LA Angels Series Preview: Plundering the Pirates

The LA Angels are coming back home from a road trip that saw them take two out of four games from the Red Sox in Fenway and will look to build on that successful series with another strong performance against the visiting Pirates.

The LA Angels haven’t had much help from their pitching core, but the offense has done enough to bring them back home with some wind underneath their wings.

The Angels are back home to face the Pittsburgh Pirates for a three game series that will feature the Angels youth pitching back at it and looking to solidify themselves as legitimate pieces for the 2020 Angels roster. Jose Suarez is struggling to find his groove in the Majors as he currently is rocking a 6.22 ERA in ten starts this season while allowing 14 HRs in his 46.1 IP.

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At this point it’s obvious that Suarez needs time in the Minors to further develop his craft as there are currently far too many exploitable holes in his game. Suarez cannot finish off hitters in 2 strike counts, he is extremely HR prone, and his pitch efficiency is far away from what is needed to have success in the MLB. It’s been a tough go for Suarez in 2019, but don’t let this season speak to his actual talent level.

Jose Suarez has the potential to be a solid back-end starter once he finds his groove, but right now it doesn’t seem like he’ll be easing into a groove any time soon. The only real reason he’s up in the MLB right now is because the Angels are starved for depth and because of that Jose Suarez has to suffer.

It isn’t all bad on the rookie front this coming series; Griffin Canning will likely make his return Tuesday after a short recovery from elbow inflammation and Dillon Peters will be looking to make another quality outing for the Angels. Both pitchers have shown promise in their time with the Angels this season and will continue to build on their promising 2019 campaigns against the Pirates

There is a bright future ahead for the Angels, even through all of 2019’s struggles, and we’ll get a nice little sneak peek at that future when the youth takes the mound in each game this series.

Pirates @ Angels

(8/12) 7:07 PM PT @ FS-W: Jose Suarez (2-3. 6.22 ERA) vs Mitch Keller (0-1, 10.50 ERA)

(8/13) 7:07 PM PT @ FS-W: Griffin Canning (4-6, 4.76 ERA) vs Trevor Williams (4-5, 5.06 ERA)

(8/14) 5:07 PM PT @ FS-W: Dillon Peters (2-1, 3.45 ERA) vs  Chris Archer (3-8, 5.23 ERA)