Yankees head west to meet injured Angels
Yankees head west to meet injured Angels
Winners of 13 of their last 15 and coming off a three-game sweep against the Twins in Minnesota, the Yankees head to the West Coast as hot as any team and tied with Boston at the top of the AL East. Since dropping three to the Marlins in Florida back in June, New York has gone on a tear, outscoring their opponents 99-60 during the push. Meanwhile the Angels are banged up entering this final series before the All-Star break.
The Los Angeles Angels are doing quite all right without Mark Teixeira. But losing two-thirds of last year’s starting outfield? Not so much.
The Angels dropped a pair of games to the visiting Texas Rangers after both Torii Hunter (strained groin) and Vladimir Guerrero (strained knee) came up lame Tuesday night. Both players had MRIs on Wednesday. The prognosis on Guerrero doesn’t appear too bad – he’s considered day-to-day and could be plugged in as a designated hitter for Friday’s series opener against Teixeira’s new employers, the New York Yankees. Hunter is also listed as day-to-day, but is more likely to land on the disabled list, according to the Orange County Register.
The Halos have been dealing with bad news all year, and they’re still a very competitive 46-37 (plus-8.85 units). But the loss of Hunter can’t be dismissed. He was named to the American League squad for next week’s All-Star Game in St. Louis; his replacement in the L.A. outfield, Gary Matthews Jr., couldn’t hold onto his starting job after signing a fat contract with the Angels before the 2007 campaign. The numbers tell the story:
That’s a bitter pill to swallow for L.A. fans. Given the choice, they’d probably wish a speedier recovery for Hunter than Guerrero (46 games, .734 OPS), who appears to be in decline in his age 34 season and has been ably replaced in right field by former Yankee Bobby Abreu (.844 OPS). But it would still be a positive to get “Vlad the Impaler” back at DH, where Howie Kendrick (.616 OPS) was penciled in during Wednesday’s 8-1 loss to the Rangers (+131).
As for Teixeira, he’ll also be at the All-Star Game. He cranked out his 21st home run of the year in Thursday’s 6-4 triumph over the Minnesota Twins (-105), New York’s eighth consecutive road win. Teixeira (.939 OPS) will be joined by teammates Derek Jeter (.848 OPS) and Mariano Rivera (2.43 ERA, 1.93 xFIP), who picked up his 23rd save of the season to sit one behind Angels closer Brian Fuentes (3.38 ERA, 3.93 xFIP).
Rivera was one of five relievers the Yankees (51-34, minus-0.95 units) burned through on Thursday, so at least the rested Halos have the advantage in the bullpen for Friday’s opener. They’ll need it as +115 underdogs on the early betting odds. Here are the projected starting pitchers for all three games.
Game 1 (Friday, 10:05 p.m. Eastern): Joba Chamberlain vs. Joe Saunders
Chamberlain (4.04 ERA, 4.47 xFIP) has a team record of 11-5 for a profit of 3.17 units, and the Yankees have won six of his last seven starts. Saunders (4.44 ERA, 5.07 xFIP) has the Angels at 10-7 and 2.11 units in the black, winning four of his last five. But both men needed strong run support to cash in; the over is on a 7-0 run for Saunders and 4-1 for Chamberlain.
Game 2 (Saturday, 4:10 p.m. ET, FOX): Andy Pettitte vs. Jered Weaver
In sharp contrast to Friday’s starters, the under is 11-6 for Pettitte (4.53 ERA, 4.86 xFIP) on a team record of 12-5 (plus-4.42 units) and 9-6-2 for Weaver on a record of 11-6 (plus-3.88 units). But look again: Weaver’s last four starts went over. So did two of Pettitte’s last three.
Game 3 (Sunday, 3:35 p.m. ET): CC Sabathia vs. John Lackey
Sabathia has a very good 3.70 ERA, but his 4.32 xFIP is his highest in five years, and the Yankees are just 9-9 in his 18 starts for a whopping 8.52 units of debt. Only three pitchers in the majors have done worse at the pay window. Lackey (5.18 ERA, 3.89 xFIP) has stranded an unusually low 67.2 percent of base runners since coming off the DL in May. The Angels are 5-6 in his 11 starts and 2.94 units in the hole.
Winners of 13 of their last 15 and coming off a three-game sweep against the Twins in Minnesota, the Yankees head to the West Coast as hot as any team and tied with Boston at the top of the AL East. Since dropping three to the Marlins in Florida back in June, New York has gone on a tear, outscoring their opponents 99-60 during the push. Meanwhile the Angels are banged up entering this final series before the All-Star break.
The Los Angeles Angels are doing quite all right without Mark Teixeira. But losing two-thirds of last year’s starting outfield? Not so much.
The Angels dropped a pair of games to the visiting Texas Rangers after both Torii Hunter (strained groin) and Vladimir Guerrero (strained knee) came up lame Tuesday night. Both players had MRIs on Wednesday. The prognosis on Guerrero doesn’t appear too bad – he’s considered day-to-day and could be plugged in as a designated hitter for Friday’s series opener against Teixeira’s new employers, the New York Yankees. Hunter is also listed as day-to-day, but is more likely to land on the disabled list, according to the Orange County Register.
The Halos have been dealing with bad news all year, and they’re still a very competitive 46-37 (plus-8.85 units). But the loss of Hunter can’t be dismissed. He was named to the American League squad for next week’s All-Star Game in St. Louis; his replacement in the L.A. outfield, Gary Matthews Jr., couldn’t hold onto his starting job after signing a fat contract with the Angels before the 2007 campaign. The numbers tell the story:
- Hunter (2009): 77 games, .938 OPS, 17 HR, 13 SB, 21 FRAR, 32.6 VORP
- Matthews (2008): 127 games, .675 OPS, eight HR, eight SB, one FRAR, minus-5.4 VORP
That’s a bitter pill to swallow for L.A. fans. Given the choice, they’d probably wish a speedier recovery for Hunter than Guerrero (46 games, .734 OPS), who appears to be in decline in his age 34 season and has been ably replaced in right field by former Yankee Bobby Abreu (.844 OPS). But it would still be a positive to get “Vlad the Impaler” back at DH, where Howie Kendrick (.616 OPS) was penciled in during Wednesday’s 8-1 loss to the Rangers (+131).
As for Teixeira, he’ll also be at the All-Star Game. He cranked out his 21st home run of the year in Thursday’s 6-4 triumph over the Minnesota Twins (-105), New York’s eighth consecutive road win. Teixeira (.939 OPS) will be joined by teammates Derek Jeter (.848 OPS) and Mariano Rivera (2.43 ERA, 1.93 xFIP), who picked up his 23rd save of the season to sit one behind Angels closer Brian Fuentes (3.38 ERA, 3.93 xFIP).
Rivera was one of five relievers the Yankees (51-34, minus-0.95 units) burned through on Thursday, so at least the rested Halos have the advantage in the bullpen for Friday’s opener. They’ll need it as +115 underdogs on the early betting odds. Here are the projected starting pitchers for all three games.
Game 1 (Friday, 10:05 p.m. Eastern): Joba Chamberlain vs. Joe Saunders
Chamberlain (4.04 ERA, 4.47 xFIP) has a team record of 11-5 for a profit of 3.17 units, and the Yankees have won six of his last seven starts. Saunders (4.44 ERA, 5.07 xFIP) has the Angels at 10-7 and 2.11 units in the black, winning four of his last five. But both men needed strong run support to cash in; the over is on a 7-0 run for Saunders and 4-1 for Chamberlain.
Game 2 (Saturday, 4:10 p.m. ET, FOX): Andy Pettitte vs. Jered Weaver
In sharp contrast to Friday’s starters, the under is 11-6 for Pettitte (4.53 ERA, 4.86 xFIP) on a team record of 12-5 (plus-4.42 units) and 9-6-2 for Weaver on a record of 11-6 (plus-3.88 units). But look again: Weaver’s last four starts went over. So did two of Pettitte’s last three.
Game 3 (Sunday, 3:35 p.m. ET): CC Sabathia vs. John Lackey
Sabathia has a very good 3.70 ERA, but his 4.32 xFIP is his highest in five years, and the Yankees are just 9-9 in his 18 starts for a whopping 8.52 units of debt. Only three pitchers in the majors have done worse at the pay window. Lackey (5.18 ERA, 3.89 xFIP) has stranded an unusually low 67.2 percent of base runners since coming off the DL in May. The Angels are 5-6 in his 11 starts and 2.94 units in the hole.
