Series Preview: Toronto Blue Jays (60-50) vs. Los Angeles Angels (56-56)
A reek of fraudulence emanates through the air, from an epicentre located entirely in Eastern Massachusetts. A haunting wail accompanies it, moaning “Chris Sale won’t save this team. Chris Sale won’t save this team…”
After delivering what will hopefully end up being the back-breaking blow to the Boston Red Sox’s season, the Jays saunter out of their first real homestand having gone 9-2 in Toronto. 7-4 would have been great. 8-3 would have been terrific. 9-2? The League is Fucked.
Or at least, I’d like it to be. If only the Rays and Yankees could start losing some damn games already.
Before we get into the upcoming four-game, three-day series against the The Angels Angels of Anaheim, humour me as I plead for engagement. If you like what Jayslam is doing, please consider sharing this post with a pal who may be interested! Or an enemy! I’m happy with either.
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BEST BIRDS
Hitter: George Springer (7) 17 plate appearances, .267/.333/.667, 10 total bases, 4 Weighted Runs Created, 0.61 Win Probability Added, 0.34 WPA/LI
I mean, who the fuck else could it possibly be? Even if he wasn’t the best hitter on the team in those three days, hitting probably the biggest home run in the recent history of the Toronto Blue Jays is going to get you at least some minor accolades every time.
Honourable Mentions: Corey Dickerson, Breyvic Valera
Pitcher: Robbie Ray (9) 6 innings, 21 batters faced, 2 hits, 0 earned runs, 5 strikeouts, 2 walks, 2.50 FIP, 0.47 Win Probability Added, 0.31 WPA/LI
Robbie Ray continues refusing to relinquish the Best Bird yet, shutting down the Red Sox through the first six innings of Saturday’s first game. Shoutouts go to another terrific start from José Berríos, a gutsier outing from Alek Manoah, and a couple lockdown outings from Jordan Romano.
Honourable Mentions: Jordan Romano, José Berríos
BEST BIRD STANDINGS
Hitters:
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.- 11
George Springer- 7
Bo Bichette- 6
Marcus Semien- 5
Joe Panik- 2 (now on the Miami Marlins)
Randal Grichuk- 2
Santiago Espinal- 1
Lourdes Gurriel Jr.- 1
Cavan Biggio- 1 (10-day IL)
Teoscar Hernández- 1
Pitchers:
Robbie Ray- 9
Hyun Jin Ryu- 8
Alek Manoah- 5
Ross Stripling- 4
Steven Matz- 4
Julian Merryweather- 2 (60-day IL)
Trevor Richards- 1
Anthony Kay- 1
Anthony Castro- 1 (10-day IL)
Ryan Borucki- 1
SCHEDULE/PROBABLE PITCHERS
Tuesday, August 10 (6 p.m. EST/4 p.m. MST): Steven Matz vs. Chris Rodriguez
Matz: 19 games, 96 ⅓ innings, 4.30 ERA/3.83 FIP/3.74 xFIP, 23.6 K%, 6.2 BB%, .273 BA Against/.258 xBA Against, 37 HardHit%
Rodriguez: 14 games (one start), 25 ⅔ innings, 3.86 ERA/3.05 FIP/4.16 xFIP, 23.5 K%, 11.5 BB%, .224 BA Against/.205 xBA Against, 33.8 HardHit%
Tuesday, August 10 (10 p.m. EST/8 p.m. MST): Ross Stripling vs. José Suárez
Stripling: 19 games (18 starts), 91 ⅓ innings, 4.43 ERA/4.83 FIP/4.38 xFIP, 23.7 K%, 7.0 BB%, .239 BA Against/.242 xBA Against, 41.7 HardHit%
Suárez: 14 games (five starts), 50 innings, 3.60 ERA/4.31 FIP/4.01 xFIP, 22.2 K%, 9.0 BB%, .219 BA Against/.238 xBA Against, 33.8 HardHit%
Wednesday, August 11 (7:30 p.m. EST/5:30 p.m. MST): Alek Manoah vs. Dylan Bundy
Manoah: Ten games, 52 ⅓ innings, 2.58 ERA/3.93 FIP/4.13 xFIP, 28.2 K%, 8.9 BB%, .179 BA Against/.196 xBA Against, 36.2 HardHit%
Bundy: 20 games (16 starts), 80 ⅔ innings, 6.14 ERA/5.29 FIP/4.55 xFIP, 21.5 K%, 8.2 BB%, .254 BA Against/.245 xBA Against, 38.7 HardHit%
Thursday, August 12 (7:30 p.m. EST/5:30 p.m. MST): José Berríos vs. Shohei Ohtani
Berríos: 22 games, 133 ⅔ innings, 3.23 ERA/3.54 FIP/3.62 xFIP, 25.8 K%, 6.1 BB%, .212 BA Against/.232 xBA Against, 37.1 HardHit%
Ohtani: 16 games, 86 innings, 2.93 ERA/3.26 FIP/3.69 xFIP, 29.9 K%, 10.2 BB%, .186 BA Against/.193 xBA Against, 41 HardHit%
THE OPPOSITION
Pythagorean Record: 52-60
Run differential: -39 (518 Runs, 557 Runs Allowed)
Season Series vs. Blue Jays: 2-1
Record since the last series vs. Blue Jays: 50-53
Last 10 games: 5-5
The story of the 2021 Los Angeles Angels begins and ends with AL MVP frontrunner Shohei Ohtani, maybe the greatest talent ever contained within one human being. Begins because the superstar two-way player has been the best in baseball this year, providing an elite bat (second-best in MLB on wRC+ behind only Vladimir Guerrero Jr.) while being an excellent starting pitcher. Ends because, beyond Ohtani, there really isn’t all that much going for the Angels beyond him, as the Angels are at .500, with little-to-no chance of seeing October baseball once again.
The Angels have been a Top-10 wRC+ offence in baseball thanks almost entirely to the efforts of Ohtani, now-injured first baseman Jared Walsh, and catcher Max Stassi. Mike Trout was phenomenal for 36 games before going down with a calf injury and hasn’t played a game since May. David Fletcher, Justin Upton, and José Iglesias (who has been surprisingly underwhelming with the glove) have all expectedly hovered around league average. Anthony Rendon and his 98 wRC+ have disappointed, struggling through injuries the whole season. Backup catcher Kurt Suzuki and outfielder Juan Lagares, who has filled in for Trout for most of the season, should both be kept away from bats at all costs.
There are a couple young bright spots in the Angels’ offence in outfielders and recent call-ups Jo Adell and rookie Brandon Marsh. Adell has rebounded nicely in six games after an awful rookie season in 2020. Marsh hasn’t gotten the bat going yet, but is very well regarded as a prospect, ranking 12th on Fangraphs’ Top Prospects list.
The main drag on the Angels has been their much-discussed pitching, especially their thoroughly mediocre bullpen. Raisel Iglesias has been an elite closer, Steve Cishek has outperformed his peripherals, and Mike Mayers and José Quintana have been solid, with the latter having been bounced out of the rotation. Other than that it’s been a combination of inexperience or, in the case of Junior Guerra and Aaron Slegers, experienced awfulness.
The Angels definitely rely on their offence and their starting rotation which, despite their reputation, haven’t actually been all that terrible. Ohtani is great, of course, but the Angels have gotten great seasons from Patrick Sandoval and the now-injured Alex Cobb. There’s something of a hard drop-off after that, though, as with Andrew Heaney shipped off to the Yankees and Quintana bumped to the bullpen for being bad, the Angels have passed off starts to José Suárez, Jaime Barría and, most disappointingly, Dylan Bundy, who has been utterly terrible after what looked like a breakout season in 2020, even getting relegated to the bullpen for a spell before getting re-slotted into the rotation out of necessity.
Long story short: The Angels are bad, but if you don’t like Shohei Ohtani, I don’t like you.
Best Players Thus Far:
Shohei Ohtani, Starting Pitcher/Designated Hitter, .269/.362/.653, 169 wRC+, 2.93 ERA/3.69 xFIP, 29.9 K%, 10.2 BB%
Max Stassi, Catcher, .293/.371/.511, 144 wRC+
Patrick Sandoval, Starting Pitcher, 3.39 ERA/3.70 xFIP, 26.7 K%, 10.0 BB%
Raisel Iglesias, Relief Pitcher, 3.00 ERA/2.20 xFIP, 38.6 K%, 4.6 BB%
David Fletcher, Second Base, .308/.338/.384, 101 wRC+
Under-Performers:
José Iglesias, Shortstop, .273/.302/.393, 92 wRC+
Dylan Bundy, Starting Pitcher, 6.14 ERA/4.55 xFIP, 21.5 K%, 8.2 BB%
Juan Lagares, Centre Field, .238/.261/.355, 68 wRC+