LA Angels make moves in hopes of ending losing streak

The LA Angels were showing signs of life going into August, but so far the month has been a little shop of horrors especially this most recent road trip which has seen the Angels going 0-6 and overall drop seven straight games. The Angels are just 2-7 in August after a 15-11 month of July.

So what has been the problem as of late for the LA Angels? Pretty much everything.  Lack of offense, inconsistent starting pitching and a shaky bullpen which has been riddled by injuries and losing Joe Smith in a trade with the Chicago Cubs.  The first five games of the month the Angels averaged close to six runs again, going 2-3 in that stretch.

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However in the last four games, all losses, the Angels have scored one run in three of those games while giving up 11 runs.  In Thursday’s game the Angels scored first the first run on a Mike Trout home run, but Jhoulys Chacin in his first start since early June gave up seven runs in 1.1 innings and lost 14-4. Newcomer Brett Oberholtzer gave up six runs in 1.2 innings out of the bullpen.  Overall the bullpen has given up 19 runs in 29 innings for a 5.90 ERA in August.

Tyler Skaggs will go to the mound tomorrow in hopes of halting the losing streak as well as giving the Angels their fourth quality start in August so he can give the bullpen a much needed rest. He has been a shining light since coming back from Tommy John Surgery in late July.  Skaggs will not have an easy task against a tough Indians line-up as well as facing one of the best pitchers on the team Carlos Carrasco.

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In hopes of stopping the streak the Angels activated veteran catcher Geovany Soto Wednesday as well as promoting the aforementioned Oberholtzer and also recalling Jose Valdez from the minors. They also placed Cam Bedrosian on the disabled list Tuesday with flexor tendinitis in his right middle finger and optioned catcher Carlos Perez back down to Triple-A to make room for Soto.

Hopefully closer Huston Street will be able to come out the DL by next Monday when he is eligible to be activated. C.J. Cron is also nearing a return as he will most likely start a rehab assignment possibly sometime next week.  So help could be on the way soon, but with this season continuing to spiral downhill, it may be time to start playing more of the young players to see who can be players to count on in 2017.