The Angels got swept in four games by the Tampa Bay Rays this past weekend, a team that the Angels are racing against for the second AL Wild Card spot. The thing that has been so frustrating about their 7-13 run through August is that there is no excuses. Angels no longer have anyone on the disabled list and no one on the team seems to be going under a prolonged slump, so what's wrong?
The Angels have averaged 5.25 runs a game for the month of August, but Angels pitchers have also given up 6.85 runs per game during that same period. August has easily been the Angel's worst month, but compared to May (their best month when they went 18-11) they only averaged 3.75 runs per game, but pitchers only gave up 3.34 runs per game. The pattern here seems to be that good early season pitching was able to carry a struggling offense, but a good offense at the end of the season has done nothing to make up for the pitcher's failures.
I think everyone is asking at this point, what is wrong with the pitchers? They're healthy, but lacking confidence. They're trying to do too much and over-thinking their pitches. The past month has resulted in too many walks and too many balls left over the plate that have turned into home runs. For crying out loud, the Angel's most consistent pitcher over the last few weeks has been none other than fat face, Ervin Santana, although he might have an explanation for that. What is different with the pitchers now that wasn't there back in May and June? I don't think anyone outside of the Angels clubhouse can answer that one, and I would bet money that they can't answer it either.
No comments:
Post a Comment