The Angels head into Washington on a little bit of a roll, but the setting for this one is still hard to ignore: two teams trying to drag themselves through the final stretch, both stuck in seasons that have gone sideways.
Los Angeles is coming off a rare series win over the Boston Red Sox, and now it gets the opening game of a three-game set against the Nationals in DC. For the Angels, that means another chance to stack something positive on top of something positive, even if the bigger picture remains ugly. They’ve spent most of the year in rough shape and are now mostly playing to avoid a 100-loss season after cleaning house at the trade deadline.
There’s also the awkward race at the very bottom. The Angels are a game ahead of the Colorado Rockies in the fight to avoid baseball’s worst record, while Washington is at least clear of that distinction. The Nationals have still slid into the NL East basement, though, and they arrive on a seven-game losing streak.
What makes this matchup interesting is how differently the two clubs have gotten to this point. The Angels can pitch but can’t hit.
The Nationals can hit but don’t pitch well. It’s not exactly a classic chess match, but it does give the series a clear shape.
Yusei Kikuchi gets the ball for Los Angeles, and his path back has been anything but smooth. He ramped up early to pitch for Team Japan in the World Baseball Classic, then injured his shoulder soon after and landed on the IL.
His return stirred up some friction at first. Kikuchi got knocked around in his last rehab start at Single-A Rancho Cucamonga and said he was ready to return even though the Angels wanted him to make one more rehab outing.
Since then, though, he has looked like a pitcher who is back on track. Kikuchi has allowed just two runs over his last 13 innings, and he beat the Pittsburgh Pirates last Saturday by working six shutout innings, allowing five hits and three walks while striking out six.
Los Angeles usually doesn’t give much help to its starters, but it did find some offense against Boston, scoring six runs in back-to-back games to pull off the series win. That kind of support will be tougher to come by tonight against Cade Cavalli, Washington’s de facto ace. Cavalli enters with a 12-5 record and a 3.61 ERA.
In Other News...
Angels Roster Auditions Are Starting To Expose A Harsh Reality
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Elsewhere, the competition has turned less tidy. Josh Lowe has struggled, while Denzer Guzman and Oswald Peraza have also gone through slumps, leaving the Angels with more questions than answers as they try to decide who can be trusted to stick. For a team still sorting out its next steps, these auditions are doing exactly what they are supposed to do, even if the results are exposing some uncomfortable truths along the way. [Read more 🡒]
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For an Angels team that already views Neto as a core piece, the breakout only sharpens the questions that come next. A long-term extension is now part of the conversation, and so is how the club handles the ripple effect on other talent in the system, including Arjun Nimmala. Netos rise has made the shortstop picture much clearer for the present, but it has also turned the future into a decision the Angels can no longer put off. [Read more 🡒]
Angels Face One Huge Front Office Question Before A Crucial Offseason
John Mozeliak has already left his mark on the Angels as interim general manager, reshaping draft strategy, making trades and reworking the front office in a short span. Even with the ongoing sale process involving Stan Kroenke, the expectation around the industry is that Mozeliaks influence is not going away anytime soon, which gives the organization a measure of continuity as it heads into a winter that is likely to demand plenty of quick decisions.
The bigger question is what his title will look like once the ownership picture settles. The sale is not expected to be finalized until January or later, and with the CBA set to expire in December, the Angels could be navigating a busy offseason before the new hierarchy is even fully in place. For now, the belief is that Mozeliak would stay in a top leadership role, with a general manager hired underneath him, but the exact structure remains one of the more important unresolved pieces in the clubs near future. [Read more 🡒]