LA Angels: Can Mike Mayers be a killer for Anaheim?

About a month ago, the LA Angels made a couple of under-the-radar moves that were essentially throwing darts blindly and hoping one is a bullseye.

These are the types of moves that LA Angels general manager has excelled at since coming to Anaheim. Small waiver claims, such as Hansel Robles, have been consistent performers for the Angels under Eppler. This year, there were two targets for Eppler.

The first was Parker Markel, who you can read about here. The second is Mike Mayers, not to be confused with Halloween‘s Michael Myers. Mayers is a former third-round pick who has been killed on the mound, while Myers is the silent, masked killer responsible for haunting Haddonfield, Illinois.

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However, there is a chance for the new Angels pitchers to metaphorically morph into his namesake… on the mound. 

Last season, Mayers was hampered by a lat injury for much of the season. He started the year extremely hot, posting a 1.35 ERA in his first six games. He was slicing and dicing opposing hitters at will. It seemed like the highly-touted prospect was finally coming into form, and showing signs of being baseball’s masked killer.

However, Mayers’ next two appearances were iffy, but he was sent to the Injured List shortly after those two awful outings. He missed over two months, and wasn’t the same pitcher upon his return. Myers was locked in the basement, and the old version of Mayers had returned.

However, there is hope for the Angels and their newest villain going into 2020.

Throughout his career, Mayers has been hit hard by injuries. First, he had thoracic outlet syndrome in 2015 and then the lat injury last season. My faith in his ability comes from the six appearances to start last season. I know it’s a small sample size, and everything as a baseball fan/blogger tells me not to trust small sample sizes. But that was arguably the only time in his career he’s been healthy. If the Angels can get that type of production, or anywhere close, Mayers can be their multi-inning killer, chopping down chunks of the opponents’ lineup.

Last season, Mike Mayers was the victim of injuries that effected his performance all year. Now healthy with the Angels, Mike Mayers may just be able to tap into his Michael Myers side and massacre opponents for the Halos/