boston player with any number of plate appearances owns an OPS+ greater than 118, and veteran guys like Mike Napoli (64 OPS+) and Daniel Nava (36 OPS+) are severely under-performing. Top prospects Xander Bogaerts and Mookie Betts have been serviceable thus far, but have yet to make the big steps forward that many expected. Blake Swihart and Jackie Bradley Jr., meanwhile, simply look over-matched in the big leagues.
All of this is good news for the Halos, of course, but it also means we may be in for a weekend of soccer matches at Fenway. For as bad as Boston’s 4.47 ERA looks, they have pitched much, much better in the past week or so. The club owns a 2.04 ERA and 3:1 K/BB over its last eight games, and is sending right-handed starters — who have owned the Angels to the tune of a .622 OPS — to the mound in the first two games of this series. If Angels hitters want to have a chance this weekend, they’re going to have to learn to make the Green Monster their friend.
Game 1: Garrett Richards vs. Rick Porcello
After eight months of grueling rehab, Garrett Richards returns to the scene of The Incident. Because baseball is baseball and life is life, you know Richards will be forced to make a play at first base at least once tonight. I’m calling either in the very first inning or at the exact point in the game last August where, in Richards’ own words, his knee exploded “like a Pillsbury biscuit tube.” How Richards handles the inevitable play(s) (and the Red Sox offense) will dictate whether the post-game narrative is one of redemption or trauma revisited. Let’s all hope for the former.
Like the rest of the Boston rotation Rick Porcello had a terrible start to the season, but has started turning things around in May. He’s a perfect 3-0 this month with a 2.41 ERA, but did give up two long balls in his last start. Just how the Angels will fare against him is anyone’s guess. The right-hander was thoroughly trounced by the Halos in two 2013 starts (28.20 ERA), but was more or less unhittable (0.64 ERA) in two starts against them last season. If I had to guess though, well, you know. We just went over this. The odds are not in their favor.
Game 2: C.J. Wilson vs. Steven Wright
When’s the last time you think an MLB team faced two knuckleball pitchers in the same week? Has to have been a while, right? Well, the Angels get their second knuckleballer in three days on Saturday, as Steven Wright fills in for the injured Justin Masterson. The start is just the fourth of Wright’s big-league career, and marks his first ever appearance against the Halos. Wright’s knuckler bears much more of a resemblance to R.A. Dickey’s than Tim Wakefield’s high-arcing pitch, sitting in the mid-70s and touching 80 from time to time. Given how effective Dickey was on Thursday, Wright has gotta like his chances against the Halos. He allowed three runs (two earned) over five innings against the Mariners in his last outing, and owns a 4.02 ERA on the year.
The bad version of C.J. Wilson made his second appearance of the year in Toronto on Monday, coughing up 10 hits and four runs over five innings of work. Some of the carnage was more BABIP madness — look at where Jose Bautista makes contact with this ball — and shaky defense than anything else, but a sizeable chunk of it was poor location too. The good news is that Wilson has enjoyed a fair amount of success in Fenway, so a bounce-back start could be in the cards. The lefty has allowed one run or fewer in three of his five starts in Boston, and has surrendered just one home run to the Green Monster in 31.2 innings overall.
Game 3: Hector Santiago vs Wade Miley
I’m still not sure whether I should be elated or terrified that Hector Santiago has been the Angels’ most reliable starter so far this season. For now, I suppose I’ll stick with elated. The southpaw turned in another strong effort on Tuesday in Toronto, holding a powerful Blue Jays lineup to just two runs on four hits in seven innings. Santiago’s extreme fly-ball tendencies don’t seem like the best fit for Fenway Park, especially if John Farrell decides to fill his lineup with right-handed hitters, but you could have said the same thing about the Rogers Centre. Until Santiago goes full Shoemaker on us, I suppose we should give him the benefit of the doubt that he (mostly) knows what he’s doing.
Remember when Wade Miley was runner-up in the NL Rookie of the Year voting three years ago? Yeah, me neither. It happened though, apparently, which makes it a sort of cautionary tale for our expectations regarding Matt Shoemaker. Like Porcello, Miley has shown signs of turning things around in May, lowering his earned-run average from 8.62 all the way down to 5.10. The left-hander will probably have trouble getting his ERA much lower so long as his 1.441 WHIP remains static, but if any team can help him lower that number, it’s probably the Angels.
A wake-up call for Angels bats?: Redux
Is this the series the offense finally wakes up? This is the Angels’ third straight series in a offense-friendly environment against a mostly struggling pitching staff. Something has to give this time, right? There’s no way they could possibly make their way through the AL’s three most hittable parks without at least having one game of seven or more runs, right?
RIGHT?!
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