August 17th Game Preview: White Sox @ Angels

White Sox (55-66) @ Angels (60-64)

I suppose hoping for a sweep in this series was too much to ask? Nearly every game we are reminding of the Angels pitching woes. If there is anything left to watch, it’s perhaps the home run battle between Cody Bellinger and Mike Trout. Trout would seem to have the AL HR title in the bag if things keep going the way they have been, but the overall MLB title should be fun to watch as the two dudes from LA teams slug it out. Yesterday Bellinger hit home run #41 and a few hours later, Mike Trout did the same. I’m here for the dingerz.

Know your foe:

Game 1 Notables (and unnotables):

Mike Trout, HR #41 (tied career high)
Albert Pujols: 2 for 4
Angels Team RISP: 1 for 12

Lucas Giolito: 6 IP, 2 ER, 11 K
James McCann: 3 for 4, grand slam, triple shy of cycle

Weather Forecast

GAME 2

(L) Jose Suarez (6.57) v. (L) Hector Santiago (7.11 ERA)
Saturday, Aug 17th @ 6:07PM

Summary:

The starting pitchers combined ERA totals don’t get much more bleak than those numbers above. José Suarez has already hit -0.6 bWAR in his young career. Not a great way to start. Sure, he’s young, but it’s been been rough for the 21 year old. Considering he has given up 15 home runs in 49.1 innings, the White Sox are probably salivating over the chance to hit some bombs tonight. Don’t expect Suarez to pitch more than 4 innings, so you better fet ready for some more bullpen action.

Looks who’s back? And it’s not slim shady. Héctor Santiago last pitched at the Big A in July of 2018 out of the pen for the White Sox. He struck out 4 over 2 scoreless innings. Those 4 included David Fletcher, Shohei Ohtani, Mike Trout, and Jabari Blash. Santiago has been used in mostly a relief role and sometimes his “starts” are paired with an opener. The Angels haven’t faced him much, aside from Justin Upton. Below are the vs. Santiago stats for all hitters with more than 2 plate appearances:

Current Standings

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