Los Angeles Angels are stuck with the starting pitching they have
By Jason Reed
The one area that is holding the Los Angeles Angels back is the starting rotation, which, unfortunately, the team cannot make much better this season.
The Los Angeles Angels have been the most middle of the road team in Major League Baseball this season. With several different hot streaks, cold streaks and a lot of mediocre play, the Angels have hovered around .500 all season long.
The Angels are currently 39-40, which is on par for what the team has done this season. At worst, the Angels were seven games under .500 and at best, the team was one game over .500. The biggest winning streak of the season is six games, which was followed a week after with the longest losing streak of the season, also six games.
This is not a bad thing though as the Angels’ play has kept them right in the wild card hunt. The Halos are four games out of the second wild-card spot and with Mike Trout and company, there is always the possibility of the team getting hot and thrusting themselves in that position.
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But as we documented before, if the Angels are serious about making a playoff run and getting that experience then the team is going to have to add starting pitching. That has been the worst area of the team and has been what is holding the team back.
The offense has the potential to be very special when it is at full swing. The fivesome of Tommy La Stella, Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani, Justin Upton and Andrelton Simmons is good enough to keep up with any top-five in baseball and certainly can produce runs.
It is pitching that often separates the contenders from the pretenders as every offense will have some bad nights and it is up to the starting pitching to keep the team in games.
The Angels’ starting rotation has the third-lowest fWAR in the MLB with the fifth-highest ERA. Those aren’t numbers fit to a playoff team.
And the worst part is the Angels are kind of stuck with what they have. The team had a chance at bolstering the rotation with Dallas Keuchel and that never happened, so I would not expect anything to change at the trade deadline.
There are a lot of teams that are in for a wild-card spot, meaning there is going to be fewer teams that are willing to sell their pieces. Not only that, the market for pitchers that will be free agents after this year is even slimmer.
It is clear the Angels do not want any long-term commitments, which narrows down the search to a market that is virtually non-existent. Sure, they could trade for some mediocre expiring pitcher on a non-contender but that is going to do nothing for the team.
There are no immediate prospects that are primed to come up and make a difference, either. Internally and externally the Los Angeles Angels are stuck.
Next. Ohtani is proving us wrong. dark
And because of that, even with a hot run with the offense, the Angels are not going to be able to make it far this season. Could they make the wild-card spot and surprise the team they play? Absolutely. But can the team win a five or seven game series without true, credible starting pitching? Absolutely not.