Series Preview: Angels vs. Athletics vs. Rotation Regularity

After dropping four of six on their recent East coast swing against the Yankees and Rays, the Angels return home to the Big A for a three-game set against their division rival Oakland Athletics. The A’s are currently riding the hot streak of rookie centerfielder Billy Burns and coming off a series win against the Texas Rangers.

Burns has been absolutely on fire, hitting safely in 14 of his last 15 games bringing his batting average up to .313 and he currently leads all American League rookies with 15 multi-hit games. The Angels plan to answer Oakland and the blazing Burns with some elite offense of their own. Mike Trout and Albert Pujols have combined to hit 34 homeruns (each has 17) in 2015 which is tops in all of MLB for a pair of teammates. Trout has 7 homeruns in his last 12 games and Pujols has 9 dingers in his last 15 games.  Angel fans that make it out to the stadium over the weekend seem destined to see some hot bats doing their thing.

Game One: Hector Santiago vs. Jesse Chavez
Taking the hill for the Halos on Friday evening is lefty Hector Santiago who sports a 4-3 record with a 2.55 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP.  He will oppose right-hander Jesse Chavez who brings to town a very respectable line of his own at 2-6 with a 2.51 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP.  This match-up is interesting from a pitching standpoint as both hurlers are somewhat cut from the same cloth. Both guys have been in and out of the bullpen throughout their big league careers and have bounced between starting gigs in their teams’ rotations and jobs as long men.

Santiago and Chavez thus far though are having the best year of their careers in 2015 as they’ve harnessed their electric stuff to cut down on walks and raise their strikeout rates. Each can run their fastball up to the 94 mph range and have put away off-speed pitches that can leave hitters guessing. Santiago will get his first start in nine days after having his rotation spot skipped in New York to get his arm some rest. Unfortunately, he did end up having to pitch in emergency against the Yankees, going 3-2/3 scoreless innings in a blowout game that saw Garrett Richards suffer a first inning mound meltdown.Chavez comes off a bit of clunker his last time out in Boston giving up 4 earned runs and allowing a season high 10 hits in five innings. Santiago will have his hands full with the aforementioned Burns, and also the more than warm Josh Reddick who recently hit his 9^th homerun of the season and is hitting .385 in his last seven games and .313 on the year. Catcher Stephen Vogt is also a force for the A’s bringing his .290 batting average and career high 11 homeruns to Anaheim. Chavez gets Trout and Pujols and also will likely face rookie 3B Kyle Kubitza who in two major league starts has thus far shown he can handle major league pitching going 3 for his first 6 in the big leagues with an RBI and a run scored filling in for the injured David Freese.

Game Two: C.J. Wilson vs. Kendall Graveman
Saturday night’s probable starters are LHP CJ Wilson and RHP Kendall Graveman.  CJ has been the typical enigma that is CJ Wilson. He currently has a record of 3-5 with a 3.92 ERA. After starting the season strong, CJ has lost 3 of his last 4 starts, including his most recent outing at Yankee Stadium when he gave up six runs on seven hits, including three homeruns in seven innings. This will be the first time CJ has faced Oakland in 2015.

It’s been an interesting week for CJ off of the field as his name has been swirling in potential trade rumors having been linked to the Dodgers in a deal for left fielder Andre Ethier. Whether those rumors have any traction remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure, the Angels could use a left fielder. Although Matt Joyce has shown some recent signs of thawing out from his polar start to the 2015 season he is still hitting just .229 over his past 15 games and a dreadful .183 for the year. Kirk Nieuwenhuis, who the Angels acquired on May 27^th from the Mets to play some left field and hit right handed pitching was designated for assignment this week after doing his best Matt Joyce impression and hitting .100/.156/.167.

Kendall Graveman is headed the opposite direction as CJ Wilson having allowed just one earned run in seven innings in his last start, and has given up a total of just seven runs in his last four starts. His ERA has been dropping of late and now sits at a season low 4.83 and he is 3-2 on the year.

Game Three: Matt Shoemaker vs. Sonny Gray
Sunday is a 12:35pm start in Anaheim and features right-handers Matt Shoemaker and Sonny Gray.  Look out.  Sonny Gray has been spectacular in 2015 and is undoubtedly one of the most dominant arms in the American League. Gray is currently 7-3 with a sparkling 1.74 ERA and a 0.95 WHIP.  He won’t make things easy for Angels hitters so if the Halos plan to win this three game series they should probably wrap up the first two games before their matinee with Sonny. Gray is already 2-0 in two starts versus the Halos this year with a total of 15 innings pitched having allowed just eight hits, three walks and three earned runs with thirteen strikeouts.

Fortunately for the Angels, Shoemaker has looked more like Cinderella in his past few starts than the pumpkin he was beginning to resemble earlier in 2015.  Shoe will look to stay on track by keeping his splitter down in the zone against A’s hitters and keeping the ball in the yard. The long ball has been Shoe’s Achilles heel all year. He currently sits at an average of allowing 1.86 homeruns per nine innings after putting up an average of just  0.86 HR’s allowed per nine in 2014. Over his past three starts Shoemaker is 1-0 with a 1.45 ERA and has fanned 17 batters. That is the Shoe the Halos will need on Sunday to have a solid shot to beat Sonny Gray.