2022 Series Poll: Houston Astros @ Los Angeles Angels

Quick Notes

The Astros arrive in Anaheim to face an Angels team that has seemingly surrendered the season already. After running neck and neck with the Astros all the way through May, the Angels have been in an absolute freefall, sliding all the way down to 4th in the division. This must feel devastating to Angels fans, who were treated to a lot of speculation over the ending of their playoff drought just a month ago.

Of course, dreams of October are now on life support for the Angels. Not only that, but it’s the same old story that seems to plague them every season: Offense reliant team that can’t get its act together on pitching across all 9 innings.

It’s hard not to rely on offense when you have two of the best players on the planet in the forms of Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. On top of that, RF Taylor Ward has seemingly emerged from nowhere to create a three-headed monster at the top of the lineup. Unfortunately for the Angels, that’s pretty much the only teeth they have at the plate as those are the only players with an above-average OPS across the entire season.

That reliance on those three are part of why the Angels are spiraling, as Trout has made a poor showing of it recently, slashing just .176/.243/.265 in the month of July. Ohtani and Ward aren’t much better, showing respective slash lines of .182/.270/.364 and .194/.316/.323 during that same timeframe.

At least Walsh has an OBP above .300, but you’re not going to win too many games relying on those stats. Michael Stefanic has been the only player you could call hot at the plate lately, slashing .389/.500/.444 in the last 7 games, though with only one extra base hit. That’s even more impressive when you consider that it’s the entirety of his MLB career so far.

As for the bullpen, Raisel Iglesias remains the closer for the Angels with 15 successful conversions in 18 opportunities this season. Aaron Loup and Ryan Tepera are both high leverage options as well, though Tepera has had a bit of a rough go recently, which was punctuated by a game winning homer given up to the Astros just the other week in Houston. Loup and Iglesias have been more solid, if not occasionally underwhelming, in their roles, but expect to see them in tight situations this week.

Last 10 Games: 3-7 Record, 2 Series Swept, 1 Series Split, -21 Run Differential (24 scored, 45 allowed)

W/L Splits: 10-29 at home, 18-27 on the road, 14-41 against teams over .500

Injured List: Angels: Michael Lorenzen: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Archie Bradley: 60-Day IL (elbow), Matt Duffy: 10-Day IL (back), Jimmy Herget: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Anthony Rendon: 60-Day IL (wrist), Austin Warren: 15-Day IL (tricep), David Fletcher: 60-Day IL (hip), Cooper Criswell: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Chris Rodriguez: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Griffin Canning: 60-Day IL (back)

Starters

Game 1: Luis Garcia (RHP, 7-5, 3.81 ERA, 87 K’s) vs Noah Syndergaard (RHP, 5-7, 3.84 ERA, 55 K’s)

Syndergaard has been an excellent signing for the Angels, placing another solid piece in the rotation to help out Ohtani. He’s had a couple of clunkers this season, including a 6-spot given up to the Royals in June, but don’t expect him to do the Astros any favors.

Game 2: Cristian Javier (RHP, 6-4, 3.01 ERA, 102 K’s) vs Shohei Ohtani (RHP, 8-4, 2.44 ERA, 111 K’s)

As excellent of a hitter Ohtani has been this season, he’s been that much better on the mound. He kicked it up a notch in early June with a 7 inning, 1-run showing against the Red Sox and hasn’t looked back since. He hasn’t surrendered an earned run in his last 4 starts, though there was a single unearned run in there.

Game 3: Framber Valdez (LHP, 8-4, 2.64 ERA, 96 K’s) vs TBD

Angels have yet to announce this spot but Chase Silseth followed Ohtani last time through the rotation, so I’m going to guess him. Silseth made his MLB debut in mid-May and came out firing with 6 innings of shutout ball against the A’s. He has not gone more than 4.1 innings since then, however, and has seen his ERA rise to 5.84, so that should tell you how his season is going.

For Your Viewing and Listening Pleasure

Game 1: Tuesday, July 12th @ 8:38 pm CDT
Listen: Astros - KBME 790 AM/94.5 FM HD-2, KTRH 740 AM/99.1 FM HD-2, TUDN 93.3/KLAT 1010 / Angels - KLAA 830, KWKW 1330
Watch: Astros - ATT SportsNet-SW / Angels - Bally Sports West / MLB Network (out-of-market only)

Game 2: Wednesday, July 13th @ 8:38 pm CDT
Listen: Astros - KBME 790 AM/94.5 FM HD-2, KTRH 740 AM/99.1 FM HD-2, TUDN 93.3/KLAT 1010 / Angels - KLAA 830
Watch: Astros - ATT SportsNet-SW / Angels - Bally Sports West

Game 3: Thursday, July 14th @ 7:07 pm CDT
Listen: Astros - KBME 790 AM/94.5 FM HD-2, KTRH 740 AM/99.1 FM HD-2, TUDN 93.3/KLAT 1010 / Angels - KLAA 830, KWKW 1330
Watch: Astros - ATT SportsNet-SW / Angels - Bally Sports West