With the Minnesota Twins, still atop the AL Central, this series had so much potential to be a nice under-the-radar series to watch—and bet on—over the weekend. It will still provide some great betting action, but no Mike Trout certainly eats into the intrigue. The Los Angeles Angels tested the Trout-less show against the Braves, but now get to face a first-place team without the game’s best player.
This series will be contested from Thursday, June 1, 2017 through Sunday, June 4, 2017 at Angels Stadium in Anaheim. Saturday’s game will be shown live on MLB Network for those outside the local television markets.
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Pitching Matchups
Thursday’s series opener will feature former Twin’s prospect Alex Meyer back on the mound for the Angels after missing his last start with back spasms. He’ll matchup opposite of Adalberto Mejia who has been a completely different pitcher since being recalled to the majors.
Meija was awful in his first three starts this year, earning a demotion in April. He’s been back a couple weeks now and has given up five combined runs over 12 innings. It’s not great, but he’s been serviceable in his two starts since his returned. Better yet, the Twins won both games.
The secret for the 24-year old southpaw has been much better command. His confidence is back and he looks like he has a plan on the mound. Before the demotion, he was lost.
Speaking of lost, as a former top prospect who has yet to find success at 27-years of age, Meyer is lost in his career.
He’s always been able to rack up strikeouts, but the problem is, a high walk rate has always accompanied the strikeouts. This year is no different.
Moving on in this series, Friday night will send Kyle Gibson and J.C. Ramirez to the mound.
Gibson is one of the few bad stories on this Twins’ team. He was a huge part of their surprise run a couple years ago, but was bad last year and worse so far in 2017. He’s 1.4 with a 7.85 ERA and has shown no signs of getting better. He’s not a strikeout pitcher and he’s accompanied that with terrible control in and out of the strike zone leading to a ton of walks and hits and a 1.964 WHIP.
Ramirez is the anti-Gibson. He’s had no past success. In fact, the 28-year old had not made a Major League start until necessity forced it this year. Now, he leads the Angels in innings, is 5-3 with a 3.38 ERA and is the team’s most reliable starter.
The matchups in this series look most favorable for the Angels on Friday as the weekend rolls along, the Angels must contend with Ervin Santana and Jose Berrios. They’ll counter with Matt Shoemaker and Ricky Nolasco.
Obviously, the Twinkies tandem is much more dangerous.
Santana has been great. He’s 7-2 with a 1.75 ERA and 0.844 WHIP. He’s been lights out and pitched seven innings of one-run ball against the Astros of all teams in his last start. Before that he blanked the Orioles. He’s been nearly unhittable against right-handers and has continued to deliver with only one exception in his 11 starts.
There is a bright spot for those looking to take the Angels in this mismatch. Santana’s BABIP is artificially low. He’s not a strikeout pitcher and his peripherals indicate a more average performance. He will regress and he can give up a clunker. He did once this year. Still, for now, he’s finding success; lots of it.
Berrios is finding success, too, he came up last year with poor results, but obviously learned from it and made the necessary adjustments. He’s now 3-1 with a 2.70 ERA in four starts since getting the promotion. He did get knocked around a bit in his last start, but there’s no question he has great stuff.
While the Twins have their two best starters lined up for Saturday and Sunday, for the Angels, it’s a story of mediocrity. Both Shoemaker and Nolasco are no more than mid-to-back-of-the-rotation starters. With a 4.26 and 4.48 ERA respectively, the two are a combined 6-8.
Who's Hot?
With no Trout, the Angels will need several hitters to get hot and help carry the load. The only batter on this team that’s even been average per OPS—other than Trout—is Cameron Maybin who is hitting just .242, but has a .367 OBP; but can anyone drive him in?
Over the last week, Albert Pujols and Andrelton Simmons have both swung the bat well, each hitting over .300 for the week.
Pujols continues to make his way towards history in the home run department with 600 on the horizon. Simmons, meanwhile, has shown in stretches this year that he can do more than just pick it at short. His bat is inconsistent, but he’s swinging well right now.
For the Twins, Brian Dozier is finally heating up. He’s got a .872 OPS over the last month and has a pair of home runs over the past week.
Miguel Sano is perpetually hot this year, performing as he expected him to last year. He is just 2-for-11 in the last few days, but one of those two was a homer. Even Byron Buxton is hitting better. He’s five for his last 17 with three steals.
Who's Not?
The offense for the Angels is a wasteland without Trout. Kole Calhoun, who had been a consistent supporting player for Trout over the last few years is hitting .150 with 26 strikeouts in his last 27 games.
Sadly for the Angels, Calhoun is not alone. Luis Valbuena has been a bust and his 15 for his last 85. Danny Espinosa is 6-for-61 over the last month with a homer and 23 strikeouts.
It’s a lot harder to find cold Twins players. For that, you must go to the bullpen.
Matt Belisle has been a weak point. He’s got a 8.66 ERA in 17.2 innings and has allowed 10 runs on seven walks, eight hits and a pair of homers in his last nine games, spanning seven innings.
Ryan Pressly is another struggling bullpen arm. He’s got a 8.50 ERA in 18 innings.
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