Angels series preview: Mike Trout deserves better
This is a BAD roster.
Mike Trout played his first full season in 2012, and little did he know that would be one of three winning seasons he would enjoy over the next 12 years, with just one playoff series - a loss to the Royals in 2014 - to show for it. The Angels are almost certainly not going to have a winning season this year, especially now that Trout is out for several months after knee surgery.
The Angels have put mediocre teams around Trout before, but this year the roster is just flat out awful. The team has been poor at drafting and developing talent, and they traded away what few prospects they had last summer in a vain attempt to make the post-season in Shohei Ohtani’s last season with the club. The results is a team full of not-ready-for-prime-time players and has been that will certainly be among the worst in baseball this year.
Kansas City Royals (22-16) vs. Los Angeles Angels (14-23) at Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim, CA
Royals: 4.61 runs scored/game (12th in MLB), 3.39 runs allowed/game (1st)
Angels: 4.16 runs scored/game (19th), 5.08 runs allowed/game (26th)
Angels hitters have the fifth-worst walk rate and the eleventh-highest strikeout rate in baseball. Last week they scored exactly one run in four out of five games. First baseman Nolan Schnauel was playing in Conference USA a year ago, but now he’s the Angels lead off hitter. Jo Adell, Zach Neto, and Logan O’Hoppe are all promising players in their second year in the big leagues, and are probably the best players on the team right now. Neto has been hitting particularly well lately hitting .352/.364/.611 with 3 home runs in his last 15 games, although he has one of the worst strikeout-to-walk ratios in baseball.
On the flip side, Brandon Drury is hitting just .140/.170/.180 over his last 15 games. Willie Calhoun is a 29-year-old journeyman who was in Triple-A two weeks ago, and is now hitting cleanup for the Angels. Taylor Ward is an above average hitter who is likely on the trade block if he can stay healthy. The Angels are eighth in all of baseball in steals with 36, but have the second-most caught stealings.
Reid Detmers has lost three starts in a row, giving up 16 runs over that time. He does a fair job of missing bats, but gave up three home runs in his last start. The lefty has a reverse platoon split in his career, and lefties have hit him a lot better than righties this year. He primarily throws a 94 mph fastball, a slider, a change up, and a curve.
Griffin Canning has the second-worst ERA of any pitcher with at least 30 innings pitched. He was solid his last time out, giving up two runs in six innings against the Guardians, but walked five Phillies batters in five innings his start before that. He has one of the higher home run rates in baseball, although he has given up just one in his last four starts. Canning has traditionally pitched very well against the Royals with a 1.82 ERA in four career starts.
Tyler Anderson has bounced back from a dreadful 2023 season to pitch well in his first seven starts, although his already-low strikeout rate has further declined. The 34-year-old lefty has trouble breaking 90 mph on the radar gun, but relies on his change up and cutter. He has a 47.2 percent flyball rate and has given up a home run in each of his last five starts.
Patrick Sandoval tossed seven shutout innings in his last start, and struck out ten in five innings his outing before that. His four-seamer has been very hittable with a .448 average against, but his change has a .140 opponent’s average with a 40.4 percent whiff rate. He also throws a slider, curve, and a very good sinker that helps generate a groundball rate of 50 percent.
Angels relievers have a 4.93 ERA, third-worst in baseball. The bullpen is mostly a collection of journeymen on cheap free agent contracts who average 32 years of age. Closer Carlos Estévez is one of two relievers in baseball to pitch at least 10 innings this year with no walks, but he has already blown two saves in eight opportunities. Hunter Strickland - who you may remember from the 2014 World Series with the Giants - has thrown the best slider in baseball this year. Submariner Adam Cimber is allowing righties to hit just .161/.270/.161 against him.
The Angels have gone just 4-11 at home this year and have yet to win a series in Anaheim. They just split their six-game road trip, and have a two-game win streak, so they are playing a bit better lately. But this is the kind of series that the Royals should take. The next 16 games for the Royals are all against teams that are no better than three games over .500, so there is an opportunity to get hot, and it starts in southern California.