Series Preview: Angels @ Diamondbacks (Quick 2B4 Trout)

Angels 63-63
Diamondbacks 69-56

The Diamondbacks rule the NL West and the Angels are, well, not in first place in the AL West. The Angels are coming off a sad series loss to the Rangers but their offense has been much improved which they will probably need against tougher Arizona pitching.

Back in mid June, the Angels and Diamonbacks split their 2 game set at the Big A with Felix Pena and the bullpen besting Matt Koch and Jaime Barria losing to Zack Greinke.

Know your foe:

Diamondbacks - who’s hot (last 7 days):

Paul Goldschmidt .536 AVG, .625 OBP, 2 home runs, 7 RBIs

Weather Forecast

SUPER hot. It’s freakin Phoenix in August. They’ll probably have the roof closed anyway

GAME 1

Felix Pena(R) (4.35 ERA) v. Patrick Corbin(L) (3.18 ERA)
Thursday, August 16th @ 5:05PM

Summary:

Felix Pena is coming off a heck of a game against the Padres with 2 hits and no earned runs allowed over 6 innings. He also faced the Diamondbacks on June 19th and allowed only 1 run on 2 hits over 4 innings in his first start of the year.

Pitch Arsenal:

Patrick Corbin has been very good this year with a 3.7 WAR, 3.18 ERA, and 1.028 WHIP. He’s shut down hot and cold teams alike with few bad outings in 2018. In his last 5 starts he’s 4-0 with a 2.99 ERA, 41 Ks, and only 2 walks.

Pitch Arsenal:

Verdict: Pena has been pretty decent and also pitched well against the Dbacks but it’s hard to bet against them with a hot Corbin and Goldy in the mix.

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GAME 2

Odrisamer Despainge(R) (6.29 ERA) v. Clay Buchholz(R) (2.47 ERA)
Friday, August 17th @ 5:05PM

Pitcher vs. Batters

Notable Stats

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:

Clay Buchholz has been hot as of late with his last start being a complete game victory over the Padres. in his last 6 starts he’s 5-1 with a 2.38 ERA

Pitch Arsenal:

Verdict: We won’t pretend that Despainge has great odds in this one. The Angels offense need to get to Buchholz for more than a few runs somehow if they want a win here.

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Overall Verdict: I’m pretty sure the Angels won’t lose 3 games in Phoenix. That’s all I got on this.

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