Angels: Five pitchers who have owned them since 2010

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have faced some extraordinary pitchers over the last decade, and some have had more success than others.

To say that the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have endured a rough decade may be a bit of an understatement. After a tremendous spate of success at the turn of the century, including six playoff appearances, five division titles, and their lone World Series title, the Angels have seen just one postseason appearance since 2010.

The turn from perennial contender to a middle-of-the-pack team has been rough, but it hasn’t been all bad either. The team has seen some personal success stories, including the development of the game’s best player, Mike Trout, and his three Most Valuable Player Awards. They also had an American League Rookie of the Year winner in Shohei Ohtani and had the presence of Albert Pujols during his milestone seasons.

So what have they lacked in recent seasons that set apart the two decades? Pitching.

More than perhaps any other team in the league, the Angels have been hamstrung by an inability to develop or sign the right pitchers to get them over the top. Combined with a seemingly unending string of injuries to the starting staff, the recipe for failure has been carried on the shoulders (and elbows) of the pitching corps.

But what if things go deeper than that. Maybe the Angels have been bitten by matching up against opposing pitchers that have been significantly better than those the decade prior. So with that in mind, we thought it would be interesting to see what pitchers have had the most luck against the Angels since 2010, the arms that Anaheim simply dreaded to see penciled onto the lineup card.

For the sake of argument, we set an innings limit of 50 innings pitched. This helps to eliminate relievers that simply don’t have the same sample size. It also helps to expand it past those that have the advantage of getting more match-ups with the Angels on a yearly basis.

So without further ado, let’s look at the pitchers that have owned the Angels since 2010.

Honorable Mention: Clayton Kershaw – Los Angeles Dodgers

It seems almost unfair to list Clayton Kershaw here, as he’s been the best pitcher in baseball during the entirety of this study, and as such, could rightfully be slotted onto any such list for any team in the league. However, that doesn’t discount the merit of including him either.

Kershaw saw his first taste of the Angels in 2009, making two scoreless appearances while striking out eight and allowing just eight hits over his first 12 innings of work against the Halos. That set the stage for a career 6-2 mark with a 2.56 ERA, a 1.009 WHIP, and a 10.2 K/9 mark when facing the Angels.

During the last decade, that has included holding the Angels to a .201/.255/.312 batting line with a wOBA of just .253. His 2.44 FIP against ranks second among all pitchers during that span.

In other words, Kershaw has done to the Angels what he’s done to the rest of the league, and it hasn’t been pretty for Anaheim.

James Paxton – Seattle Mariners / New York Yankees

James Paxton spent the first six seasons of his MLB career as a member of the division-rival Seattle Mariners. While team success in Seattle was never a part of the big picture, often because the Mariners so closely mirrored the situation in Los Angeles, Paxton had his own share of success against the Halos.

In those six years, Paxton owns a career mark of 4-3 against the Halos, but every outing has seemingly been a struggle for Angels hitters. Against 274 Angels hitters over the years, Paxton has held them to .178/.237/.308, easily the lowest batting line against the team over the last decade. That’s helped him compile an outstanding list of statistics, with Paxton placing 3rd in ERA ( 2.43 ERA), 14th in FIP (3.63), 1st in wOBA (.235), and 8th with a minuscule 27.5% hard-hit rate.

Compared to his overall statistics, where Paxton has pitched to a 56-32 record with a 3.50 ERA and a 3.28 FIP, it is clear that he saved his best material for the Halos. That’s not to discount his overall work though, especially over the last three seasons. However, only one other team in baseball, the Kansas City Royals, has a lower combined OPS (.515) against Paxton during that time frame.

While the Angels missed the lefty last season due to either injuries or scheduling, they weren’t necessarily upset to see him traded to the New York Yankees and residing on the opposite coast either.

Jon Lester – Boston Red Sox / Oakland Athletics / Chicago Cubs

There is an ongoing debate about whether Jon Lester may or may not be one of the most overrated pitchers of the last century.

On one hand, he’s authored a career pitching line of 190-108 with a 3.56 ERA, a 3.66 FIP, and an 8.4 K/9 ratio over his career. He’s also put together a unique postseason resume, including being a part of three World Series winners and owns a career line of 9-7 with a 2.51 ERA, and a 7.8 K/9 in the playoffs.

However, there are also detractors that will say he’s gotten by with sub-par stuff because he was a part of some very good Red Sox and Cubs teams. He’s never won a Cy Young or winning an ERA crown, despite twice being a 19-game winner.

Regardless of how you feel about his career as a whole, there is little denying what he has done to the Angels since 2010.

In 63 regular season innings of work, Lester owns the lowest ERA (2.14) and FIP (2.40) against the Halos. Angels hitters have struggled to the tune of .221/.260/.294 with and have also managed just two home runs against Lester in that span. Only Dallas Keuchel has a lower hard-hit rate against Anaheim that Lester’s mark of 22.9%.

And let’s not forget what Jon Lester has done against the Angels in the postseason, even if it came prior to 2010. Between 2008 and 2009, he made three ALDS appearances against the Angels, holding them to four runs (three earned) over 20 innings of work (1.35 ERA) and striking out 16 in the process.

Lester is in the last season of his current contract with the Cubs, but at 36-years-old, he will be looking to latch on with another team next season if he doesn’t return to Chicago. Angels fans will be happy if he steers away from Anaheim.

Cole Hamels – Philadelphia Phillies / Texas Rangers / Chicago Cubs

For a team that has been decidedly right-handed heavy, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have had their fair share of issues with left-handed pitching over the years. Coles Hamels is the third such southpaw on this list, to this point, and certainly made things just as difficult on the Angels over the last decade.

Debuting in the National League in 2006 with the Phillies, Hamels didn’t get his first taste of the Angels until 2008, when the Angels got the best of him in an interleague match-up, getting three runs and six hits in an Anaheim win. However, since the turn of the decade, he’s picked up his performance a bit.

In 75 innings and 11 appearances against the Angels since 2010, Hamels has gone 5-1 with a 2.52 ERA and a 7.2 K/9 ratio. While his FIP is a bit higher at 4.13, that likely corresponds to the lower strikeout numbers compared to the other arms on this list. However, it should be lost that he also carries the lowest batting average against (.178), the 6th rated wOBA on the list at .253, and placed 7th with a GB/FB ratio of 1.84. Those that did reach base didn’t do much damage, as Hamels also stranded over 84.0% of Angels baserunners.

While Cole Hamels will be toiling for the Atlanta Braves this season, the Angels are unlikely to see him with play being restricted by regions and divisions due to COVID-19 in 2020.

Justin Verlander – Detroit Tigers / Houston Astros

If there is one pitcher on this list that you could feel would go toe-to-toe with Clayton Kershaw over the last decade, it would be Justin Verlander. Since winning the American Leauge Rookie of the Year award in 2006, all he’s done is take home two Cy Young awards (placing second in the voting another three times) and an AL MVP trophy.

Over the course of his career, he has terrorized hitters by going 225-129 with a 3.33 ERA, a 3.41 FIP, and a 9.1 K/9 ratio. Even at 36-years-old and with 2982 innings of work under his belt, he doesn’t show any signs of slowing down, as his last three seasons may have been his best yet, going 52-33 with a 2.81 ERA, a 3.28 FIP, and an 11.3 K/9 ratio in what should have been his twilight years on the mound.

Of course, the Angels have been no stranger to struggles against Verlander themselves. He’s made an astounding 29 career starts against Anaheim and holds a lifetime record of 15-10, a 3.23 ERA, and a 9.1 K/9 mark against them.

However, as this discussion is focused on the last decade, let’s get into that a bit. Since 2010, Verlander has held the Angels to a .235/.328/.246 slash line and owns an ERA of 2.85 during that time. His 157.2 innings of work against the Angels ranks second to only Felix Hernandez, and he’s used it efficiently by placing 3rd in K/9 (9.6), 9th in BB/9 (2.1). While Verlander has surrendered his share of flyballs to the Angels, he’s limited home runs to the tune of 1.0/9 IP.

Verlander has two more guaranteed years remaining in his latest contract with the Houston Astros. With a western division-heavy schedule in 2020, the Angels are apt to see quite a bit of the right-hander over the next year-plus, so they will either need to solve his wizardry or hope that he misses a start.