Series Preview: Angels @ Rangers (Heads above water)

Angels 62-60
Rangers 53-69

Maybe the schedule hasn’t been so tough (thanks Padres and Tigers!), but the Angels have won 7 of their last 9 games and have outscored their opponents 50-33 during that stretch. The Rangers meanwhile, have dropped 6 of their last 10 games, though they did beat up on the Yankess 12-7 last Friday.

So far this season, the Angels are up 5 games to 1 against Texas and have outscored them 37 to 10. These two teams haven’t played each other in a little over 2 months.

Know your foe:

Rangers - who’s hot (last 7 days):

Shin-Shoo Choo .552 OBP, 3 doubles, 1 stolen base
Ronald Guzman .412 OBP, 4 home runs

Weather Forecast

GAME 1

Taylor Cole(R) (2.95 ERA) v. Ariel Jurado(R) (5.66 ERA)
Thursday, August 16th @ 5:05PM

Summary:

Taylor Cole will be making his second start of the year (and of his career). The first time around didn’t go so well with 3 runs allowed over only 1.1 innings and 37 pitches thrown. Either way, I can’t imagine Cole goes more than 3 innings in this game - the first of two bullpen games in the series.

Pitch Arsenal:

Ariel Jurado has only started 4 games in his career. He’s given up 13 runs over 20.2 innings and did have an impressive 6 innings 1 run game against the Astros at the end of July. Given that Jurado is a righty, Shohei Ohtani should be back as a starter for this game.

Pitch Arsenal:

Verdict: Neither pitcher screams dominance so this one could go either way really.

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GAME 2

Odrisamer Despainge(R) (5.31 ERA) v. Mike Minor(L) (4.61 ERA)
Friday, August 17th @ 5:05PM

Pitcher vs. Batters

Summary:

Since 2015, Despainge has been with the Padres, Orioles, Marlins, and now Angels. He’s pretty much here to fill some innings so don’t get too excited. He’s only started 1 game all season (5 innings) at the big league level but started 4 games in July in AAA. He hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since May 31st.

Pitch Arsenal:

Mike Minor has been pretty good this year with 14 starts (out of 22) in which he has allowed 3 runs or less. It’s hard to say what version we get here, but Minor is capable of a solid outing if the free swinging Halos show up.

Pitch Arsenal:

Verdict: Minor has the edge here but Despainge has something to prove. This may be the toughest game matchup-wise for the Angels.

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GAME 3

Andrew Heaney(L) (3.88 ERA) v. Drew Hutchison(R) (6.07 ERA)
Saturday, August 18th @ 5:05PM

Pitcher vs. Batters

Summary:

After giving up 9 total runs in back to back starts, Heaney had a much needed rebound against the Padres with just 2 runs allowed over 7.1 innings of work. He hasn’t faced the Rangers yet this season.

Pitch Arsenal:

Drew Hutchison made his way from the Phillies to the Rangers after the Phillies released him. In two starts for the Rangers this month, he’s given up 9 runs in 8.1 innings with 3 home runs, 7 walks, and only 2 Ks.

Pitch Arsenal:

Verdict: Heaney should give the Angels a helpful edge in this game.

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GAME 4

Jaime Barria(R) (3.50 ERA) v. Martin Perez(L) (6.71 ERA)
Sunday, August 19th @ 12:05PM

Pitcher vs. Batters

Notable Stats

Summary:

Jaime Barria tied his season high of 7 Ks last time out and threw 86 pitches over 5 innings. In his last 4 starts he has a 2.55 ERA. He’s already faced the Rangers twice this year and allowed only 1 run across 11 innings.

Pitch Arsenal:

Martin Perez has been throwing batting practice much of the season with 90 hits over 57.2 innings. He certainly has experience with the Angels - though not all good like in early April when he gave up 8 runs over 3 innings.

Pitch Arsenal:

Verdict: Perez has been a mess and Barria has been on a roll. That tells you what you need to know about the odds here.

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Overall Verdict: A sweep would be amazing but I’m just hoping for 3 wins here.

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