Los Angeles Angels Probable Pitchers & Starting Lineup vs. Oakland Athletics, April 24

Probable starting pitchers
Los Angeles Angels starting lineup
Oakland Athletics starting lineup
Which LA Angels player needs to bounce back today?
Which LA Angels player will be the X-factor in today's game?

Probable starting pitchers

Jose Suarez gets another crack at earning more starts down the line for the Los Angeles Angels tonight. Suarez has gotten off to an abysmal start, posting a 9.26 ERA in his first three starts. He's not a guy I believe should still be in the rotation, but Phil Nevin disagrees. He's always pitched well against Oakland, posting a 2.38 career ERA in seven appearances (four starts). Hopefully he gives the Angels a nice outing tonight.

Opposing Suarez will be fellow southpaw Ken Waldichuk. The Athletics acquired Waldichuk in the Frankie Montas trade from the Yankees at the trade deadline. The trade hasn't aged well at all for New York but Waldichuk has not fared well in the bigs either. He has a 7.65 ERA in his first four starts this season, although he did pitch five scoreless his last time out. His first start of the season came against this Angels team and he gave up six runs in 5.2 innings pitched. Logan O'Hoppe, Mike Trout, and Shohei Ohtani all took him deep.

Los Angeles Angels starting lineup

1. Taylor Ward - LF
2. Mike Trout - CF
3. Shohei Ohtani - DH
4. Anthony Rendon - 3B
5. Hunter Renfroe - RF
6. Brandon Drury - 1B
7. Luis Rengifo - 2B
8. Chad Wallach - C
9. Zach Neto - SS

Taylor Ward leads off as he looks to build off of a successful weekend series against the Royals. Ward, Trout, and Ohtani all went deep in succession yesterday, do they have more magic in them? Brandon Drury was signed in part because of his prowess against left-handers, but has just two hits in 18 at-bats against them this season. Chad Wallach catches the opener of this series and has played three of the four games he's been able to play since joining the team.

Oakland Athletics starting lineup

1. Esteury Ruiz - CF
2. Jordan Diaz - 3B
3. Brent Rooker - RF
4. Jesus Aguilar - 1B
5. Shea Langeliers - C
6. Aledmys Diaz - 3B
7. Carlos Perez - DH
8. Kevin Smith - SS
9. Tony Kemp - LF

Which LA Angels player needs to bounce back today?

It's Jose Suarez. The Angels cannot continue to run this guy out every sixth day only for him to give them virtually no length. He's thrown just 11.2 innings in his three starts after his 3.1 inning debacle at Yankee Stadium. Oakland has gotten off to a historic start, there's no reason Suarez can't at least go five or six tonight. Give this bullpen some sort of relief.

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

Mike Trout is hardly an X-Factor, but he has the chance to make a huge impact in tonight's game. He's starting to find his power stroke again as he's clubbed home runs in back-to-back games. He had three hits, all for extra bases, in four at-bats yesterday. Also, Trout has four hits in five at-bats in his career against Waldichuk including the aforementioned home run. I expect a huge night from number 27.