The O’s will make the quickest of jaunts to California to cap their six-game road trip.
Remember when Orioles west coast road trips used to be an interminable, week-and-a-half long affair? They’d fly to the other side of the country and stay there for nine or ten games, playing each of their AL West opponents in turn, leading to one sleepless night after another for east coast O’s fans who opted to stay up well past midnight to watch the action.
Thanks to the newly balanced MLB schedule, those west coast trips are becoming more frequent, as the Orioles now play not just against AL West but NL West teams every year. The upside is that none of the trips are quite as long as those three-city stops of old. Tonight, the Orioles fly out west for just a single series against the Angels before returning to Baltimore. Their next west coast trip isn’t until July — six games in Seattle and Oakland — and their final one is a six-game, interleague trek through Los Angeles and Colorado at the end of August. Are three shorter west coast trips better than one long one? I don’t know.
Anyway, let’s talk about the Angels. The Orioles have already faced them this year, kicking off their 2024 season at Camden Yards at the end of March. The O’s crushed the Angels in the first two games, outscoring them 24-7, before Los Angeles salvaged the finale. The now 9-13 Angels are returning home after going 3-6 on a nine-game road trip.
Just like the old days, Mike Trout is the sole reason to watch the Angels. The three-time MVP has erupted for an excellent comeback campaign after injuries wrecked his past three seasons. Trout has bashed a league-leading eight home runs and posted a .904 OPS while playing all but one game this year.
There is no help from the rest of the Angels lineup, where youngsters Zach Neto and Nolan Schanuel have underperformed and Anthony Rendon has gotten hurt again. On the mound, the Angels have had only two competent starting pitchers — both of whom are pitching in this series — and their revamped bullpen has failed to gel, posting a 4.93 ERA.
The Orioles, who have won all five of their series so far against American League teams, have a good opportunity to keep that streak alive against a struggling opponent. But weird things can happen on the west coast.
Game 1: Monday, 9:38 PM ET, MASN
RHP Albert Suárez (0-0, 0.00) vs. LHP Reid Detmers (3-0, 1.19)
What a story Albert Suárez authored last week, making his return to the majors after a seven-year hiatus and delivering a stupendous outing as an emergency fill-in for the injured Tyler Wells. Suárez blanked the Twins over 5.2 innings, allowing just three baserunners, and more than earned himself another start. It’ll be tough for Suárez to top his debut performance, but continued quality outings from the 34-year-old righty will certainly give the Orioles a tough decision to make once Wells, Kyle Bradish, and John Means are ready to return to the club.
Detmers, 24, is off to a sensational start to the 2024 season, which began when he stymied the Orioles on March 31 for seven strikeouts and one run in five innings. He followed that up with two brilliant outings against Boston, racking up 19 strikeouts, and a decent if not dominant performance in Tampa Bay. Detmers has emerged as the Angels’ clear ace in the post-Ohtani landscape.
Game 2: Tuesday, 9:38 PM ET, MASN2
RHP Grayson Rodriguez (3-0, 2.63) vs. RHP Griffin Canning (0-3, 8.05)
Rodriguez could have started the series opener on his normal turn, but the O’s opted to give him an extra day of rest by slotting Suárez ahead of him. As the Camden Chat writer scheduled to recap this game, I approve of the change. The Orioles will look to improve to a perfect 5-0 in Rodriguez’s starts this year, just as they are with Corbin Burnes, and Rodriguez’s previous start against the Angels — six innings, one run, nine strikeouts in his season debut March 30 — gives reason to believe they will.
It’s been a very different story for Canning, who also faced off against Rodriguez in that March 30 game in Baltimore and was blistered for five runs. Things haven’t gotten any better for the 27-year-old righty, who gave up four runs in his next start and seven in his third. He’s the anti-Rodriguez, as the Angels are 0-4 in his starts. Let’s hope this game isn’t the classic reverse lock for the Angels.
Game 3: Wednesday, 4:07 PM ET, MASN2
RHP Dean Kremer (0-2, 4.91) vs. LHP Tyler Anderson (2-2, 1.42)
Uh-oh, it’s the Orioles’ kryptonite: a soft-tossing lefty. The veteran Anderson, now in his ninth MLB season and playing for his sixth different team, ranks in just the third percentile in fastball velocity, averaging only 89.3 mph on his four-seamer. He’s a pitcher who relies on his offspeed stuff, throwing his changeup almost as often as his heater, mixing in a cutter as well.
That’s the kind of crafty southpaw that has inexplicably tied the Orioles in knots recently (see Marco Gonzales, Bailey Falter, etc.). Anderson has allowed just four earned runs this year for a 1.42 ERA, though his 4.73 FIP suggests he’s been getting considerably lucky. Maybe it’s time his luck ran out.
Kremer is a pitcher who needs to step up his game or risk losing his rotation spot, given the aforementioned returns of Bradish, Means, and Wells on the horizon. Kremer twirled a seven-inning gem in Pittsburgh in his second start, but has failed to make it through six full innings in his other three, giving up at least three runs each time. (In fairness, he pitched well in his most recent outing in Kansas City before the bullpen allowed his inherited runners to score.)
Check out Kremer’s Baseball Savant page and there’s a whole lot of blue in his percentile rankings, which is not a good thing. Kremer didn’t face the Angels in that opening series but pitched against them twice last year, working 10.1 innings and giving up three runs.