The Angels try for a series win on Sunday afternoon, with Andrew Heaney on the mound against the Rockies at Coors Field.
They also have a lineup stacked with nearly all right-handed hitters, save for first baseman Jared Walsh, who has homered in his last four games. That’s against right-handed pitcher Ryan Castellani for Colorado, who in the smallest of sample sizes has reverse splits so far in his rookie season, at least with the results:
- Righties are hitting .304/.361/.625 in 61 plate appearances against Castellani
- Lefties are hitting .200/.333/.520 in 60 PA
Angels-Rockies lineups
| Pos | Angels | Pos | Rockies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Angels | Pos | Rockies |
| 2B | Fletcher | LF | Tapia (L) |
| 1B | Walsh (L) | SS | Story |
| CF | Trout | CF | Pillar |
| 3B | Rendon | RF | Blackmon (L) |
| DH | Pujols | DH | Kemp |
| LF | Upton | 1B | Fuentes |
| C | Stassi | 2B | Hampson |
| RF | Adell | 3B | McMahon (L) |
| SS | Simmons | C | Butera |
But Castellani only has an 11.7-percent strikeout rate against lefties, compared to 19.7 percent against righties. Based on batted ball data per Baseball Savant, lefties have an expected batting average of .283 and an expected slugging percentage of .519 against Castellani this season.
Still, a slumping Shohei Ohtani sits for a second straight day, without an extra-base hit in his last 44 plate appearances.
“He’s fine. He’s been working really hard. I just wanted to play Albert [Pujols] again,” manager Joe Maddon said on a conference call Sunday. “[Ohtani’s] going to get back out there, but for today I liked how this lineup stacked up.”
Pujols was 2-for-5 with a double in Saturday’s win, his second straight game with a double. He passed Craig Biggio for fifth all-time with 669 career doubles.
Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado is out of Sunday’s lineup, dealing with a sore shoulder per Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post.
Game info
Time: 12:10 p.m. PT
TV: Fox Sports West