The Los Angeles Angels got off to a hot start in the first week and a half while the Texas Rangers were struggling mightily due to the implosion of closer Sam Dyson. As we reach the end of the season’s first month, however, the two teams find themselves sitting in a similar spot, flirting with .500, both looking up to the Astros atop the AL West.
This series will be contested from Friday, April 28, 2017 through Sunday, April 30, 2017 at Globe Life Park in Arlington. Saturday's clash will be televised live, nationally on Fox Sports 1.
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Pitching Matchups
With A.J. Griffin out the disabled list with gout, the Rangers are left without a starter for Friday night’s series premiere against the Angels. Nick Martinez got the start for Griffin on Saturday going seven innings and giving up just one run, but Texas has yet to confirm him for Friday.
With Martinez still on the roster and coming off a strong outing, he would seem to be the favorite to make the start. The Rangers will then turn to Yu Darvish and Martin Perez to start on Saturday and Sunday respectively.
As for the Angels, manager Mike Scioscia has yet to announce any of his starters for the weekend series as the rotation remains in flux due to injuries. Alex Meyer and Daniel Wright, both of whom got starts this past week, have been optioned out, leaving Tyler Skaggs, Jesse Chavez and JC Ramirez the likely starters—in that order—based on how they’re lined up.
Assuming Martinez does get the Friday start, he’s had a good deal of success against the Angels in his career despite a 2-3 record. He’s pitched to a 2.51 ERA in 43 innings of work. Skaggs meanwhile is coming off a couple of strong outings. After back-to-back games giving up five runs to open the year, Skaggs has gone seven innings in each of his last two starts, giving up just two total runs. That said, one of his earlier rough outings was against this Texas team as the Rangers roughed him up for five runs on eight hits—including a pair of homers—in five frames.
As for Saturday’s matchup, there’s no question the Rangers win this matchup. Darvish looks like his pre-surgery self; or at least close to it. The right-hander has a 3.03 ERA and 1.041 WHIP in 32.2 innings. Chavez, on the other hand, is what he is. He’s a swing man that can provide serviceable back of the rotation innings. He’s got a 4.13 ERA, but has allowed his share of base runners as to be expected. He’s got a career 4.52 ERA. About the best you can hope for is six solid innings, giving up a couple runs. That’s good, but if Darvish is on his game, it’s not good enough.
The series wraps up with a very interesting matchup as the Angels sent J.C. Ramirez to the mound for his fourth start.
Ramirez has a great curve that’s really been the key to his recent success and a fastball that’s really only second to Noah Syndergaard amongst starters. He’s looked pretty good since jumping into the rotation and is fresh off holding Oakland scoreless over seven innings of two-hit ball.
Who's Hot?
If not for an injury to Adrian Beltre, he wouldn’t even be in the big leagues right now, but third baseman Joey Gallo has really taken advantage of his opportunity here in April and has Rangers officials trying to see if they can retain him on the roster and find him at bats even when Beltre returns.
Of course, Gallo still has some big holes in his swing. The 23-year old has done a good job at closing some of those up, but he will still strike outs, a lot. Despite that, Gallo’s power is impressive even with a .224 average, he’s been able to get on base enough with a .333 OBP and do enough damage to be one of the team’s better offensive contributors through the season’s first month. Overall, Gallo leads the Rangers with seven home runs and 16 RBIs. His .945 OPS also leads the team, at least amongst those with at least 20 at bats.
Surprisingly, with a 1.3 rWAR, Gallo has been the most impactful player on the team so far. With Nomar Mazara cooling after a hot start of his own, Gallo and back-up catcher Robinson Chirinos are the only two Rangers’ players with an OPS+ above 99. Amongst the starters, he, Shin Soo Choo and Carlos Gomez are the only ones getting on base more than 30-percent of the time.
In the bullpen, the Rangers’ overall numbers are bad, but much of that falls to Dyson. Other than him, they’ve gotten some good performances so far with Alex Claudio holding the opposition scoreless over 10 innings.
For the Angels, Mike Trout is, well, Mike Trout. He’s hitting .346 with a 1.123 OPS. While we expect Trout to put up insane numbers, those numbers are insane even for him as his OPS+ is 218. Unfortunately for the Angels, Andrelton Simmons is the only other player with an OPS+ over 83 on this team.
Who's Not?
As noted already, Mazara has cooled off, but that’s a bit of an understatement. He’s now hitting .247 after hitting as high as .352 as recently as April 17. He’s, however, just two for his last 31 at bats.
Worse than that, Jurickson Profar is lost at the plate. He’s hitting .135 for the season with a .424 OPS. Jonathan Lucroy, Mike Napoli and even Rougned Odor are all OPSing below .600.
The Angels have a similar situation with a ton of slumping players. C.J. Cron is batting .208, but has just one extra base hit. Danny Espinosa and Cameron Maybin were two of the biggest offseason acquisitions; both are batting below the Mendoza line.
Albert Pujols leads the team in RBIs with 16, but that’s more a product of who hits ahead of him since he’s hitting just .238 with a pair of homers and a .626 OPS.
Now, in the bullpen, the Angels’ overall numbers aren’t too bad and are actually better than the Rangers, but it’s Los Angeles that’s had to turn to Bud Norris of all pitchers to close out games.
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