Series preview: Angels look to bounce back in Boston

After losing two of three in Houston, the Angel will look to get back in the win column this weekend in Boston. They’ll enter the three-game series where they’re in last place, as the Red Sox are currently in first place and have one of the best records in all of baseball.

Friday: Nick Pivetta (5-0, 3.19 ERA) vs. Griffin Canning (3-2, 5.19 ERA)

After a very rough start to his season, Griffin Canning has been excellent for the Angels over his last two starts. He’s allowed only one run in seven innings and has 13 strikeouts. With not a lot of things going well with the starting rotation, he’s been reliable for his last two outings. Hopefully he can make it a third. Although, his success has mainly been at Angel Stadium this year. In four starts, Canning has an ERA of 6.00 on the road. Though, if you want a positive from that, he’s strikeout out 12 hitters per nine innings.

After a pretty rough couple years to begin his big-league career, Nick Pivetta has been a near All-Star caliber pitcher through the first month of the season. The only thing he’s struggled with is command, as he has a league-high 22 walks. He’s averaging 5.4 per nine innings. Pivetta has walked at least three hitters in all but one start this season. Over his last three starts, he owns a 2.81 ERA and is holding opponents to a .179 AVG.

Saturday: Martin Perez (0-2, 4.01 ERA) vs. Dylan Bundy (0-4, 5.03 ERA)

2021 hasn’t been kind to Dylan Bundy after his best season as a pro in 2020. His ERA is over five and he has yet to win a game. His strikeout and walk numbers are nearly identical to last year, but things just aren’t going his way at all. His FIP is 3.48, which is extremely low for a guy with an ERA of above five. When looking deep into his numbers, it’s really been two very bad starts that have skewed the numbers, especially his last outing. Against the Dodgers, he allowed six runs in only 3 ¹⁄₃ innings.

His numbers are pretty much middle of the pack in regards to everything, however, Martin Perez has been pretty solid over his last three starts for the Red Sox. Over his last 16 ¹⁄₃ innings of action, he owns a 2.20 ERA with 17 strikeouts and only three walks. In his last start against Baltimore, he allowed one run in five innings of work.

Sunday: Nathan Eovaldi (4-2, 4.20 ERA) vs. Jose Quintana (0-3, 9.00 ERA)

He’s been one of the worst starters in baseball this season, but hopefully Quintana can build off his last start. Against the Dodgers, he threw four innings, which was the second longest outing of his season. He allowed only one run, the second time he’s done that all season as well. That start was much needed, as he was coming off back-to-back starts where he allowed at least five runs. The strikeouts are there, as he has 25 over his last 16 innings. If he can just limit the walks and home runs, Quintana will be more than fine.

For years, Nathan Eovaldi has been susceptible to home runs. Over the last two seasons, he’d allow two per nine innings. This season in 45 innings of work, he has yet to allow one. Sometimes I just don’t get how baseball works. He’s made eight starts this season, and five of them have been really good. We’ve seen how good he can be when he’s on his game. In his last start, he allowed only one run in six innings. This was coming after his previous start in which he allowed six runs in 4 ¹⁄₃ innings.