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Angels don’t sugarcoat Opening Day and kill all spring dreams in 4-0 shutout loss

Oakland’s Mike Fiers outpitched Trevor Cahill because the Angels appear to be very, very bad

By Rick Souddress
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim v Oakland Athletics Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

On the bright side, Trevor Cahill only pitches every fifth day.

The Angels lineup, on the other hand, is going to be out there each and every day. We will have the privilege of witnessing these position players struggle to muster a hit tomorrow. We will do it the day after that. And just for good measure, we will tune in the following day. Do they deserve those views though?

So La Stella hit a double. So Trout saw his WAR increase. So Kole Calhoun has exactly one more hit than I was anticipating today. No one cares. There was nothing positive to take away from today other than the fact that the game is over. Why are we trying to convince ourselves that this lineup is a powerhouse without Justin Upton or Shohei Ohtani? I don’t think we will be able to manage to believe that it will be when they return! If we are expected to provide our Jacksons and our Benjamins, should we be satisfied with the front office’s harmful and false advertising that this is a playoff team?

Maybe Trevor Cahill had some bad luck with a bad bounce and a poor tag and a drifting pitch. Maybe only one or two of those runs would score under normal circumstances. Whether he blows up or shows up, it wouldn’t matter. Every single game, we are not putting a team on the field that is worth the MLB.tv subscription, let alone a family pack of tickets.

I took Opening Day’s post-game because I thought I would get to see Matt Harvey show us new life and impressive stuff. Turns out, I would have been wasting my time had he gotten the first start because the summary was always destined to be one of shutout heartache.

At the very least, I appreciate the team’s new, gracious transparency.

Some notes:

  • In one of the most unexpected developments of the season, the Angels only allowed one walk. Cahill was pounding the zone, so he was often well ahead in the count.
  • The ball was carrying today. That didn’t help the weak flies of our team.
  • Mike Fiers did not look good. He just looked better than us.

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