The Houston Astros have the biggest division lead in baseball, but they are coming off a series loss to the Royals. Still, Houston returns home on Friday off a strong road trip. They will host a Los Angeles Angels team that, based on the rosters, should give the Astros a good chance to get back in the win column. Despite that, any Major-League team can win on any given day. Just ask the Royals.
This series will be contested from Friday, June 9, 2017 through Sunday, June 12, 2017 at Minute Maid Park in Houston.
Bet on MLB odds at BookMaker.eu every day of the season.
Pitching Matchups
The Astros bookend this series with a pair of fill-in starters as they continue to juggle their rotation—with a great deal of success—to make up for several starters sitting on the disabled list.
It will be Brad Peacock making the start on Friday and David Paulino will get another start on Sunday.
Peacock has been up-and-down the Houston the last several years, but he has certainly found a niche this year. He began in the pen and shifted to the rotation out of need. The Astros have won all three of Peacock’s starts.
The one drawback to Peacock starting so far has been depth. Given he started out in the pen, he wasn’t stretched out to jump right into the rotation. A.J. Hinch had him on a tight pitch count in his first two starts, but he was allowed a bit more rope last time out, tossing 6.1 innings and 86 pitches. The limits will be expanded more here in start number four.
As for Paulino, he came into the season as a consensus top-100 prospect in baseball though he was mediocre in a few games in the Pacific Coast League this year. The PCL is a tough league for a pitcher, but the ballparks don’t come into play with Paulino’s issues. His are control. He’s walking a ton and that tends to get worse in the major-leagues, not better.
Sandwiched in between the Peacock and Paulino is a more established big league arm in Mike Fiers.
Fiers may be the biggest question mark of the three. He’s allowed 18 home runs, leading the league. He’s been a bit better his last couple times out, allowing just one total homer in that time, but he’s been exceptionally hittable. The Astros have won despite him, not because of him.
His teammates have picked him up on defense, too. His FIP is 6.53 compared to a 4.84 ERA.
Given how the rotation lines up for this series, the Angels have a better chance to capture a win or two compared to what each team’s record would suggest.
Los Angeles has one of its more dependable arms on the hill on Friday in Matt Shoemaker. After that, the Angels turn to Ricky Nolasco and Jesse Chavez.
The most interesting matchup of the weekend could be on Saturday. We’ve already seen the issues with Fiers and the issues with Nolasco are the same. We could be in for a slugfest.
Nolasco is tied with Fiers for the league lead in homers at 18. He’s 2-6 with a 5.05 ERA and, like Fiers, has a higher FIP than ERA.
Matching up against the Astros’ fill-in starters are a couple dependable veterans. Shoemaker is a rare dependable arm for Los Angeles. At 5-3 with a 4.12 ERA, he’s far from a stud, but you know what you are getting with him.
Shoemaker has four quality starts in his last five, including two six innings starts without giving up a run.
Chavez is a pitcher that can be counted on for innings. He’s 5-6 with a 4.56 ERA in 71 innings over 12 starts, so the minimum definition of a quality start is the expectation level. Both of his starts against Houston were good, quality starts; the first, better than the last.
Players to Watch
The Angels lineup looks a lot different without Mike Trout in the middle. Instead, the team now has Albert Pujols in the third hole and Yunel Escobar batting cleanup.
At least Andrelton Simmons is getting on base at a reasonable clip atop the order, but when a league average batter and a formerly great player who is now getting on base less than 29-percen of the time are the anchors to your lineup, you cannot expect to score a lot of runs.
Of course, that all went out the window on Thursday when the Angels scored 11 runs. In that game, the whole lineup hit, even Danny Espinosa had three hits to raise his average all the way to .165.
Yes, the Angels have someone playing nearly every day hitting .165 in June. Though, perhaps its worth noting, that his average is up from .141 on May 28. Since then, Espinosa has hit in five of his six games played, going 7-for-22.
On the other side of the field, the Astros’ offensive performance on Thursday is indicative of this lineup. Aside from George Springer at the top, the rest of the order all collected a hit. This is stacked lineup top to bottom.
Bullpen Breakdown
Even in an offensive onslaught that ended in a 11-4 final, the Angels had to get four innings out of the bullpen, using four different relievers. The Astros, meanwhile, got a big performance by Lance McCullers Jr., who carried a no-hitter into the seventh, limiting the exposure of the Astro’s pen.
For the Astros, the pitching is far more reliable than it is for the team down in Anaheim, that goes for both the rotation and the bullpen.
While the best arms Houston has sit on the DL or aren’t slated to pitch in this series, the pen favors Houston, though Los Angeles has been surprisingly good out of the pen.
Houston is 14-7 out of the pen, highlighting the team’s ability to hold a game where it is after the pen comes in. It also shows the strength of the offense as it’s been able to come back from a late deficit.
BookMaker offers play-by-play betting odds for live sporting events every day! The user-friendly wagering interface on your smartphone provides an easy way to place bets on the go.
Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute, so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook!
