LA Angels Series Preview: 2020 Starts in Cincinnati

Looking at 2020 in 2019

The Angels have Patrick Sandoval making his big league debut with Jose Suarez set to take the second game in this series. Patrick Sandoval is the top pitching prospect within the Angels system yet is still a bit underrated regarding his skill-set. Many talent elevators see him as a back-end rotation piece given his mid 90’s fastball alongside his above average breaking balls, but don’t let those evaluations dictate his ceiling.

Patrick Sandoval’s MLB floor is very much that of a back-end starter or bullpen arm, but at best Sandoval has the stuff to anchor the middle of a rotation in a big way. His pitching arsenal may not have the most lights out stuff around the MLB, but the factor that will dictate how far his arsenal will take him is his mental approach to the game.

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I gotta tell you, from meeting and speaking with Patrick Sandoval multiple times, there is something special about the head on his shoulders. The way he approaches the game is with the mindset of a bulldog, he is an absolute killer in every sense of the word. He doesn’t just look to get outs, he looks to slay the competition in every at-bat, with every pitch. I know you probably think all pitchers have that mentality, but it couldn’t be further from the truth. There are pitchers who are looking to get the job done, and then there are pitchers who look to perform above and beyond and establish themselves as a true dominant force on the playing field. Sandoval falls into the latter category. If you are not convinced of this, watch for yourselves Monday afternoon and see what you think about the make up of Patrick Sandoval.

This mentality comes out during game time in many different ways; from how he controls the pace and rhythm of the game to his noticeable precision when it comes to setting up and finishing off hitters whether it’s with a K or a contact out. Sandoval has strong enough stuff to bring in steady K’s, noted by his K/9 rate of 11.0 on the 2019 MiLB season (2010 saw a K/9 rate of 10.7 for Sandoval). His fastball, despite sitting in the mid 90’s, has notable finishing “zip” as well enough late movement to make it an MLB competitive pitch. On top of that he has a strong curveball that works phenomenally when set up properly off of his fastball. His change-up is very much a weapon that can get late count ground outs as well as the strikeout.

While there is a lot that can be said about his talent his 2019 numbers in Triple-A haven’t been where many would want them to be (6.41 ERA in 60.1 Triple A IP), but the truth is those numbers say much less about Sandoval than you would think.

Triple A Struggles

The biggest issue with the league that the Angels Triple A squad plays in is how brutal of a league it is for pitchers. The PCL is noted for it’s extreme hitters environment, extreme enough to the point that many wonder if Double-A is a better environment for evaluating both hitting and pitching talent given it’s more balanced environment. The PCL is a league in which the average ERA sits at 5.52, the average K/9 is at 8.9 and the standard BB/9 is 3.9. The average slash line for hitters is .277/.354/.480 with the average age of hitters being 26 years old. In fact, out of 16 total teams only 3 teams hold an average OPS under .800.

In 60.1 IP at Triple-A Sandoval produced a 6.41 ERA with 66 Ks and 35 BBs. While the walks leave a bit to be desired that is also a product of the PCL’s extreme hitting environment. I don’t mean to sugarcoat his peripherals because there is always some importance in MiLB stats, but for the most part in comparison league averages you can see Sandoval is handling himself at about an average level. Given his age (22) being a handful of years younger than most Triple-A players and 2019 being his first exposure to Triple-A and the extreme hitters environment of the PCL there a lot less to be concerned about than you may feel at first glance.

Now, there are a few things to have real concern about, he is walking a lot of guys (5.2 BB/9) and giving up a lot of hits (12.5 H/9) which may translate poorly to the MLB given his unexpected call-up. It can be said that this is a consequence of being a strike-out pitcher learning his way around getting higher level contact outs, but at the same time it also shows that Sandoval may not be 100% ready. Unfortunately the Angels are hard up for arms in the starting pitching staff which is why Sandoval is getting an early call-up, but if he can translate his better qualities from the MiLB to his first big league start while minimizing what has cause some Triple A struggles there is a very real chance at a successful big league debut.

The Angels may just be calling him up for a cup-of-coffee look to see where his development lies regarding readiness for 2020 contributions, but at the same time he is very capable of putting up a quality debut and if he does so he can stick around for longer than just a cup-of-coffee start. It should be noted that Sandoval’s last Triple-A start came against the Albuquerque Isotopes, a top hitting team in the PCL, and saw the lefty starter pitch 5.2 innings (90 pitches) of 3 hit, 6 K baseball (with 4 walks) en route to his 2nd best Triple A start.

His best start in Triple-A came back in May when he twirled 6 innings of 8 K baseball which gave him his first of four Triple-A wins.

2020 starts now

It’s hard to get over the 2019 Angels season which has proved to be one of the most emotionally difficult seasons for the Angels in a long-time, but with the state of the teams competitiveness we have no choice but to look to the Angel youth that will be contributing to the 2020 squad as our biggest reason to watch the rest of the season unfold. We’re getting to see the Angels future 1B/3B/DH man Matt Thaiss is crushing the ball with his .547 SLG% and 5 HRs in 53 MLB AB’s . Over the last two weeks Thaiss has hit .321/.387/.786, if he can continue developing his consistent bat he will be a serious force to be reckoned with all throughout the AL as a big time power hitting youth.

Luis Rengifo is showing himself to be a solid utility man with high upside to have in the fold. If he can fully tap into the potential promise in his bat then he will be a legimiate force on this squad, we’ve seen how well he drives the ball when he is on top of his swing. Max Stassi, the Angels sole trade target this past trade deadline, is a defensively-gifted catcher with great pitch framing skills that is sure to help the starting staff put together better outings. This doesn’t mean that Stassi is going to elevate the staff to a whole other level, but his guiding hand with the Angels youthful pitchers (Canning, Sandoval, etc.) is a positive in their development, even if incrementally.

At this point in the season it is becoming less about winning the games than it is what the Angels youth can show in these last couple of months in the season. Some people might tell you the Angels are playing in meaningless games for the rest of the season, but there is nothing meaningless about the Angels future anchors finding their footing in the MLB.

This might be a tough series with Luis Castillo taking the first game of the series given that he is a top 10 pitcher in the NL in multiple categories (Ks, ERA, Opponent BA), but the Angels offense has proven capable of shredding top-level pitching. Even with the Angels offense skidding as hard as they are the ability to compete against top level talent like Castillo is still there, it’s just a matter of waking it up.

Jose Suarez is another talent of the future getting his work in now, though he has struggled quite a bit in his time with the Angels. His pitch efficiency is lacking and his ability to throw consistent, aggressive strikes falters in game time the deeper he goes into his starts. He struggles to stay consistent between AB’s and has trouble finishing off hitters, often letting hitters in 2 strike counts battle back and find some way on base. I don’t think the Cincinnati series will be any different than what he’s shown, but the Angels really have no other options as their other pitchers are all getting hurt. If the Angels weren’t so desperate for depth he would likely be in Triple-A still working on his stuff, but for now we have to see if he can adjust to big league pitching despite still being in need of some development before being truly ready to face big leaguers on a consistent basis.

The Angels will be playing in a two-game series against the Reds before heading into a tough four-game stretch against the Red Sox.