Series Preview: Angels vs. Mariners vs. Conflicted

I am so conflicted as to what to root for in this series.

On one hand, I really want to see the Oakland collapse be totally complete with them falling out of a playoff spot altogether. To do that, the Angels are going to have to lose at least two of these games. In a perfect world, this would result in a one-game playoff between Oakland and Seattle before the Wild Card game, which would hugely tax Oakland or Seattle if they somehow won both games, giving the Angels a big edge in the ALDS.

On the other hand, it doesn’t send a great message to lay down for a team that you could be matching up against in a playoff series a few days from now. Unless the Halos sweep this three-game set, they will end up on the losing side of their season series with Seattle. I’m far less scared of Seattle in the postseason than I am Oakland, but there’s no sense in giving Seattle an inflated sense of confidence in a prospective ALDS match-up.

Ah! I just can’t decide! Pride or mocking a fallen rival? That’s like making me choose between my two children which is an impossible decision (or at least that is what I’m supposed to say).

LAST TIME ON ANGELS VS. MARINERS…

Yeah, that happened. The Mariners actually split the series back in Anaheim, but one of those two Halo wins resulted in the Angels getting celebrate their AL West title in front of Mariners. Suck it, Seattle.

GHOST OF ANGELS PAST

Oh, Kendrys Morales. I can’t believe I forgot almost forgot about you. Actually, I can. The thing is, you just aren’t that good anymore. In fact, you’ve been brutally awful this year with a 69 OPS+. At least the Mariners got their money’s worth since he actually has a 74 OPS+ since being traded back to Seattle. That’s just one bad year, but there really isn’t even a need to fear Morales historically as his slash line against the Halos is .260/.292/.360. That’s not exactly making the Angels rue the day they traded him away.

MATCH-UP MASTERY
FRIDAY, 9/26: Jered Weaver vs. Hisashi Iwakuma
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1LUCH0aFe4hLClLYbjD6bcwcwxkb9aLSWtT5aXUGADbk/pubchart” query=”oid=76030192&format=interactive” width=”621″ height=”315″ /] This is really just a tune-up start for Weaver. Even though he’ll have five days rest before Game 1 of the ALDS, there is a good chance he’s going to exit relatively early. Once again, the real focus here will be on seeing if Weaver can maintain his recent spike in velocity.

[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1LUCH0aFe4hLClLYbjD6bcwcwxkb9aLSWtT5aXUGADbk/pubchart” query=”oid=1771411101&format=interactive” width=”619″ height=”312″ /] Iwakuma had owned the Angels up until his last start against them. Then the Halos went and lit him up. He’s actually been pretty bad in his last four starts now, so there isn’t a lot of reason to believe that he’ll magically recover his ability to shutdown the Angels bats.

SATURDAY, 9/27: Cory Rasmus vs. James Paxton
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1LUCH0aFe4hLClLYbjD6bcwcwxkb9aLSWtT5aXUGADbk/pubchart” query=”oid=1813206077&format=interactive” width=”621″ height=”315″ /] Rasmus was excellent in a four-inning start against Seattle before being yanked early due to the heat. As a Seattle area resident, I can assure you that won’t be a problem this time around. In fact, Scioscia might even leave Rasmus in a bit too long to try and stretch him past his career-high pitch count of 59.

[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1LUCH0aFe4hLClLYbjD6bcwcwxkb9aLSWtT5aXUGADbk/pubchart” query=”oid=1170840483&format=interactive” width=”619″ height=”312″ /] Paxton was finally vulnerable against the Angels in the last series and he then followed that up by getting battered in his next start. I think you might be starting to understand why the M’s are on the verge of elimination now.

SUNDAY, 9/28: C.J. Wilson vs. Felix Hernandez
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1LUCH0aFe4hLClLYbjD6bcwcwxkb9aLSWtT5aXUGADbk/pubchart” query=”oid=1997076384&format=interactive” width=”621″ height=”315″ /] Under normal circumstances, Wilson might get replaced if this game ends up being meaningless to both teams, but after failing to make it out of the first inning of his last start, C.J. actually has something to prove. It might be a short outing either way. If he sucks, he’ll get the early hook again. If he is better, he might only go a few innings just to ensure maximum freshness for his likely ALDS start and/or to let him leave the game with his confidence booster.

[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1LUCH0aFe4hLClLYbjD6bcwcwxkb9aLSWtT5aXUGADbk/pubchart” query=”oid=1411312971&format=interactive” width=”619″ height=”312″ /] There is a pretty high chance Felix won’t make this start. There’s no reason for him to pitch if Seattle gets eliminated other than padding his stats in the tight AL Cy Young race with Corey Kluber. That isn’t really Felix’s style though. I can see him making a brief outing just so he can get nice ovation from the home crowd as a thanks for the first positive season for Seattle in recent memory.

OFFICIAL PREDICTION
This is really hard to predict because the Angels have almost nothing to play for and the Mariners will, for at least one game. There’s a chance that the Angels will clinch the best record in MLB and the Mariners will be eliminated from the playoffs after Friday’s game. In that case, this series could devolve into a Salt Lake Bees vs. Tacoma Rainiers contest. I guess I will just predict that the Halos win two, if only because Seattle is in a bit of a death spiral of their own.

UNOFFICIAL PREDICTION (so don’t hold me to it)
Josh Hamilton makes an unexpected return to the lineup on Sunday to test out his injured upper body.