The LA Angels will go as far as their pitching will take them

The LA Angels had a great first week of the season with three thrilling come-from-behind victories that helped them get off to a 6-2 start.  However, in week two things have not been so good. The reason: Poor Starting Pitching.

Go into this season many people said strong starting pitching will be the key for the LA Angels. This has been true through the first 11 games.  In the four games where the starters have given up two runs or less the Angels are 4-0.  In the games where starters have given three runs or more the team is 2-5.

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So far the Angels have yet to get a quality start as none of the starters have lasted more than 5.2 innings yet this season. This is severely taxing the Angels bullpen.  While Mike Scioscia is not happy with the production of the starters he said in an interview I did with him on Wednesday, he is trying to manage the innings pitch. However, it all comes down to how well our current starters fare. It takes some time,

“Our guys have to find some command.  There is a lot of different things that is affecting the length of our rotation,” Scioscia said in a post-game interview Wednesday night. ” Charlie (Nagy) has been working hard on them. We have confidence in this group. Hopefully we will start to see them turn the corner and give us the length, there is not one magic pill you can give five guys and now they are a rotation. It is going to be the process of each guy making the adjustments.”

Scioscia also said, ” We will not overwork our bullpen, the guys so far have done a good job, but we will not overwork them.”

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The bullpen a bright spot for the Angels which has allowed them to stay close in some games giving the offense the opportunity to comeback which they have done three times already this season. Bud Norris has had four good outings out of five and has a 3.18 ERA. Andrew Bailey had yet to give up a run before going on the disabled list earlier in the week.

Blake Parker has also been solid throughout the season and has a 3.60 ERA in four appearances. Jose Alvarez has yet to give up a run pitching in four games and has a 1.00 WHIP in two innings.

So if the Angels are going to make a post-season run they will need to have a turn around by the starting five in the rotation and hopefully get Garrett Richards back from the disabled list. Let’s see how the next few goes before we press the panic button.