Angels on the comeback trail vs White Sox

Friday the Angels will start the second half of their season as they host the Chicago White Sox in Anaheim. With this series the Angels look to start a second half of the season that is better than the first.

The Angels caught a lucky break and will be missing out on batting against Chris Sale and/or Jose Quintana as both pitched in the All-Star game and are likely to not return till after the Angels series.

The White Sox though only have four pitchers in their starting rotation, Carlos Rodon is on the 15-Day DL with a sprained left wrist. So for the third game in the series there is a chance we might see Sale, Quintana, or possibly a minor league call up.

The lineups for the series have yet to be posted, but the Angels roster has had no major changes during the All-Star break. So, it’s likely will see the same lineup we saw prior to the All-Star break

CJ Cron is still recovering from surgery on his broken hand so we will most likely see much more of Jefry Marte and Ji-Man Choi in the series and up until Cron is cleared for baseball activities.

The first game in the series is Friday night at 7:05 local time, 10:05 Eastern time. Taking the mound for the White Sox will be Miguel Gonzalez who has a 2-4 record and a 4.39 ERA on 69.2 innings pitched in the season. Hector Santiago will take the mound for the Angels, he posted a 6-4 record and a 4.58 ERA in 98.1 innings pitched.

The second game of the series is Saturday night at 6:05 local time and 9:05 Eastern time. James Shields is set to start for the Sox. Shields is posting his worst season in his ten years of being in the pros.

He’s posting a 4-10 record with a 5.42 ERA in 101.1 innings pitched. Pitching for the Angels on Saturday is Matt Shoemaker who hasn’t been without his own problems, but had looked better before the All-Star break.

Shoemaker has posted a 4-9 record with a 4.45 ERA in 97.0 innings pitched, but has posted a 1-3 record with a 3.22 ERA in his last seven starts.

The third and last game of the series lands on Sunday at 12:35 local time and 3:35 Eastern time. The starting pitchers for this game have not been determined.

This series is the beginning to what the Angels hope is the start to a better half of the season. Their first half was one of their worst with a 37-52 record.

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The Angels are now dead last in the AL West, and 16.5 games behind the first place Rangers. The Angels are 13.0 games behind the two AL Wild Card teams who are currently Boston and Toronto.

If the Angels can get their offense and pitching in sync and have all of them performing up to their abilities there still may be a chance for the Angels to have a miraculous comeback for a playoff spot.

One more thing the Angels need to do the rest of the season is avoid any more injuries. If they lose another major player, there may be too many on the DL to get that comeback.

The Angels Front Office could also try and make some moves to add a little more depth and make that comeback a little more likely. Or, they could do what they have done to this point: Absolutely nothing. Makes you wonder if they’ve already chalked up the season as a lost cause.

Next: Mid Season grades for starters

If the Angels don’t do anything and their second half is no better than their first, chances are they will end up with the worst record since Mike Scioscia took over as Manager in 2000. And, if that happens you have to wonder what will happen in the near future. It won’t be a good look for the front office or the management and there’s a chance that we’ll see a new Manager before the next season.

Friday the Angels will start the second half of their season as they host the Chicago White Sox in Anaheim. With this series the Angels look to start a second half of the season that is better than the first.

More from Halo Hangout

Schedule