Baltimore Orioles: Previewing the Los Angeles Angels series

Sitting one game under .500, the Baltimore Orioles head out to Los Angeles to face the Angels in a three game series.

With recent changes to the starting rotation, the Baltimore Orioles are hoping to use their trip out west get over .500 and close in on a Wild Card spot.

The Angels are two games under .500. But the AL West varies significantly from the AL East. At 55-56, the Orioles are fourth in their division and 7.5 games behind the first-place Boston Red Sox. But, at 55-57, the Angels are 16.5 games are in third place in their division behind the Houston Astros.

Limited offense from Angels

The Angels offer a mixed bag of competition. Of course, they have the perennial powerhouse Albert Pujols, but he is only batting .230 this year and has 17 home runs.

Then, there is Mike Trout, who is considered one of the best baseball players on the planet. After missing all of June with a thumb injury, he is back to his typical type of play. In August, Trout is batting .455 with a slugging percentage of .909. He’s batting .343 with an OPS of 1.166 for the season. He has 22 home runs and 51 RBIs.

Only one other Angel has a batting average over .300. Andrelton Simmons, who plays shortstop, is having his best season in six years. The other Angels batters aren’t doing anything special.

Base-stealing threats

But, one thing that the Angels do well is stealing bases. Trout has stolen 13 bases while Simmons has 16. Their speediest baserunner, Cameron Maybin, was placed on the with a knee issue and might not be a factor in this series. This could be a good thing for the O’s as Maybin has stolen 25 bases in the 75 games he has played.

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Probable pitchers so far

The O’s have not yet announced all of their pitchers for the series, but the Angels have. So far, Dylan Bundy is scheduled to start on Monday. He will face off against JC Ramirez who has an ERA of 5.37 in his 24 games. The O’s haven’t seen Ramirez very often, but the few who have – Jonathan Schoop and Tim Beckham – have performed very well against him. Ramirez’s fastball averages 95 MPH. He compliments it with a slider and a curve ball. He only throws the fastball about 50% of the time.

The other two pitchers the O’s are scheduled to face are Parker Bridwell and Troy Scribner. Bridwell was a 2017 acquisition the O’s. He has started in nine games this season and has an ERA of 3.20 in 59 innings. His fastball is in the low 90s. He mixes in his cutter, sinker, and change up that are all in the 80s. Scribner has only one start with an ERA of 4.50 and a WHIP of 1.25. He has pitched eight innings and given up two home runs.

Other than one start against the A’s, Scribner’s work has been out of the bullpen. The O’s offense should light him up as he has only faced batters from Oakland, Toronto, and Philadelphia. Not one of those teams has anyone close to the likes of Manny Machado, Jonathan Schoop, or Trey Mancini. The O’s tend to find success against untested young, rookie pitchers.

Next: Orioles demolish the Tigers in final game of series

With the O’s offense firing on all cylinders and pitching that is showing improvement, the Angels could be in for a surprise when the Birds arrive at Angel Stadium.