Top LA Angels starting pitchers off to poor start in Spring?

ANAHEIM, CA - SEPTEMBER 29: Pitcher Tyler Skaggs #45 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim pitches during the first inning of the MLB game against the Oakland Athletics at Angel Stadium on September 29, 2018 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Victor Decolongon/Getty Images)
ANAHEIM, CA - SEPTEMBER 29: Pitcher Tyler Skaggs #45 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim pitches during the first inning of the MLB game against the Oakland Athletics at Angel Stadium on September 29, 2018 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Victor Decolongon/Getty Images)

The LA Angels are hoping their starting pitchers will help carry the team back to the post-season in 2019.  However, Andrew Heaney, Tyler Skaggs, and Trevor Cahill had horrible 2019 debuts in Spring Training.

The LA Angels are hoping that their new starting rotation will be the backbone of the team and be one of the keys to the success of the team in 2019. However, in their first starts Andrew Heaney, Tyler Skaggs, and Trevor Cahill pitched 3.2 innings and gave up nine earned runs (22.13 ERA).  Matt Harvey hasn’t even pitched yet due to a strained glute muscle so we don’t know exactly what he can do.

While this is not what you would like to see from pitchers who are supposed to anchor the staff, it is not the end of the world even in the slightest.  We saw last Spring when Shohei Ohtani was absolutely awful in Spring Training and everyone was ready to send him to the minors (including this reporter), but thankfully former Angels manager Mike Scioscia was patient with Ohtani and he rewarded Scioscia for his patience by having a stellar 2018 season on the mound and at the plate.

New Angels manager Brad Ausmus is not about to panic either and he will continue to send Heaney, Skaggs, and Cahill out to the mound every five days, and eventually Harvey will join them as well. Hopefully this group will find their groove before the season starts, which I believe will happen.

Many times in the Spring pitchers start working on pitches and different delivery points in hopes of perfecting them before the season starts.  Most educated baseball fans know not to panic when players get off to poor starts in the Spring or even early in the regular season.

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Let’s look forward to the next time each of these pitchers goes to the mound and hopefully they will perform better, but if they don’t please do not panic.