LA Angels Player Grades from Sweep Against Mariners

Starting Pitchers

Chris Stratton: 4.1 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO

Chris Stratton, who the Angels traded left-handed reliever Williams Jerez for just before Opening Day, made his debut in Seattle on Monday. He left a lot to be desired on the mound, as he get shelled for four runs right out of the gate. A collective groan came from every fan watching in Southern California as we watched another starter struggle.

However, there are some positives to take away from the start. After the first inning, he didn’t allow any more runs and retired 11 of the next 13 batters. I wrote about why the team shouldn’t give up on him yet here, but in summary Stratton has some of the best spin rates in the MLB. With new pitching coach Doug White in tow, he may be able to Stratton’s talents and turn them into production.

However, in this start, Stratton was underwhelming. Obviously you don’t expect dominant starts from your backend starters, but he failed to contain the Mariners’ offense and didn’t even make it out of the fifth.

Grade: D-

Trevor Cahill: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 SO

Before last night’s game recap/observations, everything I had ever written about Trevor Cahill was…not positive. I wasn’t a believer in him, and I do still have my doubts, but they were momentarily silenced by an exceptional outing on Tuesday night.

Cahill had everything working against the Mariners, with a great sinker/cutter combo throughout the game. Whether he was facing left or right-handed hitting, Cahill had a strikeout pitch to go to and he consistently hit his marks throughout the night.

While the sixth inning wasn’t great, Cahill allowed two doubles that turned into the lone run he allowed, it doesn’t discount the five innings prior.

After having a 6.00 ERA one start into the season, Cahill is down to 3.75, which is still a small sample size, but much more similar to the ERA he posted with Oakland last year.

Grade: A