Yanks Go Yard Radio Show: Angels-Yankees Preview (6/6-6/9)

On last night’s episode of the Yanks Go Yard Radio Show, we previewed this week’s Angels-Yankees series in the Bronx

On last night’s episode of the Yanks Go Yard Radio Show, I started off the episode by talking about the New York Yankees (26-30) losing two out of three games to the Baltimore Orioles this weekend. Plus, New York suffered a significant blow injury wise this week when Mark Teixeira went on the disabled list because of torn cartilage in his knee.

After ending their road trip where the Bronx Bombers finished at 2-5, the Yankees return home for a seven game homestand beginning tonight when they take on the Los Angeles Angels, who also have a 26-30 record. Coming into tonight, Mike Scioscia’s club is eight games behind the Texas Rangers in the AL West.

The problem for the Angels this season has been the health of their starting rotation, which has the ninth lowest ERA in the American League (4.53). They are without three of their starters as C.J. Wilson, Garrett Richards, and Andrew Heaney. The Angels went out and traded for Jhoulys Chacin from the Braves and signed Tim Lincecum, who is currently in triple-A.

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On offense, the Angels are ninth in the AL in runs scored and sixth in batting average. Once again, Mike Trout is having another great season. The 24-year-old is hitting .311 with 12 home runs, 41 RBI’s, and a .415 on-base percentage. The other Angels player with two home runs besides Trout is Albert Pujols (.238, 12 home runs, 39 RBI’s).

One player that doesn’t get a lot of attention in the Angels lineup is third baseman Yunel Escobar. Escobar, who was acquired in an offseason trade with the Washington Nationals, is hitting .311 with three home runs and 17 RBI’s in 52 games.

Next: Chapman Blows Save, Yanks Drop Series To Orioles

To talk more about the Angels, my guest was Grant Avise from Halo Hangout. Grant gave his take on the Angels’ struggles this season, the concern about the long-term of the pitching staff, and about whether or not closer Huston Street or left-handed reliever Joe Smith would be available at the trade deadline if the Angels are sellers. Here are some of the other topics we discussed:

• Impact of Richards and Heaney both being out of the rotation
• Breaking down another great season by Trout
• When might Lincecum reach the big leagues?
• Pitching Matchup Breakdown
• Matt Shoemaker (Tonight’s Angels starter) with 31 K’s in his last three starts
• Masahiro Tanaka (Tonight’s Yankees starter) had only two K’s in his last outing
• Michael Pineda (Tomorrow’s Yankees starter) trying to have two strong outings in a row
• Jered Weaver (Wednesday’s Angels starter) pitching better with diminished velocity.
• Nathan Eovaldi (Wednesday’s Yankees starter) had a season-high 13 flyball outs on Friday against the Orioles.
• Chacin (Thursday’s Angels starter) has a 3.73 ERA in five starts with the Angels
• Ivan Nova (Thursday’s Yankees starter) was not able to pitch with a big lead against the Orioles on Saturday
• Angels hitters to watch: Escobar and Kole Calhoun
• Yankees hitters to watch: Alex Rodriguez and Rob Refsnyder
• Grant’s thoughts on whether or not the Angels will be sellers at the trade deadline?

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