August 20th Doubleheader Preview: Angels @ Rangers x2

Angels (62-65) @ Rangers (61-64)

So about last night... Last night the Angels got off to a fiery start with a 7-1 lead after the 2nd inning. And well... they blew it. Losing 8-7 in 11 innings. Perhaps one of the worst games of the year and as Jeff Joiner said - pretty much sums up the 2019 Angels.

Game 1 Notables (and un-notables):

Shohei Ohtani: 2 for 4 with a triple and SB
Justin Upton: 2 for 3 with a double
Albert Pujols: 2 for 4 with a home run and 3 RBI
Team LOB: 12
Luis Garcia: 0 ER but 2 of 3 inherited runners scored

Hunter Pence: 5 for 6 on base with 3 hits

Weather Forecast

GAME 2

(L) Andrew Heaney (4.76) v. (R) Brock Burke (0.00 ERA)
Tuesday, Aug 20th @ 11:05AM

Summary:

This 1st game is a makeup of the tragedy postpones game from back on July 1st. Since the beginning of July, Andrew Heaney has a 2.70 ERA over 4 starts, including a 7 inning 4 hit quality start against the White Sox last week. Heaney faced the Rangers back on May 26th, holding them to just 2 runs over 5 innings while striking out 8. Last year, Heaney struggled in Texas with 17 hits and 10 runs allowed over 11.1 innings.

Brock Burke has a 3.90 minor league ERA this year across 4 levels (though only 1 game at rookie an A ball). He’ll be making his major league debut in game 1 of this double feature. Burke is the Rangers #7 prospect with a mid 90s fastball and plus slider. He has averaged just over 9 Ks per 9 innings this year.

GAME 3

(R) Jaime Barria (6.62) v. (L) Joe Palumbo (5.54 ERA)
Tuesday, Aug 20th @ 5:05AM

Summary:

In his last start, Barria was wrecked by the Red Sox for 5 runs over 5 innings. He’s faced the Rangers twice this year with 6 runs allowed over 10 IP.

Joe Palumbo one-ups Burke since he is the Rangers #6 overall prospect. Palumbo has a whopping 9 total big league innings under his belt. In those 3 games, the 24 year old has give up 11 runs on 13 hits with 3 home runs. Palumbo is pretty solid all around with no real standout traits - but he does have a plus curveball. Good luck to any lefties that may end up facing him.

Current Standings

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