The Los Angeles Angels are on the fringes of the wildcard race. They’ll face off against the Oakland Athletics over the weekend. These AL West foes have already met 10 times. The Angels have won six of those games. Los Angeles won 12 of the 19 matchups between these teams last year as well.
This series will be contested from Friday, August 4, 2017 through Sunday, August 6, 2017 at Angels Stadium in Anaheim.
Bet on MLB odds at BookMaker.eu every day of the season.
Pitching Matchups
Youth and upside are the highlights of this weekend when it comes to the pitching matches except for Ricky Nolasco’s start on Sunday.
The Athletics have Jharel Cotton, Paul Blackhurn and Sean Manaea lined up for the weekend series while the Angels will counter with Troy Scribner, Tyler Skaggs and Nolasco.
In Friday’s showdown, Scribner will be making his first Major League start. The 26-year old right-hander has made just two appearances in The Show, allowing two runs in four innings, allowing one walk and three hits—including a homer.
Scribner isn’t a highly-touted prospect and he took five years to climb the ranks, but he was 10-3 in the Pacific Coast League for Triple-A Salt Lake City. His ERA was 4.16 and WHIP was 1.274. Neither was that impressive, but he pitched well enough to be next in line to take the spot for Jesse Chavez.
On the other side, the A’s are going with Cotton to kick off the series. Cotton impressed in a small sample size last year, earning him a spot in the 2017 rotation. The league has made some adjustments and he’s struggled adjusting back.
He’s 5-8 with a 5.49 ERA. Oakland is 6-9 in his 15 starts.
The last time out, Cotton lasted 3.2 innings against the Twins and allowed five runs while walking five and giving up a pair of long balls. That was his first appearance since July 3 when he went five innings, allowing four runs to the White Sox.
On Saturday, Blackburn will try and build off his fantastic start to his career. The young right-hander has gone from the Cubs to the Mariners to the A’s during the year, but that journey has culminated in a strong six-start stint in Oakland. He’s 2-1 with a 3.05 ERA and 1.122 WHIP.
Blackburn’s last start was his worst. He allowed five runs in 6.1 innings against the Giants. Before that, he went seven scoreless against Toronto. His success in Oakland just builds off his solid run at Triple-A Nashville where he was 5-6 with a 3.05 ERA. He’s not a huge strikeout pitcher, but has been able to get outs so far in his brief big league career.
His counterpart with the Angels, Skaggs, will be coming off the DL for his first start since April 29. He was 1-1 with a 3.99 ERA in five starts before getting sidelined. He struggled in four rehab starts so there is some concern going in to Saturday. Nevertheless, the young southpaw is a high upside youngster who has already found some success at the Major-League level. Unfortunately, none of that success has come against the A’s. He’s 0-2 with a 6.75 ERA in three starts against Oakland.
Finally, this series wraps upon Sunday with Manaea against Nolasco. The young southpaw had a bat outing against the Giants last week. San Francisco hung five runs in the first.
Despite that, Manaea is probably the best start on the team now that Sonny Gray is a Yankee. He’s 8-6 with a 3.88 ERA and 1.284 WHIP. He’s better than most at avoiding the home run, allowing in 116 innings.
As for Nolasco, the veteran right-hander is 5-12 with a 4.90 ERA after a win against the Phillies where he allowed one run over six frames. He’s had a rough season and struggled with the long ball, but he’s 4-3 with a 3.26 ERA in his career against Oakland.
Offensive Comparison
Here in the second half, the A’s have scored four more runs than the Angels. Of course, they’ve also already played three more games.
On the year, both Oakland and Los Angeles have a below average .313 OBP though the A’s have belted 29 more homers and scored only nine more runs.
For the A’s, Yonder Alonso, Ryon Healy and Khris Davis represent power: tons of it. Alonso’s been cold since the break and perhaps the early season major has worn off, but he’s still a power threat in the middle.
As far as average goes, Alonso’s .269 is about as good as it gets. This is a team with plenty of swing and miss. It’s an all-or-nothing offense.
The Angels, on the other hand, don’t have the power. Mike Trout’s 20 homers leads the team even with having missed more than a month. Albert Pujols still has some power with 17 homers and 68 RBIs, but he’s batting .238 and has a .681 OPS. He’s a below average player at this point. The whole team is a below average offensive player this year other than Trout—who is otherworldly—and Andrelton Simmons who is hitting .303.
Bullpen Breakdown
Bob Melvin’s options late in the game are limited. Santiago Casilla is a serviceable closer for a non-contender despite an elevated WHIP. He’s at least a proven big league arm, but Liam Hendricks is the next most proven guy and he’s sitting with a 5.48 ERA.
Blake Treinen has been interesting. The former National’s closer looks to be embracing the change of scenery and has allowed just two runs—one earned—in 9.1 innings since coming to Oakland. More impressively, he’s allowed just four hits and has struck out 10.
Daniel Coulombe is another option for Melvin, but all in all, it’s just mediocrity with a couple bright spots. This is not a good pen.
The Angels pen is a bit depleted, too, having sent David Hernandez back to Arizona. Bud Norris, Yusmerio Petit and Blake Parker remain, however. Those three have formed a nice set of options for Mike Scioscia as the trio of 32-year olds has formed a surprisingly solid core.
Cam Bedrosian was seen as the lone quality arm in the pen going into the year so he has some value, too.
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!
