That long ten-game, four-city road trip is finally over. The Yankees are now back home for a seven-game homestand that wraps up this long 41 games in 40 days stretch. It’s been a grind. Even for fans, I think. The Angels are in the Bronx for four games this week. This is the first meeting of the season between these two teams.
What Have They Done Lately?
The Halos erased a 4-1 deficit in the late innings yesterday to earn a 5-4 win over the Pirates in Pittsburgh. They took two of three over the weekend and have the same 26-30 record as the Yankees. The Angels have the better run differential though: -11 to -31. You win this round, Billy Eppler.
Offense & Defense
When I looked over the roster before the season, I wondering how in the world the Angels would score runs. They’ve actually been pretty respectable offensively, averaging 4.36 runs per game with a team 100 wRC+. As a team the Halos have the lowest strikeout rate (15.8%) and third highest contact rate (81.6%) in baseball, so they’re going to put the ball in play. Then again, the Yankees have the fifth lowest strikeout rate (19.2%) and second highest contact rate (81.7%), so maybe they’re not the most predictive thing in the world.
The Angels have a laundry list of players on the DL at the moment, most notably SS Andrelton Simmons (45 wRC+). He tore a thumb ligament a few weeks back and is expected to begin a minor league rehab assignment today. Needless to say, Simmons won’t be back this series. The left field platoon of OF Daniel Nava (70 wRC+) and OF Craig Gentry (22 wRC+) are out with lumbar and groin problems, respectively. Backup C Geovany Soto (128 wRC+) and backup IF Cliff Pennington (109 wRC+) are on the shelf too. Crazy.
Anyway, manager Mike Scioscia still has CF Mike Trout (164 wRC+) to anchor his lineup, and once again Trout is having an out-of-this world season. He’s so, so good. So good. 3B Yunel Escobar (120 wRC+) and RF Kole Calhoun (138 wRC+) bat first and second ahead of Trout while 1B/DH Albert Pujols (107 wRC+) cleans up. 1B/DH C.J. Cron (93 wRC+) and 2B Johnny Giavotella (82 wRC+) typically hit fifth and sixth in some order.
With Simmons hurt, ex-Yankees IF Brendan Ryan (-100 wRC+) and IF Gregorio Petit (74 wRC+) are sharing time at shortstop. OF Shane Robinson (104 wRC+) and OF Rafael Ortega (65 wRC+) handle left field. C Carlos Perez (55 wRC+) is the starting backstop with C Jeff Bandy (97 wRC+) backing him up. IF Jefry Marte (218 wRC+) is the other bench player. The Halos have good to great defenders all over the field. Their worst defender is probably Pujols or Cron, whoever happens to be at first base that day.
Pitching Probables
Monday (7:05pm ET): RHP Masahiro Tanaka (vs. LAA) vs. RHP Matt Shoemaker (vs. NYY)
Two years ago Shoemaker finished second in the AL Rookie of the Year voting behind Jose Abreu. Last year he had a 4.46 ERA (4.59 FIP) and missed time with a forearm injury. This year Shoemaker has 5.50 ERA (3.58 FIP) in ten starts and 52.1 innings, which earned him a brief demotion to Triple-A. Look at the numbers and you’ll think he’s stunk, but they don’t tell the whole story. The 29-year-old allowed 26 runs with 17 strikeouts in his first six starts and 24.2 innings. In his last four starts he’s allowed seven runs with 36 strikeouts in 27.2 innings. What changed? His pitch selection (via Brooks Baseball):
Almost half of Shoemaker’s pitches have been splitters over those last four starts. Hey, when you spend parts of five seasons in Triple-A before finally getting a chance at the Major League level, you’re going to do whatever it takes to stay there, and in this case it means throwing your best pitch a frickin’ ton. Shoemaker sets the splitter up with low-90s four-seamers and sinkers — I guess the splitter sets up the fastballs at this point, right? — and he also throws a low-80s slider. These days he doesn’t bother with his upper-70s curveball. We’ll see how the Yankees approach Shoemaker now that he’s throwing all those splitters. It’s a tough pitch to combat.
Tuesday (7:05pm ET): RHP Michael Pineda (vs. LAA) vs. TBA
The Angels have nearly a full rotation on the DL at the moment. Garrett Richards (elbow), Andrew Heaney (elbow), C.J. Wilson (shoulder), and Nick Tropeano (shoulder) are all out. Richards and Heaney are currently trying to rehab partially torn elbow ligaments and avoid Tommy John surgery a la Tanaka. Tropeano hit the DL over the weekend and this was supposed to be his start, and the Angels still haven’t announced his replacement. They’ve given zero indication who will get the ball instead. It won’t be Tim Lincecum, who signed a free agent a deal a few weeks back. Scioscia confirmed he’ll make at least one more Triple-A tune-up start before joining the team. Scioscia seemed to indicate the Angels might go with a bullpen game tomorrow. It’s a big mystery for now.
Wednesday (7:05pm ET): RHP Nathan Eovaldi (vs. LAA) vs. RHP Jered Weaver (vs. NYY)
Weaver, who is somehow only 33, has a 5.18 ERA (5.59 FIP) in eleven starts and 64.1 innings so far this season, and about the only thing he does well is limit walks (5.7%). He doesn’t strike anyone out (14.3%), doesn’t get grounders (29.4%), and doesn’t keep the ball in the park (1.96 HR/9). His platoon split is small but only because both righties and lefties hit him hard. Weaver’s fastball is averaging 83.1 mph this year, which is bonkers. Only knuckleballers R.A. Dickey and Steven Wright have slower average fastballs this year. Doug Fister has the next slowest heater among non-knucklers at 86.6 mph, so we’re talking about a gap of 3.5 mph between Weaver and the next slowest fastball. Yeesh. His kitchen sink approach includes low-80s sinkers, mid-70s changeups and sliders, and an upper-60s curveball. Everything is slow. It’s a different look for sure. Doesn’t seem to be working much for Weaver this year though.
Thursday (7:05pm ET): RHP Ivan Nova (vs. LAA) vs. RHP Jhoulys Chacin (vs. NYY)
The Angels picked up the veteran Chacin from the Braves in a minor trade a few weeks ago simply because they needed another warm body for the rotation. The 28-year-old has made ten starts and thrown 58 innings this year overall, and he has a 4.50 ERA (4.02 FIP) in those 58 innings. He’s always been a heavy ground ball pitcher (52.9%) thanks to his trademark low-90s sinker. His strikeout (19.4%), walk (7.3%), and homer (1.09 HR/9) numbers are middling at best, and weirdly enough, he’s been more effective against righties than lefties. That not typical. Chacin backs up his sinker with upper-80s cutters, mid-80s changeups, low-80s sliders, and upper-80s curveballs. He throws everything too. Chacin is a true five-pitch pitcher.
Bullpen Status
Injuries have struck the bullpen too. The Angels only recently welcomed closer RHP Huston Street back from an oblique injury that cost him six weeks. Setup man RHP Joe Smith is now nursing a hamstring problem that may land him on the DL. Here is Scioscia’s relief crew at the moment:
Closer: RHP Huston Street (0.90 ERA/4.82 FIP)
Setup: RHP Joe Smith (3.91/5.21)
Middle: LHP Jose Alvarez (4.23/3.01), RHP Cam Bedrosian (1.96/2.58), RHP Javy Guerra (5.68/7.70), LHP Greg Mahle (4.24/4.95), RHP Fernando Salas (3.76/4.11)
Long: RHP Deolis Guerra (5.14/1.12)
If Smith is not placed on the DL, someone will have to go down to make room for tomorrow’s spot starter. (Assuming it’s not a bullpen game.) One of the Guerras seems most likely given a) the fact they both threw 28 pitches yesterday, and b) the team’s transactions over the first two months of the season. Alvarez (17 pitches) and Street (14 pitches) both pitched yesterday too.
You can check up on the status of the Yankees bullpen with out Bullpen Workload page and boy, it’s not pretty. Joe Girardi has really worked the guys hard the last few days. Tonight would be a good night for Tanaka to pitch very deep into the game. That and the offense scoring a lot of runs.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.