Angels emphatically lose to the undisputed worst team in baseball

Tigers 7 Angels 2

In many ways, the Angels have always been a generous organization. But their pure hearts were on no greater display than on Monday night against the visiting Detroit Tigers.

Now, one might think back to the halcyon days of yore when Comerica Park was laced with the likes of Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Doug Fister (ban), Miguel Cabrera, J.D. Martinez, Prince Fielder, Joba Chamberlain, and Matt Tuiasosopo and think to themselves, Hey, now that’s a pretty good team! Well, I’m here to tell you, that they most certainly are not.

The Tigers, en route to the worst record in baseball (nice try, Orioles, but thanks to your boys in red you scampered out of that one), have the lowest team wRC+ (89), average (.231), and on-base percentage (.289) in baseball. An abysmal offense gets even worse with the highest strikeout rate (26.4%) with just one position player hitting above-average offensively, and modestly at that. This iteration of the Detroit Tigers is a bad team.

Now, onto the generosity.

Jordan Zimmermann, once a stalwart starter with the Nats and now struggling to hold on, has not won in his last 17 starts. A pitcher, assuming health, starts 32.4 games on average every single. It stands to reason that the 7.57 ERA Zimmermann has not picked up a victory in over half a season. Zimmermann pitched a good game, allowing just 2 runs in 5.1 innings. The Angels mustered just four hits against the Tigers’ struggling starter.

The remainder of the night, the Angels managed just one more hit, a single off the bat of Matt Thaiss in the bottom of the seventh inning. One Luis Rengifo walk later, David Fletcher grounded out to third base to end the inning with Trout on deck.

Jaime Barria pitched an acceptable yet unremarkable game, continuing to flail against the long ball. He gave up 2 earned runs (3 total) in 5 innings on 4 hits (all XBH) with 5 strikeouts. Definitively not good against the most pitiful offense in all of baseball.

The Angels left 11 on base tonight. Of that figure, David Fletcher stranded 2, Upton 3, and Calhoun 3.

With throwing errors by Thaiss and Simmons and two bases allowed by Dustin Garneau, the Angels turned in a sloppy defensive game to pair with a lackluster pitching performance and a mediocre offensive showing.

Oh, and let’s not talk about Ty Buttrey, who has encountered an ineffective slump over the past two months and yet continues to be trotted out, day after day, in high-leverage situations.

But remember! If you’re not waving the pom poms every waking moment, then you’re not allowed to have an opinion.

Thank you Jesus, I am a Tigers fan now.