LA Angels Series Preview (5/9/19): Taking Flight with the Orioles

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BALTIMORE, MD – MAY 10: Trevor Cahill #53 of the Los Angeles Angels pitches in the second inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on May 10, 2019 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images) /

Boo Birds

The Angels are just 3 games out of .500, at 17-20, meanwhile the Orioles are sitting at 13-24. The Angels need to prove they aren’t just another one of the many mediocre squads in the MLB. Sometimes it seems as if the Angels are playing down to their competition.

They’ll compete with teams like the Royals and Blue Jays yet struggle when real competition like the Houston Astros come into town. This Detroit Tigers series was a good start as it showed the Angels competing with a team that seemed to be in their same stratosphere.

Now the Angels are facing a team far below them and they absolutely cannot play down to their competition. The Angels need to show that they’re more than just a team that can be dominant at times, they can be elite.

It’s difficult to see that when you have Tyler Skaggs looking like an ace one day and then letting himself get blown out the next. It’s hard to see when Trevor Cahill and Matt Harvey keep taking the mound and messing themselves.

Trevor Cahill and Matt Harvey are the keys of this series, they need to pitch to their fullest potential to prove the Angels are more than what they’ve been showing. They cannot pitch down to their competition; they cannot pitch like they’re pitching to the Baltimore Orioles.

Likewise the Angels hitters need to be 100% on top of themselves and not let the Orioles pitch circles around them. There’s no reason they should because the Angels hitters are so much better than what the Orioles pitchers have shown through most of the season.

Next. The Opener is the Angels' Rotation Answer

Griffin Canning will be closing out this three game series and it is of the utmost importance that he continues pitching the way he has been since coming up from Triple A. That’s not hard to ask for since he has shown the most consistency of any Angels starter in this rotation so far, but it does need to be noted the importance of his consistency.

The Angels should be able to close out this series with a sweep and continue building momentum going into the rest of the season, but with how inconsistent they’ve been all we can do is hold our breath and see which Angels squad shows up.

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