Series Preview: Angels @ Mariners (Sweep redux?)

Angels (50-48) @ Mariners (39-60)

First, a shameless plus. If you haven’t checked it out lately, the Angels 40 man roster map has been updated.

So the Mariners are still looking for their first win since the All Star Break and will try to stop their 6 game skid. In fact, Dipoto’s team has only won 2 of the 11 game they have played so far in July. This bodes well, but don’t expect their losing streak to last forever. Maybe just 3 more games??

Mariners- who’s hot (last 7 days):

No one worth noting. lulz.

Weather Forecast

Looks nice. Seattle is finally getting their 3 weeks of summer!

GAME 1

(R) Jaime Barria (5.22) v. (R) Mike Leake (4.60 ERA)
Friday, July 19th @ 7:10PM

Angels Summary:

Jaime Barria will be making his 8 appearance of the year and 2nd “start” of the year against the Mariners. Back in April he held the Mariners to 1 run on 4 hits over 5 innings. Over his last 3 games, Barria has tossed 15 innings with 20 Ks, 4 walks, and a 2.40 ERA.

Mariners Summary:

Hello friend! Last weekend, the Angels booted Mike Leake from the game before he could even get through the 1st inning. He gave up 7 runs (4 earned) on 8 hits and only managed to secure two out. Leake has been shaky for a while but has had his moments, including 7.2 scoreless innings against the Cardinals earlier this month and a complete game against Houston in early June.

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GAME 2

(L) Griffin Canning (4.75) v. TBD
Saturday, July 20th @ 6:10PM

Angels Summary:

I really want to see Griffin Canning be better - don’t we all? But let’s remember he’s a 23 year old in his first big league season and a mere 2 years ago he was pitching for UCLA. That being said, Canning has a 1.0 bWAR along with a 1.191 WHIP and 71 Ks over 66.1 innings. He’ll be making his first career start against the Mariners on Saturday.

Mariners Summary:

TBD

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GAME 3

(L) Andrew Heaney (5.09 ERA) v. (L) Yusei Kikuchi (5.01 ERA)
Sunday, July 21st @ 1:10PM

Angels Summary:

Andrew Heaney may have finally broke out of his good game, bad game trend over this last two starts. He’s allowed only 2 ER in each of those starts with 10 Ks over 9.1 innings. However, It’s mildly concerning that he needed 103 pitches to get through his 4.1 innings against the Astros.

Mariners Summary:

Yusei Kikuchi is a gift to the Angels this year (thanks Jerry!) The Angels have clobbered him with a .413 AVG and 1.249 OPS. The Angels have an OPS almost 300 points higher than the next best team against Kikuchi. Add in 6 home runs and a 10.91 ERA and Kikuchi is basically throwing BP to the Angels. Kikuchi faced the Angels last Sunday and gave up 3 runs over 4 innings which sounds bad, but is arguably the best outing he’s had yet against the Halos.

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Overall Verdict: The Angels could sweep this series but the Mariners are hungry for a win. Never underestimate a team who is on a long losing streak. Then again, maybe we shouldn’t overestimate the Mariners ability to blow games.

Current Standings (sorted by playoff odds)

Notes/Credits:
(Pitch tracking data from baseballsavant.mlb.com)
(Splits from FanGraphs Splits Tool and Baseball Reference)
(Standings/odds from fivethirtyeight.com)