Los Angeles Angels Series Preview: They’re doing Tom Petty proud
The Los Angeles Angels lost 12 consecutive games after beating the Texas Rangers on May 24. They lost to the Royals the next day and then to a Mariners team. The team is 10 games over .500 and they haven't won more than two games in a row since June 18.
Noah Syndergaard hasn't been the same pitcher since his Tommy John surgery. He's still been a good pitcher for the Angels, but not as good as his contract would suggest. Zack Greinke's velocity is way down this season. His sinker is averaging just 94 MPH.
Zack Greinke has a 3.55 ERA in 15 starts this season. He has had to pitch in Colorado and Arizona and against the Blue Jays and Astros on the road. This is not an Angels lineup that strikes a lot of fear in pitchers once they get past the top of the order.
LAA has won 19 of 18 games against LAA. LA has a record of 7-5 with a 3.57 ERA.
Jose Suarez and Angel Zerpa are going to meet on July 26th at 7:10 pm. Suarez has had an interesting start to his career. He was terrible in 2020 in just two starts but then put it together last season. His fastball is pounded this season and he's only thrown it about a third of the time. Right-handed hitters are hitting him hard with a .273/.361/.496 SLG.
Angel Zerpa will start for the Royals against the Los Angeles Angels. He pitched well against Toronto before the break. The Angels will come at him with right-handed bats.
Janson Junk was a second round pick in 2017 by the Yankees. He made four starts for the Angels last season. His fastball sits in the low-90s and he has a slider and a curve. The changeup isn't especially good. Junk has had trouble against left-handers in his short time in big leagues.
Brad Keller will start for the Royals against the Los Angeles Angels. He walked five batters in four innings against Rays on Friday night. Before the break, he had a 2.15 ERA in 29 innings with 26 strikeouts and 11 walks. He had horizontal movement down on all of his pitches.
LAA has won 6 games vs. LAA in the last 5 years.
Royals are 21-20 in their last 41 games and 20-17 in last 37 with full roster. The Angels are playing poorly. I'm going to predict the Royals take two of three from the Angels.
