Fresh off back-to-back series wins, the scrappy Angels will be looking for revenge against those Damn Yankees. Last June in the Bronx, the Yanks swept the Angels in 3 games. In the past 5 years, the Angels are 5-14 against the Yankees in New York. The Angels haven't won a series in the Bronx since 2007. Going into this series, both the Yankees and Angels are sitting 4 games under .500 at 26-30.
The Yankees have the worst batting average in the AL this year and the fewest extra base hits (though the Angels only have a few more). Both teams are pretty evenly matched in ERA and BAA. When it comes to the bullpen, the Yankee pen has been pretty solid, which is not something you can always say about the Angels.
While the Angels are coming off a couple of series wins, the Yankees have lost back to back series, including being swept by the Blue Jays.
Johnny Giavotella, Mike Trout, Carlos Perez, and Rafael Ortega didn't have the best week last week so will hopefully rebound in New York. Albert Pujols tweaked his ankle in the last play of the game on Sunday and it's unknown if he will miss any games. If he does, it may just be a game or two or we may see him as a DH only this week until his ankle feels better.
Biggest question(s): Can the Angels win a series in the Bronx for the first time in almost 10 years?
Matt Shoemaker vs. Masahiro Tanaka
Monday, June 6th, 2016 @ 4:05PM
Shoey has a tough matchup in game 1.
AB | H | K% | BA | FIP |
21 | 8 | 23.8 | .381 | 0.76 |
AB | H | K% | BA | FIP |
6 | 4 | 27.3 | .400 | 1.70 |
AB | H | RBI | HR | BA |
10 | 5 | 3 | 0 | .500 |
The current Angels roster has very few at bats in their career against Tanaka, so he is a bit of an unknown. Trout, Escobar, and Pujols all have seem him for about 3 plate appearances. Tanaka has been tough this year and is coming off his first loss of the season, however, he only gave up 1 earned run. In fact, in 8 of his 10 outings, he has given up 2 earned runs or less, which makes him the toughest pitcher we face in this series.
Shoemaker has been spectacular his last 3 starts after having a craptastic start to the season. It appears he has regained mastery of his split finger fastball which has been a big part of his success. In his last 4 games, his split finger usage climbed dramatically (2-4x the rate he had thrown it to start the season). If Shoemaker can continue throwing his split finger well and keep Headley and Hicks in check, he should keep the Angels in this game.
VERDICT: I think both starting pitchers will keep the runs down. The Angels offense is going to need to back up Shoemaker, especially against Tanaka, since the Yankees have a pretty solid pen. If we go to late innings tied or behind, it will be a tough game to win.
TBD vs. Michael Pineda
Tuesday, June 7th, 2016 @ 4:05PM
I hear that TBD guy has a killer curve.
AB | H | K% | BA | FIP |
16 | 8 | 5.3 | .500 | 18.20 |
AB | H | RBI | HR | BA |
15 | 7 | 6 | 2 | .467 |
VERDICT: Despite not having a clear starter, the Angels probably have a slight edge just because Pineda is having a rough season. I'd rather see Kendrick start over David Huff, but I'm not professional GM or manager.
Jered Weaver vs. Nathan Eovaldi
Wednesday, June 8th, 2016 @ 4:05PM
Believe in the Weave.
AB | H | K% | BA | FIP |
121 | 34 | 20.3 | .281 | 5.96 |
AB | H | K% | BA | FIP |
51 | 20 | 12.3 | .392 | 4.88 |
AB | H | RBI | HR | BA |
14 | 6 | 3 | 1 | .429 |
AB | H | RBI | HR | BA |
20 | 8 | 1 | 0 | .400 |
AB | H | RBI | HR | AVG |
7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | .429 |
AB | H | BB | HR | AVG |
31 | 10 | 4 | 1 | .323 |
Eovaldi has been decent this year with a 4.09 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, and .252 BAA. More importantly, he has an 8 game unbeaten streak rolling and has a 6-2 record. Despite this info, he's bound to get a loss eventually, and a good portion of the Angels roster has hit well off him as you can see above. There may not be a lot of homeruns (and he doesn't give up too many), but the 5 core Halo players above have a combined .375 AVG against him.
Yankee stadium is a HR ballpark which is not a great thing for Jered Weaver who has given up 14 so far this year. Weaver also gave up 3 long balls in his last start at Yankee stadium but those were to Stephen Drew (now on the Nationals) and Mark Teixeira (on the DL) and has a 5.63 career ERA there. You can never could him out, but the HR factor could be a problem in this game.
Despite his struggles and lagging "fastball", Weaver has pitched 6+ innings in 8 of his 11 starts and has averaged 2.5 ER in those games. It's the three games when he did not last 6 innings that have jacked up his ERA since he gave up 19 ER in those 3 starts. There is good news here in that we've seen much more a solid Weaver than a washed up one, and if he can last 6+ innings, that bodes well for a win.
VERDICT: If Weaver can last at least 6 innings he's probably done so by not giving up two many runs, and that gives the Angels a good shot - especially against Eovaldi. I'm going to believe in the Weave for this game, even though he doesn't have a great record in the Bronx.
Jhoulys Chacin vs. Ivan Nova
Thursday, June 9th, 2016 @ 4:05PM
Chacin is coming off a complete game win last week.
AB | H | K% | BA | FIP |
56 | 10 | 14.9 | .179 | 4.06 |
AB | H | K% | BA | FIP |
68 | 15 | 12.8 | .221 | 4.42 |
AB | H | BB | K | BA |
23 | 2 | 2 | 3 | .087 |
AB | H | RBI | 2B | OBP |
14 | 6 | 4 | 2 | .429 |
VERDICT: I like the pitching matchup here and how well Chacin has been throwing the ball. Nova is giving up more runs the more he starts which is a trend that hopefully continue into this week.
OVERALL VERDICT: The Angels have a good shot at their first series win here since 2007. I wouldn't expect a sweep though.