Los Angeles Angels: Predictions for the 2020 season
By Reuben Gasee
Rotation struggles
The Angels have had a lacklustre rotation for years and this year, even in a shortened season, the starting five (or in the Angels case, six) will be no different. The Angels rotation will have its woes again due to lack of quality pitchers and not being able to miss enough bats.
While Shohei Ohtani might be an exciting player due to him having the ability to both hit and pitch at a high level, Ohtani is coming back from Tommy John surgery so his innings and pitch count will probably be limited. This will limit what he can provide for the Angels on the mound.
While Bundy will be a decent starter, Julio Teheran will have a hard time adjusting to a new division with good hitting teams where he’ll have to face the Astros and Athletics while also facing the Dodgers and Rockies. Teheran doesn’t throw hard as he averages just 90 MPH on his fastball and threw it 41.7% of the time last season. This won’t work well against top hitters in the league like Jose Altuve, Matt Chapman, Nolan Arenado and others which he will see all of them in 2020.
Griffin Canning has elbow issues so he’ll most likely be on a limit as well while Matt Andriese is probably better off in the bullpen than he is in the rotation. Patrick Sandoval posted a 5.03 ERA in 10 games (nine starts) last season.
The team is probably better off going with a five-man rotation while sending Andriese to the bullpen. In that case, the starting pitchers would get regular five days rest and the bullpen would be stronger with Andriese apart of it.
Regardless of whether the rotation consists of five starters or six, it will be the Achilles heel of the team as it simply is just not good.