Other than Shohei Ohtani, Angels’ pitching rotation remains a work in progress
Through seven starts this season, Shohei Ohtani has continued to chase history. He has a top 20 earned-run average of 2.54, leads the American League in strikeouts with 59 and has held hitters to a .125 batting average. He also became the second player in major league history to record his 500th career strikeout and hit more than 100 home runs, joining Babe Ruth.
With Ohtani, the Angels had a 4.55 ERA going into Friday, 16th in the majors. Without Ohtani, the rotation’s ERA would have been 5.17. That does not mean the rest of the staff has been helpless. Especially over the last week, the rotation, minus Ohtani, has found more success.
“They’ve kept us in games, given us these opportunities to go on this little run here,” manager Phil Nevin said before the Angels’ 5-4 comeback win over Texas in 10 innings Friday night at Angel Stadium that tied them with the Rangers for first place in the AL West. “That’s all you can ask out of them, give us a chance to win.”
Luis Rengifo homered and finished a triple shy of the cycle as the Angels swept their three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals in an 11-7 win.
The Angels won their fifth game in a row, scoring three runs in the bottom of the ninth to tie the score. Zach Neto scored on a wild pitch in the 10th inning to complete the comeback.
The rotation’s struggles in April included starters not consistently pitching five innings. The Angels had a combined five quality starts — defined by MLB as a six-inning start of three or fewer earned runs — from pitchers not named Ohtani through April: one from Reid Detmers, two from Tyler Anderson and two from Patrick Sandoval.
On Friday night, Anderson pitched five innings. The left-hander gave up five hits, five walks and one hit batter and struck out six. For all the traffic on the bases, he held the Rangers to three runs — two earned. The Angels’ offense did not wake up until the eighth inning to provide run support.
“At the end of the day, you’re just trying to compete and keep making good pitches,” Anderson said afterward. “And they weren’t always there when I wanted them, but I felt like for the most part when we needed them, sometimes there were some quality pitches.”
Getting more quality starts, or at least regularly completing five innings, stops a ripple effect. The more innings a starter can go, the less wear and tear on the bullpen. If starters continuously struggle to complete at least five innings, relievers end up getting used on shorter rest.
The Angels’ bullpen has already taken significant hits. José Quijada, who was competing for the closer role, and Austin Warren will not be pitching again this season, both needing Tommy John surgery. And on Friday, Aaron Loup was added to the 15-day injured list for a right hamstring strain.
The bullpen entered Friday with a 2.97 ERA but seven blown saves, a result of imploding at the worst moments in April.
Shohei Ohtani tied a career high with 13 strikeouts and Mike Trout and Jake Lamb hit solo homers to spark the Angels’ win over the Cardinals.
There are still five months remaining in the regular season. If the Angels were in need of a new starter, either because of a lack of production, injury or otherwise, general manager Perry Minasian said the team is comfortable with its alternatives across the organization, though he did not name any pitcher.
“I think there’s a group of arms at the minor league level, there’s a group here that are currently pitching in the bullpen, we feel comfortable making starts if we needed to,” Minasian said, “and I will cross that bridge when we need to. Right now we’re going day by day and we’re worried about today. And what do we need to do to win today’s game.”
During the last week, while facing Milwaukee and St. Louis, the Angels got at least five innings from most of their starters, including Anderson and José Suarez, who had been struggling in his prior starts. Detmers pitched into the fifth inning, but was unable to get through it.
“A little more consistent this last time around I think,” Nevin said of the last trip. “Better with pitching deeper into the game. We’ve been able to give our bullpen a little bit of a rest.”
The Angels came into this season believing in their rotation of Ohtani, Sandoval, Anderson, Detmers and Suarez, and they’ve continued to find consistency in their swing No. 6 starter, Griffin Canning. Despite their struggles, the Angels have held steadfast to this rotation.
“We’re a month in. It’s a six-month season. There’s a long ways to go,” Minasian said. “We’ve had some ups and downs in the rotation. … We like the group we have, we think it’s a talented group, that has a lot of upside and that we expect to be productive in that spot.”
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