On Friday the AL East meets the AL West, as the Tampa Bay Rays take on the Los Angeles Angels in game one of a three game series at Angel Stadium.
Tampa Bay is coming off a big 8-5 win over that other team from Los Angeles. In spite of the victory though, the Rays are just 2-4 in their last six games and 3-5 on the road in 2016. The Halos, on the other hand, aren’t red-hot either. They also have gone 2-4 in their last six games and are 6-6 at home.
To their credit the Rays have gotten solid pitching, but the offense has held them back. The team is 27th in the league in scoring, averaging just 3.46 runs per game. Evan Longoria and company have performed better of late, and the .457 SLG/.213 ISO power surge over the last 14 games has been impressive. Still they need that offense to improve overall or they could be in for a long, disappointing season.
The Angels know a thing or two about having a weak offense. Los Angeles ranks 22nd in the league in scoring, putting up just 3.75 runs per game. Led by Mike Trout and Albert Pujols, the Angels are 14th in hitting (.246) and 19th in homers (25). They have shown signs of coming out of it, averaging 5.9 runs per game over their last five games. The Rays pitching staff will be tasked with stopping Trout, who is 7-13 in his last three games with two homers and seven RBI. He leads the Angels in Home runs with seven and RBI with 22, while hitting .317.
The Rays strength is the pitching staff. Ranked seventh in the league in ERA at 3.67, fourth in WHIP at 1.14 and seventh in strikeouts, Tampa Bay should be viewed as a formidable opponent when it comes to hurling small, spherical objects at opposing batters. The starters have collected a 3.69 ERA, while the ‘pen ― which has shown cracks of late ― has been decent overall, posting a 3.62 ERA.
Los Angeles, on the other hand, is ranked 14th in the league in ERA at 3.85, 15th in WHIP at 1.30 and 26th in strikeouts. Suffice it to say Logan Forsythe, Longoria, Brandon Guyer and the rest of the Rays batting order will look to take advantage of the Angels weak pitching staff.
Rays manager Kevin Cash will throw Chris Archer (1-4, 5.01 ERA), Jake Odorizzi (0-1, 3.12 ERA) and a hurler to be determined over the course of the series. Archer’s success in his last two starts has been locating his pitches and getting ahead in the count. He’s also used his changeup more often with good results. The righty is 4-1 with a 2.97 ERA in five starts against the Angels, including 2-1 with a 3.12 ERA in three starts at Angel Stadium. Odorizzi has tried to get “quicker outs” in order to keep his pitch count low, and he successfully did so on Sunday against Toronto in a seven-inning no-decision. He is 0-2 with a 6.75 ERA in two career starts against the Angels.
Matt Moore was scheduled to start Sunday, with the plan being to drop in a fifth starter either Monday or Tuesday in Seattle. But, instead of throwing a left-handed pitching against a team who fares well against southpaws, Cash made the decision to throw Moore on Monday or Tuesday instead. Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times) wrote about the move, saying,
Kevin Cash said that Sunday’s starter is now “to be determined,” which seems to mean they are instead thinking of using the extra starter — either RHP Matt Andriese or RHP Erasmo Ramirez — against the Angels, who happen to hit markedly better against lefties.
Ramirez has been pitching extremely well out of the bullpen, and the Rays are tempted to leave him there. Andriese is 1-2 with a 3.41 ERA in six starts at Triple-A Durham but coming off a dazzling Tuesday outing in which he threw seven scoreless innings and struck out a career-high 14. He leads all minor-leaguers with 44 strikeouts.
Garrett Richards was slated to throw on Friday, however, Mike Scioscia will instead go with reliever Cory Rasmus due to Richards’ bout with fatigue.
#Angels scratch Garrett Richards from tomorrow’s start vs #Rays. Cory Rasmus gets the start.
— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) May 5, 2016
Rasmus (0-1, 4.40 ERA) can go a maximum of four innings, and has a 2.86 ERA in seven career starts. He’s relied primarily on a whiffy 93 mph four-seam fastball and 86 mph changeup, while also mixing in an 86 mph slider and a 75 mph fly-ball inducing curveball. Key matchups: Brad Miller (1-2), Logan Morrison (1-3, BB), Steve Pearce (1-3)
Jered Weaver (3-1, 5.40 ERA) retired just three of the last 11 Brewers hitters he faced on Monday and was charged with seven runs on 11 hits in five innings. All this five days after surrendering seven extra-base hits. His ERA has jumped from 3.12 to 5.40 over the two starts. Of those 11 hits, only two were of the extra-base variety (both doubles) although he routinely caught too much of the plate. With his depleted fastball sitting in the low 80s, Weaver has been relying on his changeup, but the Brewers put that pitch in play eight times for five hits (.625 BA). Key matchups: Logan Forsythe (3-10, 2B), Evan Longoria (6-20, 3 2B, HR, RBI, 3 BB), Steven Souza Jr. (1-4)
Nick Tropeano (1-1, 3.42) allowed five runs on five hits and five walks over five innings with six strikeouts in Tuesday’s loss to the Brewers. Tropeano gave three home runs, including back-to-back shots by Jonathan Lucroy and Chris Carter in Tropeano’s final inning. Despite throwing 17 first-pitch strikes to 25 hitters, Tropeano’s lost hitters to walks or left mistake pitches over the plate due to his nibbling at the zone. The 25 year-old right relies primarily on a 92 mph four-seam fastball which he uses to generate whiffs and fly-balls, an 81 mph swing and miss slider and an 83 mph changeup. Key matchup: Brad Miller (1-4)
Noteworthiness
― Per Winners and Winers,
Tampa Bay is 6-15 in their last 21 games following an off day, and 4-11 in their last 15 during game one of a series. Los Angeles is 11-3 in their last 14 games following an off day, and 55-27 in their last 82 home games vs. a team with a losing record.
― Steve Pearce was 4-8 with two homers versus the Dodgers.
― Guyer is hitting .406 over his last 10.
― The Rays have matched a club record with 34 homers in 26 games.
― Corey Dickerson is hitless in the last seven games (0-20).