Wednesday afternoon had to feel great for Matt Shoemaker. The right-hander hadn’t made it through any kind of start—be it MLB, spring, or minor-league—without allowing a run since August 27, 2015, and had only once since then survived a start without surrendering at least one home run. Shoemaker managed to do both against the A’s Wednesday, holding the team to just a single and three walks in six innings of work.
For a guy holding onto his spot in the rotation by a thread, not to mention occupying to last spot in our Angels Power Rankings two weeks in a row, the outing was a godsend. So much so that it’s almost secondary that the start propelled the Angels to their first series sweep of the season. Almost.
Most importantly, a strong outing from Shoemaker means another opportunity to break out this terrible Photoshop I did in 2014:
Also, don’t look now but the Angels currently occupy first place in the AL West. Yes, it’s absurdly early, but still.
Run Expectancy Rundown
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1oR8OBTC26vMkX79KiIZt_kOPrNSTPHXOrRKs-9nG8Ik/pubchart” query=”oid=1976391661&format=interactive” width=”623″ height=”389″ /]That Mike Trout guy… pretty good. It was a day of 2016 firsts for Mike, as he tallied his first stolen base, first three-hit game, and first multi-run game of the season. (Crazy to realize Trout had just one run scored on the year entering Wednesday, and that was from his Monday home run.) Kole Calhoun turned in his second straight multi-hit game, extending his hitting streak to seven. Carlos Perez and Johnny Giavotella were the only Angels starters not to record a hit. Even C.J. Cron got a knock, though he’s still looking for his first RBI and is slugging .138. Something tells me his time in the No. 5 spot is through, even against lefties. And finally, for the first time six games, the Angels didn’t hit into any double plays. Praise the baseball gods.
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1oR8OBTC26vMkX79KiIZt_kOPrNSTPHXOrRKs-9nG8Ik/pubchart” query=”oid=1154832181&format=interactive” width=”620″ height=”341″ /]Marcus Semien again provided the only pop in the A’s lineup, blasting his third home run in two days. Danny Valencia and Billy Butler were the only other Oakland hitters to even reach base of their own accord. Valencia had two singles and a walk, Butler had a walk. That was it.
Starting Pitcher Scores
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1oR8OBTC26vMkX79KiIZt_kOPrNSTPHXOrRKs-9nG8Ik/pubchart” query=”oid=161400381&format=interactive” width=”584″ height=”293″ /]Shoemaker shoved. His 72 game score is easily the best by any Angels starter this year. Eric Surkamp allowed five hits, four walks, and two runs in just 4⅔ on Wednesday, but still managed to be better than expected. He forever gets to say that he once struck out Hall of Famer Albert Pujols in an MLB game.
Bullpen Battle
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1oR8OBTC26vMkX79KiIZt_kOPrNSTPHXOrRKs-9nG8Ik/pubchart” query=”oid=1141913419&format=interactive” width=”620″ height=”315″ /]Greg Mahle looked great in his MLB debut, tossing a scoreless inning with a little help from the Gold Glove of Kole Calhoun. Fernando Salas had the Angels’ lone pitching hiccup on the day, serving up the solo dinger to Semien. On the other side, Liam Hendriks gave up two more runs—that’s now seven in 6 IP—while Ryan Dull and Marc Rzepczynski stayed perfect on the year.
Game Flow
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1oR8OBTC26vMkX79KiIZt_kOPrNSTPHXOrRKs-9nG8Ik/pubchart” query=”oid=451609002&format=interactive” width=”619″ height=”316″ /]A steady climb to the sweep.
Halo Hero
Shoemaker resembled his 2014 self on Wednesday. The key now is repeating it.
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