Angels extend their streak to 11

As the 2022 MLB season got underway, the Los Angeles Angels looked to hold all the cards. With wunderkind Shohei Ohtani working as a newly sanctioned two-way threat, and Mike Trout hitting like never before, they seemed a shoe-in for the post season. Perhaps even contenders. Tongues were wagging all over La-La Land of a cross-town Series between the Angels and Dodgers.

Oh how innocent we were! Fast forward to June and the Angels have hit a slump that has dropped them to 8.5 games behind the Astros, with only a one game lead on the Texas Rangers. The Rangers have had struggles of their own and that may be the only reason that the Angels are still second in the AL West.

Their best efforts seem to come to naught, and even the handiest of leads seem to evaporate into thin air. While on the other side of the American League, the Yankees are extending their win streak to six, the Angels have now dropped eleven games on the trot.

This is the first time that they have dropped that many games in a row in eight years, and has dipped them to one game below .500 on the season at 26-27.

Joe Maddon is left scratching his head as to exactly what the problem is, saying, “We’ve lost a lot of tough ones and it really makes no sense. We got the right guys out there and the right time. And again, we gave it up late. We have to get that fixed. I loved the fight but we have to finish these games off, and that’s a big part of the situation we’re in right now.”

At the end of the day, the best thing is to keep doing what you do, and trust that eventually the pieces will fall into place for you. Maddon would seem to agree.

“It’s gut-wrenching at times, but you have to move on to the next day. It’s not easy, but you don’t quit, and you go back home and try to fix it. But we have to get our bullpen in shape, because that’s where the primary concern is.”

And that is the rub. With starters like Ohtani, Syndergaard, and Detmers, the games are starting off looking solid for Los Angeles. Leads are generated and held for the early innings. And then you have to reach out to the bullpen and it all slips through their fingers.

Their closer, Raisel Iglesias has a 4.91 ERA on 18.1 innings pitched. Of course, closers can be susceptible to high ERAs due to the low number of innings that they work. A single run can cost them big. But 18 innings is enough to keep that number below four. Perhaps even below three.

It is perhaps unfair to pick on Iglesias. Even solid relievers, who are normally a rock to lean on, guys like Ryan Tepera and Aaron Loup have ERAs in that same area.

The Angels have been accused by fans of neglecting the power pitching favored by their cross-town rival, the Dodgers, instead leaning on a range of different styles and deliveries from their roster. Joe Maddon has kept quiet on the subject, but the belief that he has not had all of the tools made available to him is a theory that lets him off the hook for their lacklustre performance, at least for now.

Unless Maddon can work out a way to stop the rot, the Angels would seem to be destined for a mediocre season, punctuated by moments of brilliance. And wondering why, with talents like Trout and Ohtani, they are not in the playoffs.