Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
They say good pitching beats good hitting any day. That may or may not always be true depending on how good the other team’s pitching is. It sometimes only takes one bad pitch or one great swing to beat a great pitcher. One thing is for certain however; dismal pitching stifles powerful hitting on a regular basis for the Los Angeles Angels. This team is in trouble and getting into more trouble every day because of this starting staff.
Take a wild guess where they rank as a starting pitching staff. Go ahead, guess. If you had anything other than dead last, you’re wrong. They rank last in ERA as starters with a 6.07 mark over a 2 – 7 win-loss record. That is not acceptable. These are good quality pitchers too. Even Jered Weaver has a 4.91 ERA at this point and he is the best they have. All of the offense in the world won’t amount to a lot of wins when the pitching staff keeps getting shelled game after game.
I should mention that while the bullpen also has a bad ERA, theirs is better than the starters and they have a good excuse. The pen is 2 – 3 with a 4.44 ERA. That’s about 18th in the majors but they have a reason. Obviously the Angels starters stinking up the joint means that the bullpen is pulling a lot of innings early. They are in the top seven in the majors for most bullpen innings pitched. Considering that, they still could be better. I would be willing to bet that if they were handed a few low scoring games in a row they might pitch better themselves.
To sum up, this team has plenty of time to get things together and all the talent in the world on offense. The troubling thing is that the five starters they need to simply give them a chance to win, repeatedly are unable to do so. That problem is the one that should concern any and all Angels fans.
David Miller is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @davidmillerrant, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google+.
