The Inconsistent Angels

In what was going to be a pretty big series for the Angels this past weekend against the New York Yankees, it turned out to be a dud. The Angels were swept, and frankly aside from one inning, never really looked like a competitive team out there. It is troubling to see considering the fact that this series continued the trend for the Angels of struggling against teams with a record above .500, and to be a playoff team this just isn’t acceptable.

This series was an eye opener for all of the weaknesses and issues that have plagued the Angels at times this season. Sending Jered Weaver, Garrett Richards, and C.J. Wilson to the mound this series should have been a positive note. But Weaver looked like the batting practice pitcher we saw earlier in the season, Richards couldn’t get out of the first inning, and Wilson imploded at the worst possible time. Aside from the three starters, the problems go much deeper on this team.

Mandatory Credit: Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports

Mike Trout and Albert Pujols are obvious plus players that any lineup would kill to have, but besides them, the Angels lack production. We have said this before and it remains the same, another power hitter would be a big help for this lineup, but a proven hitter power or not would go a long way to expand its depth. Frankly once pitchers get by the Trout and Pujols the rest of the lineup isn’t threatening. This series showed true, after first inning back to back homers from Trout and Pujols the offense was done. Another bat is needed.

Next area that needs an upgrade is the bullpen. Yes, the Angels had to ask a lot out of their pen this series due to short outings from the starters, but that only goes so far. The bullpen aside from maybe Huston Street, has nobody that can come on in a big situation and shut the door. Most of this could be to blame the fact that the pen is comprised of pitchers who are finesse guys that pitch to contact. But at some point you need your bullpen to get strikeouts. Look at Dellin Betances, tying run on third in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and he gets the strikeout even when he may not have had his best stuff. Thats the type of pitcher the Angels need. Cam Bedrosian is the closest thing to being that guy, just based on the fact his fastball can touch 96 mph, but he looked terrible this weekend. Regardless, he’s an arm out of the pen that needs more work and should get better with more opportunities. You can say what you want about pitching in Yankee Stadium and all that, but the fact is this bullpen is average at best.

A lot of time to work on things and fix some issues, but its clear that the Angels have some work to do for the second half of the season.