Series Preview: Angels @ Tigers (Troutless in Detroit)

Ramirez, Shoemaker, Nolasco, and Meyer squared off against the Tigers in Anaheim back in mid May, with the series split at 2 games each. Meyer and Ramirez will be facing the Tigers for the second time this year.

The Tigers lead the league in batting average at .299 over the past two weeks and have out hit the Angels by 58 points. Remember that was WITH Trout in the lineup for half that period. Tiger bats have been on full display later with them scoring 32 runs in a 3 games series against the White Sox this past weekend and 16 more in a 3 game set versus the Royals before that.

As good as Angels starters have been with their 2.64 ERA over the past two weeks, the Tigers are hot on their heels with a 3.03, good for 3rd bet in the AL. Angels receivers over the same period have a 2.76 ERA (4th) compared to the Tigers 5.40 ERA (14th). Michael Fulmer, has led the Tigers pitching staff this year with his 3.00 ERA and 1.11 WHIP.

Question: The Angels dropped 3 of 4 to the Twins, how will that translate to the Tigers who have BEAT the Twins 4 out of 6 times?

GAME 1

Jesse Chavez v. Daniel Norris
Tuesday, June 6th @ 4:10PM

Norris wins the hair game

Pitchers vs. Batters:

Notable Stats:

Summary:

Norris beat the Angels back on May 13th, giving up just 2 runs in 5.2 innings. He’s been a bit hit or miss so far in 2017 with 4 games of 4-5 runs allowed and another 4 games of 2 or less runs. He doesn’t give up tons of homeruns, but he does give up a lot of walks - 24 in 54 innings.

Chavez pitched like an ace last time he took the mound. Of course it was Atlanta, but still - he had an impressive 7 inning outing where he allowed just 1 run (a homer). Chavez has been a lot better at home than away where he has a 5.46 ERA and 1.464 WHIP compared to his home 4.10 ERA and 1.125 WHIP.

Verdict: Norris has already beat the Angels once this year. However, he’s coming off two good starts and his unpredictability makes you think it’s time for a change. He is heavily favored (56-44) according to FIveThirtyEight.

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GAME 2

Alex Meyer v. Cy Rookie?
Wednesday, June 7th @ 4:10PM

Meyer is looking for back to back good starts

Summary:

Alex Meyer was a different man on the mound last week. He threw 6 innings of 1 run ball, with the only run scored against being a Miguel Sano homer. Back on May 14th he he beat the Tigers, holding them to just 3 hits over 6.1 innings - his best start of the year.

Meyer’s opposing pitcher has yet to be announced, but it could be Fulmer who will pitch either Wednesday OR Thursday. If not Fulmer, the leading candidate seems to be Buck Farmer who started for the Tigers on May 27th and struck out 11 over 6.1 innings. Another candidate is Drew VerHagen who hasn’t pitched in the majors this year but has a string of 16.1 scoreless innings going in AAA.

Verdict: The Angels have a shot at a win here if Meyer can show up again and Fulmer doesn’t pitch. I put the odds closer to 50-50 though without Fulmer on the mound.

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GAME 3

JC Ramirez v. Michael Fulmer
Thursday, June 6th @ 10:10AM

Ramirez has a very tough opponent in the series finale

Pitchers vs. Batters

Summary:

While Meyer is coming off one of his best starts of the year, Ramirez is coming off his worst. I wouldn’t expect a repeat of his 7 runs allowed against the Twins. However, he did give up 5 runs to the Tigers last time he faced them on May 11th.

Not only has Michael Fulmer been pretty good this year, he beat the Angels last month, allowing 1 run and 3 hits over 7 innings. He had his worst start of the year last Friday (and really his ONLY bad start) against the White Sox, but thanks to a Tigers slugfest, he still got the win.

Verdict: Hard to go against Fulmer on this one unless he pitches game 2, then the Angels have a good shot at a win here.

Overall Verdict: The Angels best odds are probably coming out of this series with a single win. Let’s not get swept - m’kay?