Angels Week 6: Breaking even

It was a week of disruption for the Angels, first with Hurricane Laura twice altering their schedule in Houston, then by a pair of trades over the weekend, with Tommy La Stella heading to Oakland and Jason Castro shipped to San Diego ahead of Monday’s trade deadline.

But despite the upheaval, the Angels had their first non-losing week of the season, splitting their six games. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but given how bad the 2020 season has been, they will take it. Especially when it came with the Angels’ two best offensive games of the season.

Batter of the week

Mike Trout had an 1.166 OPS last week with two home runs, including a four-run, six-RBI game in Saturday’s rout of Seattle. Honorable mention goes to Tommy La Stella, who was 2-for-6 with a home run in his final week as an Angel.

Pitcher of the week

Andrew Heaney is the recipient here thanks to his 10 strikeouts on Friday. He narrowly beat out Griffin Canning, who pitched eight strong innings Sunday. Both allowed a run on four hits to Seattle, and Canning recorded one more out, but Heaney had the strikeout edge and kept the Mariners in the park in his win to take this fictitious award.

Week 6 results

3-3 record
39 runs scored (6.50 per game)
29 runs allowed (4.83 per game)
.632 pythagorean record

Season to date

12-23 record
170 runs scored (4.86 per game)
191 runs allowed (5.46 per game)
.447 pythagorean record (16-19)

AL West standing: 5th place, 10½ games back
Current playoff position: 15th in AL, 5½ games out of a playoff spot

Miscellany

Double your pleasure: Albert Pujols had two doubles last week, giving him 666 in his career. That passed George Brett for sixth all-time, with Craig Biggio in striking distance in fifth place, with 668 doubles.

Transactions

Tuesday: Jaime Barria was added as the 29th man for the doubleheader in Houston, then returned after the game

Tuesday: After Game 1, Jose Suarez was optioned and reliever Luke Bard was recalled.

Tuesday: After Game 2, Luis Rengifo was optioned

Friday: Jared Walsh and Jose Quijada were recalled from the alternate training site in Long Beach, and Patrick Sandoval was optioned. Michael Hermosillo cleared waivers and was sent outright to Long Beach.

Friday: Tommy La Stella was traded to the A’s for infielder Franklin Barreto.

Saturday: Rengifo was recalled along with Ryan Buchter, with Hoby Milner placed on the injured list with right back spasms. Barreto was placed on the COVID-related injured list as he underwent intake testing upon joining the Angels.

Sunday: Jason Castro was traded to the Padres for pitcher Gerardo Reyes, who was optioned to Long Beach.

Game results

• Monday: Astros 11, Angels 4
• Tuesday: Game 1 — Astros 6, Angels 3
• Tuesday: Game 2 — Angels 12, Astros 5
• Wednesday: Angels at Astros, ppd. (hurricane)
• Friday: Angels 3, Mariners 2
• Saturday: Angels 16, Mariners 3
• Sunday: Mariners 2, Angels 1 (10 innings)

Previous weekly reviews: Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5

The week ahead

This week features an odd Tuesday off day, as well as Monday’s trade deadline, which could affect the pitching matchups going forward. Saturday’s doubleheader includes the second game with the Angels as the road team in their own ballpark, a remnant from Hurricane Laura last week in Houston.