The Angels are struggling and can’t win on the road. Now they have to face the best team in the American League and the team that pwned them so hard in the ALDS. What could possibly go wrong? Other than that Royals delivering the deathblow to the Angels season, I don’t see any potential downside to this series.
What the Angels need right now is to get out of their own heads and score some runs. Sure enough, they now have to play a team that is deep in their heads and elite at run suppression. In other words, there is a good chance that the Angels might once again get swept and that I might drown in my own tears. Maybe some of this is just the fans projecting their own intimidation factor with the Royals, but this seems like just about the worst possible time for the Angels to play them. With a team as good as the Royals are, there isn’t a good time, but the Angels are spiraling right now, so this series has the potential to end in tragic fashion… just like all their recent series against the Royals.
I’m scared, people. Hold me.
Game 1: Garrett Richards vs. Jeremy Guthrie
Garrett Richards hasn’t been very good of late, probably because he wants to fit in with the 24 other guys on the roster. I do think that the Royals are a decent match-up for him though as they are a team that makes a lot of contact and Richards is at his best when he generates lots of weak contact. Granted, he hasn’t been doing much of that in recent weeks, so maybe that means this is going to go horribly awry. The Angels do get the gift of facing Jeremy Guthrie. His ERA is miserable, but he hasn’t had that many disastrous starts to skew his starts. He’s just consistently bad. I look forward to him throwing a perfect game against the Angels in this one.
Game 2: Jered Weaver vs. Danny Duffy
If you think strikeouts are fascist, then have I got a game for you! Neither Weaver nor Duffy miss many bats. Weaver actually looked good after the first inning of his comeback start, so there is a modicum of hope that he could hold his own in this game. Duffy has had a rough go of it lately himself, but the Angels apparently can’t score more than two runs against a lefty, so… (FART NOISE).
Game 3: Matt Shoemaker vs. Johnny Cueto
Oh, good, Johnny Cueto is a fantastic pitcher who specializes in generating weak contact. Now he gets to face a team that is in a death spiral of being over aggressive and getting themselves out. The only ray of hope for this game is that the Royals don’t hit a lot of homers, so Matt Shoemaker might actually be able to keep that ball in the park for a change.
Game 4: Hector Santiago vs. Yordano Ventura
Hey, Hector, if you ever wanted to get back at Ned Yost for not using you in the All-Star Game, this would be a good time. It would also be a good time to start pitching like an All-Star again. I’m just sayin’. Speaking of pitching like an All-Star again, Royals fans can go ahead and send the thank you fruit baskets directly to the Big A after Ventura gets his season back on track thanks to facing the woeful Angels lineup.
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