The Texas Rangers are looking to get back to some consistent winning after dropping two straight series and to do so, they’ll have to take on an old friend. This weekend Bruce Bochy and crew welcome the last place Los Angeles Angels and old manager Ron Washington to town.
The Rangers have maintained a hold on second place in the AL West for the last week, but it’s more indicative of how bad the rest of the West has been that a game above .500 is within spitting distance of first place as the division-leading Seattle Mariners have the worst record of any first place team in baseball.
Despite Los Angeles sitting in the cellar in the West, Texas has shown in recent series against Oakland and Colorado that they can’t take series against underperforming squads for granted; that’s typically when they’ve been at their worst.
Los Angeles Angels (16-28, 5th Place AL West, 8.0 GB) @ Texas Rangers (23-22, 2nd Place AL West, 1.5 GB)
Previously, for Los Angeles
The Los Angeles Angels haven’t typically been the best in their division, but despite that, they always seem to bring an entertaining and star-studded lineup to town. This year, there is no Shohei Ohtani, as he signed with the Dodgers, no Anthony Rendon, out with a hamstring injury, and there is no Mike Trout, as he is recovering from meniscus surgery. The most notable player on their team right now, from a “you might have heard of him” perspective could be power-hitting former All-Star Miguel Sano, and that’s a stretch.
The Angels are traveling from Los Angeles, having salvaged a three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals with a win in their finale. They were only outscored 19-18 over the course of the series, but a large inning by St. Louis in the opener and a blown save by the bullpen ended up being the difference.
The Halo offense has been inconsistent, although perhaps not as bad as the Rangers’ as of late. But the biggest culprit for the Angels’ poor start has been their pitching staff, which is dead last in the American League.
Their rotation currently sports a 4.50 ERA. That’s fourth worst in the AL, with the White Sox, Astros and Athletics behind them. As bad as the starters have been, their bullpen holds the distinction of having the worst ERA in all of baseball.
The Angels sit at 5.17 with their relievers; Hunter Strickland is the only reliever making regular appearances that holds an ERA below 4.00. The Angels, on paper, were supposed to have a strong bullpen, but that has been anything but the case so far.
To that end, Los Angeles is bringing up the rear in the AL West, despite new managerial leadership in the guise of former Rangers’ manager Washington. Two games into the year, following back-to-back losses to the Orioles, Washington held a team meeting. That prompted a four-game winning streak, which had some proclaiming there was some “Wash magic” in LA, but since the three-game sweep of Miami, the Angels didn’t win another series until last week against Pittsburgh.
What to watch for
- Game 46, 7:05 PM CT - LHP Tyler Anderson (3-4, 2.92 ERA) vs. LHP Andrew Heaney (0-4, 4.39 ERA)
- Game 47, 6:15 PM CT - LHP Patrick Sandoval (2-6, 5.00 ERA) vs. RHP Jose Urena (1-3, 3.62 ERA)
- Game 48, 1:35 PM CT - RHP Jose Soriano (1-4, 3.72 ERA) vs. RHP Michael Lorenzen (2-2, 3.75 ERA)
Texas draws two of the Angels’ better starters this year in Tyler Anderson and Jose Soriano. Anderson, who gets the ball in the opener, has been the starter that’s given the Angels some length, routinely going at least six innings per start. Against the Kansas City Royals, Anderson was the only pitcher in the four-game set to pick up the win, going 6 ⅔ innings and allowing seven hits and three runs in his last outing.
Soriano takes the hill in the finale on Sunday, having had to take a no decision last time out against the Cardinals. He threw 5 ⅓ innings of shutdown ball before the bullpen allowed eight runs. It’s been an up and down year for Soriano, with more rough starts than quality ones. In between those two will be six year veteran lefty Patrick Sandoval.
Sandoval, who was once one of LA’s best starters in 2022, has fallen off considerably since then. He took a loss last time out against Kansas City, surrendering a season-high 11 hits and allowing four runs to cross the plate. It was a rather large bump in an otherwise smooth month of May; he had allowed just two runs across 12 innings before that.
Texas will throw Andrew Heaney, Jose Urena, and Michael Lorenzen against the Halos. All three are coming off good starts. Heaney, still looking for his first win of the year, has pitched very well over his last three games. Last time in Colorado, Heaney allowed two runs on eight hits in his first outing of not exceeding five innings since mid-April. It was the latest no-decision for Heaney in an eventual Rangers loss.
Urena has been a bit of a rotation savior for Bochy and pitching coach Mike Maddux, having pitched very well in his two starts so far and being able to talk himself into going deeper into games. With as many pitchers as the Rangers have on the injured list, Urena being able to pitch into the seventh against the Rockies was huge. He was a hard-luck-loser, having given up just two runs in that outing, but the Rangers’ bats couldn’t get anything going.
Lorenzen, who will close out the series on Sunday, rebounded nicely from an awful outing in Oakland. Again, the Rangers’ offense was kept quiet, but Lorenzen found himself in a pitchers’ duel with Tanner Bibee of the Guardians. He threw seven shutout innings and allowed just two hits.
The Rangers, coming off a day of rest, have another one immediately following this series before embarking on a six-game road trip. This series against the Angels would be a good time to make a statement and come away with some momentum before facing two of the better teams in baseball.
Some of the home run momentum (five homers in the last two games) from the Guardians series needs to carry over against some below-average pitching. Meanwhile, the starters just need to keep doing what they’ve been doing as of late, which is to give the team a chance to win.
Do you think the Rangers will earn a series win against Ron Washington’s Halos? Share your predictions with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.