So much for those back-to-back quality starts. Matt Shoemaker was right back to his dinger-allowing ways and put the Angel offense in a hole they couldn’t dig out of. Shoemaker has now allowed five homers on the season, only two behind Michael Pineda‘s MLB-high.
The homers would be less concerning if Shoemaker was still sporting an excellent strikeout-to-walk ratio, but that’s not the case. During his breakout 2014 season, Shoemaker posted a 5.17 K:BB ratio; that has cratered to 1.50 this season thanks to an 11.5% walk rate. (He granted the Mariners three free passes on Sunday.) That combo of walks and homers is non-tenable, and if Shoemaker doesn’t rectify the walk or homer problem soon he will be removed from the rotation.
Run Expectancy Rundown
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/15OKPLGU_SWPt0CShS2WO5Ye6R-miq5JuCjt5Pc-4mes/pubchart” query=”oid=1976391661&format=interactive” width=”623″ height=”429″ /]A rare good day for Albert Pujols, whose first inning blast alleviated some of the Mariners four-run rally in the top half of the inning. Geovany Soto continues to shine with the bat, and his small-sample wRC+ now sits at a healthy 147.
C.J. Cron is terrible.
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/15OKPLGU_SWPt0CShS2WO5Ye6R-miq5JuCjt5Pc-4mes/pubchart” query=”oid=1154832181&format=interactive” width=”620″ height=”341″ /]Kyle Seager has had a rough start to the season, but his three-run homer off Shoemaker gave Wade Miley a much-needed head start. Leonys Martin‘s fourth-inning home run was the dagger in Shoemaker and the Angels.
If there’s a silver lining to this series loss, it’s that Angel pitching held Robinson Cano in check all weekend. Cano went 1-for-14 with a walk in Anaheim, and his one hit was a lousy single. Good for the Angels, bad for my fantasy team.
Starting Pitcher Scores
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/15OKPLGU_SWPt0CShS2WO5Ye6R-miq5JuCjt5Pc-4mes/pubchart” query=”oid=161400381&format=interactive” width=”584″ height=”293″ /]We already know about Shoemaker. Miley wasn’t great, but he was good enough to earn the win thanks to his struggling counterpart. A better offense probably could have knocked Miley around a bit more and turned this into a slug fest.
Bullpen Battle
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/15OKPLGU_SWPt0CShS2WO5Ye6R-miq5JuCjt5Pc-4mes/pubchart” query=”oid=1141913419&format=interactive” width=”620″ height=”315″ /]Credit to the Angel bullpen for eating six innings and keeping the game relatively close before the ninth inning. Nori Aoki‘s two-out walk against Cory Rasmus, followed by Seth Smith‘s two-run homer, prevented the bullpen from earning an impressive six-inning clean sheet.
Nick Vincent earned a save in a five-run victory because he entered the game with a three-run lead in the eighth inning. Your reminder that saves are a mostly worthless stat.
Game Flow
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/15OKPLGU_SWPt0CShS2WO5Ye6R-miq5JuCjt5Pc-4mes/pubchart” query=”oid=41272350&format=interactive” width=”619″ height=”315″ /]Some hope after the Angels added three runs in their half of the first inning to cut Seattle’s lead to one, but the game was over after Martin’s homer increased the M’s chance of victory 17%.
Angel Antagonist
No amount of bearded glory can save Shoemaker from this designation.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
