Los Angeles Angels Probable Pitchers & Starting Lineup vs. Boston Red Sox, April 16

Los Angeles Angels Probable Pitchers & Starting Lineup vs. Boston Red Sox, April 16

Probable starting pitchers

The Los Angeles Angels send Reid Detmers to the mound for the third game of their four-game series at Fenway Park with the Angels looking for their first win against the Red Sox. Detmers has gotten off to a rocky start to his season with an uneven performance against the Mariners and a worse one against the Blue Jays. Detmers got off to a great start against Toronto but allowed a back-breaking grand slam to Matt Chapman. He looks to bounce back against the Red Sox, a team he has a 3.00 ERA against in two starts.

Pitching for the Red Sox is Garrett Whitlock. The right-hander made his return from the Injured List against the Rays and allowed five runs in five innings. He's made three appearances (two starts) against the Angels in his career and has allowed six runs in ten innings of work.

Los Angeles Angels starting lineup

1. Zach Neto - SS
2. Mike Trout - CF
3. Shohei Ohtani - DH
4. Anthony Rendon - 3B
5. Hunter Renfroe - RF
6. Gio Urshela - 1B
7. Luis Rengifo - LF
8. Brandon Drury - 2B
9. Logan O'Hoppe - C

The Angels made the surprising decision to have Zach Neto lead off with Taylor Ward getting the day off. Neto went hitless in his debut but I felt that three of his four at-bats were quality. He hit the ball very hard his first time up, and should've drawn a walk in his third plate appearance had there not been a brutal strike-three call against him. With Ward out, having Neto lead off does make some sense as this team doesn't really have another option.

Luis Rengifo makes his first start in the outfield of this season. It was a bit of an adventure for Rengifo in the outfield in Spring Training and he hasn't really hit at all to begin the year so this is a bit of a surprising decision, but hopefully he can play well this morning.

Boston Red Sox starting lineup

1. Alex Verdugo - RF
2. Justin Turner - 1B
3. Rob Refsnyder - LF
4. Rafael Devers - 3B
5. Enrique Hernandez - CF
6. Masataka Yoshida - DH
7. Christian Arroyo - 2B
8. Connor Wong - C
9. Yu Chang - SS

Which LA Angels player needs to bounce back in today's game?

Luis Rengifo has just two hits in his last ten at-bats with five strikeouts. He's hitting .182 this season with one home run after a big year last season. He's also made two costly errors in the last week which have led to two Angels losses. I'm hoping for a big day from him.

Which LA Angels player will be the X-factor in today's game?

I'm looking at Zach Neto when thinking about an X-Factor. The rookie shortstop could provide a major spark hitting out of the leadoff spot in front of Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. I'm looking for him to get on base a couple of times ahead of the big boppers and hopefully score a run or two. He looked good yesterday despite the poor statline, I'm looking for him to work good at-bats and find a way on base. If he does, I feel good about the Angels scoring runs.