Heaven Bound: Mariners at Angels Series Preview

The Mariners head to Anaheim for their final series before the All-Star break.

The series against the Padres was a scant two, but to pull off that wee sweep on the road felt tantamount to guzzling a glass of water after returning home from a run in 90 degree heat - frantic and quenching in equal measure. Gregory Santos made his Mariners debut, Logan Gilbert and Bryce Miller looked exactly as they have — and should — and Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodriguez replaced the pool noodles they’d been swinging with a more ligneous material. With a rapidly-decreasing lead over the division, they travel north for a four game series against the Angels to close out the first half of the 2024 season.

Recently, I had the privilege of meeting a real life Angels fan, out in the wild. When he told me his affiliation I openly gaped, flabbergasted beyond politeness. I imagine it was not dissimilar to how the second person to ever see a giraffe felt. You’ve been told they exist, you know generally what they were, but to be confronted with the long-necked marvel in person? Nothing could prepare you.

Anyway, it is 2024 and the Angels are very bad on the field in all the ways that matter in the standings, and very bad off the field organizationally in all the ways that influence the product on the field. (With all apologies and due respect to Perry, who is probably a distant relative but who did not rise to prominence in time for me to pretend to be a nepo baby.)

Mike Trout is technically still here, albeit now with a torn meniscus. But, to needlessly stick with the giraffe as a point of metaphor (We don’t have to! Really, we don’t! Please!), he is its long purple tongue — exceptional, but baffling and entirely incongruous with the rest of this inexplicably assembled creature (organization). When you consider their typical starting lineup, the vast majority of the players were drafted and signed by the Angels, and doesn’t that tell you everything you needed and more? Logan O’Hoppe has been their best player, followed by Luis Rengifo, who cultivates annoyance simply while I type his name out, Taylor Ward, Kevin “You Think I’m Washed? Think Again” Pillar and Zach Neto.

Probable Pitchers

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• Stuff+ scores for Mariners starters

Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images

The Angels are calling up Jack Kochanowicz from Double-A to make his major league debut on Thursday. He was drafted out of high school as a third-round pick in 2019 but wasn’t able to start his professional career until 2021, but has moved through Los Angeles’s organization pretty quickly over the last three years. He doesn’t generate all that many strikeouts because his fastball is far too hittable despite coming in around 95 mph. His best pitch is his changeup, but it’s merely an above average offering rather than a truly plus pitch. He’ll also mix in a slider/cutter and show-me curveball to round out his repertoire. An elite groundball rate and good command are probably his most likely avenues to big league success, though the overall profile is that of a backend starter who rides the shuttle between the majors and the minors.

After a career-year in 2022 with the Dodgers, Tyler Anderson signed a three-year deal with the Angels the following offseason. He wasn’t able to replicate his success in his first season in Anaheim and his second season has been a mixed bag, too. From a results standpoint, he’s running one of the best ERAs in the American League and that earned him an All-Star nod this year. Unfortunately, all of his peripherals indicate he’s enjoying some pretty significant good luck on his results and that a swing back towards his 4.53 FIP is imminent. The big driver behind his sudden success two years ago was an improved changeup; that pitch is still just as effective, but the rest of his repertoire has deteriorated a bit.

From a previous series preview:

José Soriano was one of the Angels more effective relievers last year but he’s made the transition back to the starting rotation this season. Surprisingly, his ERA, FIP, and xFIP are almost exactly the same as what he posted out of the ‘pen last year. The contours of his success are a little different; his strikeout and walk rates are a little lower and his ground ball rate has shot up to 61.7%, the second highest mark in baseball. He features a good, hard sinker and a sharp curveball as his two primary pitches. He’ll also mix in a four-seamer, a splitter, and a slider to round out his repertoire and each of those pitches possesses above average velocity.

Soriano recently came off the IL after missing a few weeks with some sort of infection. In his previous outing against the Mariners, he allowed four runs in six innings, striking out just three batters.

The Angels acquired Roansy Contreras from the Pirates for cash considerations after Pittsburgh had designated him for assignment in early May. At one point a few years ago, Contreras had shown some promise as a prospect with a good slider and a hard fastball. Unfortunately, a lack of command has sunk his development process and Pittsburgh gave up on him pretty quickly after he wasn’t making any progress. The Angels have tried to help him by having him add a sinker to pair with his sweeper and changeup. That gives his pitch mix a distinct horizontal character that was lacking when he was more reliant on his straight four-seamer. Los Angeles has given him three opportunities to start recently, though his workload has been pretty limited in each of them.

The Big Picture:

Your Seattle knuckleheads are clinging to a two game lead over the division (no, I don’t want to talk about what that lead used to be). Houston and Texas have both been surging, each going 7-3 over the last 10 and squaring off against each other for a three-game series this weekend. If the meteor isn’t an option, I recommend the non-cheaters.