The Dodgers and Angels are meeting up this weekend, and this matchup comes at a desperate time for both teams. The Dodgers have lost 13 of their last 17 games and the Angels have lost 14 of their last 20 games.
So, something has gotta give and one of these teams has to win this series. Right? Well, assuming one of these games somehow doesn’t get postponed, this series will have a winner, and hopefully it can flip this rough stretch for that team... preferably the Dodgers.
The Dodgers’ rough stretch goes all the way back to April 18 when they lost the series finale at San Diego. Since then, they’ve gone 4-13 and have been one of the worst teams in the National League. Due to injuries, LA is missing some key pieces in the lineup, but for the most part the offense as a whole has been in a major slump.
Over their last 17 games, the Dodgers’ .208 average is the worst in the National League and their slugging percentage of .345 is the third worst. Luckily for them, they had a game in which they scored 16 and another in which they scored eight runs. If you were to take those two games out of the equation, the numbers would truly be awful.
Freeway Series schedule
| Date | Time | Pitchers | TV |
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Time | Pitchers | TV |
| Fri, May 7 | 6:38 p.m. | Urías (L) vs. Canning | SNLA |
| Sat, May 8 | 6:07 p.m. | TBD vs. Bundy | SNLA |
| Sun, May 9 | 1:07 p.m. | TBD vs. Quintana (L) | SNLA/MLBN* |
During this stretch, they’ve scored three runs or less in 10 of the 17 games. For the most part, their pitching has been keeping them in games, it’s just been that their offense has been letting the team down.
The worst part about this stretch is the fact that although LA’s bats have been ice cold, they easily could have won a lot of these games. The Dodgers have lost eight games in the last three weeks by only one run. That’s crazy. If LA just went 6-2 in those close games, they’d be 23-15 and the season would look completely different.
I guess the silver lining with this stretch is the fact that the Dodgers have had a chance to win all these games, even with the offense being non-existent and the bullpen imploding multiple times.
Ironically for the Angels, the hitting has been very good over this rough stretch. They are top five in a lot of hitting categories in the American League going back to April 13. It’s their pitching that has been their downfall.
During this stretch of games, their team ERA of 5.07 is the second worst in the American League. They have allowed at least six runs in 10 of their last 20 games. It doesn’t matter how good your offense is, but counting on them to score at least seven runs a game is just not sustainable.
Although the Angels’ bullpen has been really bad, it’s the starters who are putting the game out of reach early on. Since April 13, the Angels’ starting rotation ERA of 5.08 is the worst in the American League. Their biggest issue actually hasn’t been hits or home runs allowed, as they’re about middle of the pack for those categories. It’s been the amount of walks they’ve allowed.
Angels starters are averaging nearly 4.5 walks per nine innings, the worst in the American League. Ironically enough, their strikeout percentage of 31.6 is the best during that run. So, the Angels starters are striking out more hitters than any other team in the AL, but the walks have been killing them.
Well, we have quite the clash this weekend. A struggling offense versus a struggling pitching staff. Again, something has gotta give......... right?
Poll
How many games do you think the Dodgers win this series?
- 16%
0
(27 votes) - 17%
1
(28 votes) - 40%
2
(65 votes) - 25%
3
(40 votes)
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Series preview: Something’s gotta give - True Blue LA
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