LA Angels Series Preview: Taming the Green Monster

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BOSTON, MA – JUNE 27: Andrelton Simmons #2 of the Los Angeles Angels turns a double play over the slide of Mookie Betts #50 of the Boston Red Sox in the first inning of a game at Fenway Park on June 27, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images) /

Both the LA Angels and the Red Sox are looking at the end of their seasons after a few weeks of skidding that has taken both teams out of the wild card race.

The LA Angels season isn’t all lost however, there has been a rising wave of youth coming through that are making these last couple of months worth watching. All four games in Boston will feature young starters that may impact in 2020 on the Angels side of the mound.

The Angels will be playing a four game series in Boston that will feature the majority of their youth pitching as starters. Aside from missing out on Griffin Canning in this series we’re going to see another start by Patrick Sandoval after his strong debut against the Cincinnati Reds in which he went 5 innings and struck out 8 while giving up just 2 runs.

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We’ll also be seeing Dillon Peters after he posted the longest start by an Angels starter this season with a 7.2 IP affair in which he allowed just 3 runs against the Indians. Jaime Barria will also be making an appearance this series, though he hasn’t been as strong as the other two starters as he allowed three HRs in 3.2 IP against the Indians in his last outing.

The real question is whether or not the Angels made enough room on the plane for the offense to join the trip. The Angels situational hitting has been practically non-existent within the last few series and if they want to break this 6 game losing streak they’re going to need the Angels offense to light up the Green Monster.

This is a powerful squad so there’s no reason that the Angels can’t find a way to mash the Red Sox around for a decent amount of runs through these four games. This is a lineup that is featuring Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani, and even Justin Upton (despite his struggles he still hits for good power); there really is no reason we shouldn’t see some big HR’s in this series.

Given our luck though all the big HRs will probably come from the Red Sox off of our young pitching core. Jaime Barria has been a home run machine, allowing 12 HRs in 46.2 IP on the 2019 season so far, which has been a far cry from his 17 HRs allowed in 129.1 IP in 2018.

Will we be seeing the young Barria set himself straight in Boston or will his woes continue deep into the 2019 season? Is there enough pitching talent on this roster to carry them through a four game set in Boston? Will the offense show up and make this series somewhat entertaining for fans?

Most importantly, will Mike Trout finally take the lead in the race for MLB HR King? If he’s going to jump ahead of the HR leaderboard it seems like Boston would be the best place to do so.

Angels @ Red Sox

(8/8) 4:10 PM PT @ FS-W: Dillon Peters (2-0, 3.20 ERA) vs Chris Sale (5-11, 4.68 ERA)

(8/9) 4:10 PM PT @ FS-W: Jaime Barria (4-5, 6.36 ERA) vs David Price (7-5, 4.36 ERA)

(8/10) 1:05 PM PT @ FS-W: TBD vs Rick Porcello (10-8, 5.54 ERA)

(8/11) 10:05 PM PT @ FS-W: Patrick Sandoval (0-0, 3.60 ERA)vs Andrew Cashner (10-7, 4.68 ERA)

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