Series Preview: Angels @ Tigers (Out goes May)

Angels 29-24
Yankees 23-29

Shohei Ohtani is slumping, Mike Trout had a career night on Saturday, and the Angels are only playing .500 ball so far on this road trip. On June 1st, the Angels will be back at home as they finish up this trip (and the month) playing the Tigers and hoping to finish above .500 on this 10 day jaunt out east.

The Tigers? Well, they have not been good and are 2nd in the AL Central at 6 games below .500. They’ve dropped 6 of their last 9 but the Angels have been good at making bad teams look decent. The Angels can still win on the road, right? That’s what we hope after this past weekend they lost their first road series of the year.

Know your foe:

Tigers - who’s hot (last 7 days):

Nick Castellanos .400 AVG, 1 home runs, 4 RBIs

Weather Forecast

GAME 1

Tyler Skaggs (3.11 ERA) v. Matthew Boyd (3.29 ERA)
Monday, May 28th @ 10:10AM

Pitcher vs. Batters

Summary:

It’d be really cool if Skaggs could pitch well AND make it through the 7th inning on a regular basis - a feat he has accomplished only once this year. He’s got that low 3.11 ERA and decent 1.236 WHIP but has been less than efficient with number of pitches thrown.

Pitch Arsenal:

Boyd is off to a heck of a start - the best of his short career. In his last start, he left the game early due to an oblique spasm but that is no longer considered to be an issue. Over 9 starts, the southpaw has a 3.29 ERA and 1.077 WHIP.

Pitch Arsenal:

Verdict: Both of these guys have been throwing well. The offense needs to wake up from Sunday’s sleepy performance in order to get tp Boyd.

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GAME 2

Nick Tropeano ( ERA) v. Michael Fulmer ( ERA)
Tuesday, May 29th @ 4:10PM

Pitcher vs. Batters

Summary:

You don’t always know which version of Tropeano you are going to get. The 7.1 innings 4 hit guy from last week, of the 2.2 inning 6 hit and 4 run guy fro the week before. He’s been very up and and down this year so hopefully will be able to repeat something closer to his last performance.

Pitch Arsenal:

Fulmer has been decently solid over his 10 starts with a 4.08 ERA and 1.273 WHIP. He has, however, blown up pretty bad in 3 of those starts - against the Indians, Rangers, and Mariners. Can we make it 4??

Pitch Arsenal:

Verdict: Hard to say and largely depend on which version of Tropeano shows up. I think the Angels can hit off Fulmer.

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GAME 3

Shohei Ohtani ( ERA) v. Mike Fiers (4.78 ERA)
Wednesday, May 30th @ 4:10PM

Pitcher vs. Batters

Notable Stats

Summary:

Ohtani was pushed back to help manage is work load. Sadly, he wasn’t much help at the plate over this past weekend. He has the potential to dominate this Tigers squad and should rack up a lot of Ks.

Pitch Arsenal:

The Angels have seen plenty of Fiers and usually hit him well. He hasn’t had a great season so far and has given up 8 runs in his last two starts over 10.2 innings. He’s also given up 11 home runs already over 49 inning this season.

Pitch Arsenal:

Verdict: Perhaps the most lopsided pitching matchup of the series that should heavily favor the Angels.

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GAME 4

Andrew Heaney (3.09 ERA) v. Francisco Liriano (3.90 ERA)
Thursday, May31st @ 10:10AM

Pitcher vs. Batters

Summary:

Heaney has been really impressive this season and has a 1.40 ERA in the month of May. He’s also struck out 51 over 46.2 innings this year.

Pitch Arsenal:

Like most of the Detroit starters, Liriano has been “okay”. He has beep not too kind to Angels hitters in the past though. Over his past 3 starts he’s given up 5, 0, and 5 runs. Mike Trout has owned Liriano with a .421 AVG over 19 at bats.

Pitch Arsenal:

Verdict: I’d bet on Heaney here, especially if the offense (other than Trout) can figure out Liriano.

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Overall Verdict: The Angels SHOULD at least split this series but anything less than taking at least 3 would be a huge disappointment against a very lackluster Tigers team.

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