Angels pitching has been horribly horrible this spring but at least the offense has done well

Repeat after me. “It’s only Spring Training.” You may want to repeat that A LOT after you get done reading this article. Or perhaps only in regards to HALF of this article. Pitching matters and none of us had any concerns about this pitching staff going into this season, amirite? But it’s only Spring Training. Let’s go ahead and start with the good before we get into what the pitching staff looks like.

Offense Rocks

The Angels offense has been incredible this spring. They lead the majors in runs scored at 156 which is more than double the last place team Cardinals who have scored a measly 73 runs. The Angels also lead in doubles (57) and Triples (14) but rank 14th in home runs with 25 (Brewers lead with 38). Surprisingly, or maybe not - the Angels are not stealing bases. They are last in the league with only 6 (in 9 attempts). An interesting stat that could affect the Angels more in season is that they rank 5th in ground outs to air outs and are 4th overall in total number of ground outs. Yes, they are hitting a ton of balls on the ground (let by David Fletcher, Wilfredo Tovar, Cesar Puello, Kevan Smith, and Matt Thaiss.

Run producing machines on the team include Peter Bourjos, Matt Thaiss, Jose Rojas, Jarett Parker, and Mike Trout who all combine for 40 RBIs - or just over a quarter of all run production. Some of those same guys plus Albert Pujols land in the top 5 on the team in terms of OPS and all are over 1.155. Even David Fletcher, who struggled earlier in spring, is hitting .500 over his last 10 ABs and 3 games, including 3 doubles.

There really are no standouts on the team when it comes to home runs, though Justin Bour does lead with 3 total and five other players are tied at 2.

It certainly has been a lot of fun watching this offense perform so far in Spring Training.

Pitching Woes

It’s only Spring Training.

Angels pitchers have the highest WHIP in baseball currently with a meteoric 1.71. They also lead in wild pitches (33), and walks (113). In those last two stats, no other team is even close.

It’s only Spring Training.

Pitchers have also thrown the third highest number of pitches and have faced more batters than any other team by almost 100 (Angels have faced 925, 2nd place Orioles have faced 836).

It’s only Spring Training.

But wait! There is good news! Really? With pitching? Yes. The Angels have the 2nd most number of Ks in baseball. Hooray!!! Strikeouts are good according to Billy Eppler, so they must be doing something right.

It’s only Spring Training.

That’s about all the good news we have. Despite scoring the most runs in baseball, the Angels don’t really have a record to reflect that because pitchers have given up the most runs in baseball. Sadly, Angels pitchers have given up 26 more runs than 2nd worst Chicago White Sox.

It’s only Spring Training.

Jaimie Barria has a 4.97 ERA and .306 BAA in 4 games. Tervor Cahill has an ERA north of 10. Closer Cody Allen has a 1.40 WHIP. Tyler Skaggs has been knocked around like a piñata. Andrew Heaney is injured and has only managed 1.2 innings this spring. Cam Bedrosian, ah never mind. Matt Harvey? One good appearance and one disaster.

It’s only Spring Training.

There has been SOME good when it comes to pitching so I’ll leave you with that.

Felix Pena has struck out 16 with a 3.18 ERA over 4 appearances.
Dillon Peters has been amazing with a 0.90 ERA in 10 innings.
Justin Anderson has been a little wild at times but has a .136 BAA and 1.50 ERA.
Taylor Cole has tossed 5 scoreless innings.
Luke Bard has thrown 4.2 scoreless innings.
Jake Jewell is back and has a 2.45 ERA and 0.82 WHIP over 7.1 innings.

And there you have it. It’s only Spring Training though, right? We’ll be just fine once the season starts. Pitching is fine. Nothing to worry around there. So relax, step back from the ledge, and get ready for Angels pitching to NOT be bad once opening day rolls around in 13 days.