The Angels’ 2016 season thus far has been one long exercise in demonstrating that team momentum is a grand illusion. Be it the embarrassing sweep at the hands of the previously winless Minnesota Twins or this week’s stumble in Milwaukee against a tanking Brewers team that literally put a 31-year-old rookie on the mound and won, the Halos have exemplified that anything is possible in baseball with a small enough sample, no matter how a player/team was playing the day(s) before.
To wit: The few back-to-back wins the club has managed through the first 28 games have all been parts of their two series sweeps, which are also the only series victories they can claim to this point. Every other win has been separated by at least one loss, most by at least a pair. Even since the offense came to life in two weeks ago, the Angels are still as erratic as ever: They hit a Mathis-esque .215/.288/.309 through the first 17 games and managed to field a not terrible 7-10 record; in the 11 games since, they’ve hit .290/.355/.471 but gone just 6-5. Some of that is due to the starting pitching, which has failed to make it through the sixth inning for seven straight games, but some is also simply bad sequencing.
This effect should stabilize over the course of the season as individual numbers normalize this way and that, but whether the end result will be a playoff contender, a .500 team, or something altogether worse remains to be seen. Something tells me dropping two of three to an inevitable NL cellar dweller won’t help bring about the former.
Boxscore Breakdowns
Game 1: Brewers 8, Angels 5
Game 2: Brewers 5, Angels 4
Game 3: Angels 7, Brewers 3
Series Takeaways
Cam Bedrosian Is Good Now?
Sample sample caveats abound, of course, but Cam Bedrosian has looked really good in four outings since his return from Triple-A. He’s struck out 8 of the 14 batters he’s faced in four scoreless frames, walking just one. His lone hiccup was an errant curveball in the dirt on Wednesday that probably should’ve been better blocked by the catcher.
So far as I can tell, this current stretch at least matches the best string of outings in his brief big-league career. Bedrosian went five outings (6.1 IP, 5 K, 3 BB) without surrendering a run in May/June last year, and another five scoreless games (4.2 IP, 7 K, 0 BB) in September. Let’s hope he can stretch this one out much longer.
This Team Is Terrible At Stealing Bases
The Angels were the worst base-stealing team in baseball last season, swiping just 52 bases at an MLB-worst 60 percent success rate. This year, somehow, they might be worse. The team went a solid 2-for-3 in SB attempts against the Brewers, but all that accomplished was inch them closer to a 50/50 success rate. They are currently 7-for-15 on the year, which is again the worst in baseball, and their only player to attempt a steal and not get caught is Albert Pujols. Albert Pujols!
The team isn’t among the TOOTBLAN leaders for once, which is nice, but they’re also in the unprecedented position of being among the worst teams in baseball in taking the extra base. Normally at or near the top of the league in that category under Mike Scioscia, at 45 percent or so, this year they’re going for the extra base just 33 percent of the time.
Ji-Man Choi‘s Time With The Angels Is Probably Over
Ji-Man Choi made a pinch-hit appearance in all three games in Milwaukee—the first time since the opening week of the season he’s played in three straight—but did nothing with his opportunities. He’s now tallied just 20 plate appearances (and just one hit!) through 28 games and not once been used as a late-inning defensive replacement for C.J. Cron at first base. If there’s a reason for his continuing to occupy the final spot on the Angels roster, I’ve yet to figure it out. Taylor Featherston could at least lay claim to being a plus defender at multiple up-the-middle positions. Choi has… his ability to take a walk? Surely there are other players in the organization who have at least average plate discipline and actually have options left. Rafael Ortega, for instance, who should by all accounts stay with the team when Daniel Nava returns on Friday.
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