Despite a long list of injuries, the Los Angeles Angels have won five of their last seven games. Angels starting pitchers continue to fuel wins as the offense struggles to put runs on the board. Specifically, Andrew Heaney, Griffin Canning, and Alex Cobb all netted wins. Further, despite earning losses or no decisions, Patrick Sandoval and Shohei Ohtani have provided quality starts to give the Halos a fighting chance in the later innings.
Angels starters fuel wins
Andrew Heaney
In the past, Heaney has struggled with consistency and efficiency of pitches. Even during his victory against the Texas Rangers, he threw 105 pitches in five innings. He issued a season-high four walks but limited the damage to only three runs on four hits. As the month wraps up, Heaney was able to cut his ERA down from 5.89 in April to 3.43 in May.
Griffin Canning
Similar to Heaney, Canning struggled through the month of April and his last few starts in May. However, he earned his second quality start of the season in netting the win against the Rangers. Trough six innings, he earned seven strikeouts, while only allowing three runs from four hits. Allowing homeruns continues to be a struggle for Canning. However, in the month of May, he cut down the number of home runs to four in May after allowing six in the month of April. He also cut his ERA down from 8.40 to 3.60 in the same span.
Alex Cobb
Over his last two starts, Cobb has bounced back after returning from the injured list. He earned wins in both his starts. His last victory against the Oakland Athletics was his longest outing of the season as he pitched seven scoreless innings. He struck out eight and allowed only three hits and two walks. The key to Cobb’s success have been strikeouts and ground balls. His K% sits at 30.1% and he leads the Angels rotation in GB% at 56.5. Overall, he leads the Angels rotation in WAR at 1.1 this season. In addition to his on field performance, Cobb continues to have an impact off the field. ESPN recently wrote an article about Cobb’s connection with the son of a fallen soldier.
Shohei Ohtani
Ohtani had a unusual start to the series in Oakland. He was scratched from the start on Thursday after the team bus got caught in traffic. Ohtani took public transportation (the Bart) to try to get to the field, but ended up sitting out. He started on Friday and ultimately earned the loss. He kept the team in the game allowing only three runs while striking out five. However, the offense could not generate runs to support. He left in the seventh inning after allowing a walk and hit.
Despite the loss, Ohtani remains one of the best pitchers in the lineup. His 32.5% K% leads the Angels rotation. Since the start of the season, he has been more efficient with his pitches to go deeper into the game. Still, the team continues to balance the two-way star. There was some alarm over a drop in velocity after his 19 May start. Manager Joe Maddon delayed his next appearance where Ohtani alleviated concerns about his velocity. Overall, his average four-seem fastball and slider velocities remain at a career high at 94.0 and 93.5 respectively.
Struggling starters
Bundy and Quintana
Both Dylan Bundy and Jose Quintana have struggled in recent outings. A cornerstone of the rotation last season, Bundy was pulled after two innings in his last start. The month of May was rough for Bundy who posted a 10.91 ERA compared to the 4.20 ERA posted in April. Meanwhile, Qunitana has yet to find his stride as an Angel. Currently, he holds a career worst 7.22 ERA, 6.95 BB/9, 17.9% HR/FB and a noticeable drop in his GB% this season. In his last start against Oakland, he was pulled after three innings and was put on the 10-day IL on Monday, 31 May.
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Sandoval and Suarez
Sandoval took the mound against the Oakland on short notice after the Ohtani scratch. Despite the last minute decision to pitch, Sandoval had his best outing of the season. He pitched five scoreless innings only allowing five hits. He netted four strikeouts and allowed only four walks. With Quintana added to the injured list, Maddon stated Sandoval would fill his spot in the rotation. When Quitana was pulled from his last start, Jose Suarez took the mound. He pitched through three innings earning the win. Suarez first started for the Angels in 2019 when he received his call-up at age 21 due to the lack of depth in the Angels rotation. He continued to make appearances in 2020, but started the season in AAA Salt Lake. Suarez shows signs of promise with his changeup, but he needs to gain more control over his curveball.
Overall
The Angels need to generate offense for their starting pitchers despite all the offensive injuries. Mike Trout is still several weeks out in his return to the lineup, Jose Iglesias was recently added to the 10-day injured list, and Max Stassi is still completing his injury rehab assignment. Thus, the Angels will need to find new players to generate offense. Angels starting pitchers cannot fuel wins on their own due to a lack of run support. Also, the Halos relief corps ranks 25th in the MLB according to Fangraphs. Thus, the offense needs to be able to score runs later in the game in order to get wins.
Players mentioned: Andrew Heaney, Griffin Canning, Alex Cobb, Patrick Sandoval, Shohei Ohtani, Joe Maddon, Dylan Bundy, Jose Quintana, Jose Suarez, Mike Trout, Jose Iglesias, Max Stassi
Main Photo: Embed from Getty Images
