By Glen McKee, Angelswin.com Staff Writer
It wasn’t a full week but it was the first week of real Angels baseball in 2018. All I can say is: thank whoever made the schedule that we got to start out against Oakland. Their defense was so abysmal that “abysmal” isn’t a strong enough word to describe it. Let’s take a look at that series and how it has set us up to face Cleveland and then Oakland again, this time at home. Just remember, even though it has only been four games, it is never too early to start judging!
The good. Two people stick out: Zack Cozart and Shohei Ohtani. Zack Cozart is primed to be the best offseason acquisition for the Angels outside of the other dude I mentioned above. There was worry that his 2017 season would be a fluke, but his start to 2018 gives us hope that it was just the beginning. Through four games he’s slashing .357/.400/.857/1.257. Of course those numbers are unsustainable but damn, it’s nice to see an Angel get off to a torrid start. The Zack Attack is for real.
Now, how about Shohei? Yes, he did give up a 3-run HR but that was his only mistake. He retired 14 of the final 15 batters he faced (again, thank you, Oakland). He put up one of two QS of the weekend for the Angels, if you care about that kind of thing. He walked one and struck out six in his Major League debut, after what appeared to be a disastrous spring. Ohtani gave us hope that he won’t be a bust.
Honorary mentions: Tyler Skaggs, Andrelton Simmons, Jim Johnson, Martin Maldonado
The bad. What a difference two pitches can make. Garrett Richards, the potential ace, was having a decent game and then he gave up a 3-run HR, and then a solo HR. Whomp Whomp. The Angels went on to lose that game when the offense went to sleep after getting us excited with an early four runs. Now Richards will have to find his mojo against a tough Cleveland team.
Blake Parker started the year as the apparent closer. Coming out of the weekend with a 13.50 ERA and a 4.50 WHIP should presumably relieve him of that duty. There was nothing at all good about Parker this weekend.
Kole Calhoun was part of that early excitement in the first game, going 3-6 with a triple and a HR. He followed that up with an 0-fer in the rest of the games. His defense is still on spot but seeing his streakiness illustrated so vividly in the first four games was a bit worrisome.
Dishonorable mentions: Luis Valbuena, Cam Bedrosian.
The rest. Mike Trout started the season with his first ever 0-6, and then spent the next three games making up for that. By no coincidence, the Angels won those next three games. Keynan Middleton appeared in two of the games and might have set himself up to be closer, such is the uncertainty of the bullpen this early in the season.
What’s next. After escaping Oakland mostly unscathed, the Angels have three at home versus Cleveland (1-2), a day off, and then three at home versus Oakland (1-3). Andrew Heaney, my pick for our surprise pitcher of the year, looks to make his debut sometime during the Oakland season, probably Saturday.
Predictions. The Angels got a lot of luck in Oakland, in the form of errors that were scored as hits. The bullpen also closed out a few games with the tying run close to scoring and made the games a lot more nerve-wracking than they should have been. That kind of luck tends to balance out over a season and it will catch up with them a bit this week. 1-2 versus Cleveland, and 2-1 versus Oakland (as long as Khris Davis gets to play in LF again). Feel free to post your predictions below.
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