The Los Angeles Angels will host the Oakland A’s Saturday afternoon in Anaheim, Calif., with Angels manager Joe Maddon hoping he has given MVP candidate Shohei Ohtani adequate protection in the lineup.
Injuries have forced heavy hitters Mike Trout, Anthony Rendon and Jared Walsh out of the lineup, leaving Maddon with slim pickings when trying to find a hitter to bat behind Ohtani, baseball’s home run leader with 37, in the lineup.
Without that threat, opposing pitchers can simply pitch around the Japanese slugger. With Phil Gosselin hitting behind him on Thursday, Ohtani went 0-for-1 with three walks and Gosselin was 0-for-4. Then on Friday, both went 1-for-4 with Gosselin behind Ohtani in the lineup.
The Angels were blanked in each game, the first two of their four-game series against the A’s.
“We’ve been talking about that,” Maddon said. “I’ve tried to protect him as much as I could. That’s why I had Walsh hitting behind him. But now if there’s a right-handed hitter pitching to him, they’re going to be more careful. I think we’ll see more of that. I’ve seen hitters get that kind of treatment in the past. It’s just part of the game.”
There is good reason to pitch around Ohtani, particularly in clutch situations. With two out and runners in scoring position this season, Ohtani is hitting .359 with a 1.474 OPS. Consequently, he’s been walked 10 times in 50 plate appearances in those situations, including six times intentionally.
Right-hander Jaime Barria (1-0, 6.23 ERA) will start on the mound for Los Angeles, coming off a victory in his first start of the season last Sunday. He made one relief appearance in April and another in May, but has spent most of the season in the minors.
Called up to face the Minnesota Twins last Sunday, Barria allowed just two runs and four hits in seven innings of a 6-2 win. Of particular note was his fastball velocity. In 55 previous appearances in his major league career, Barria’s fastball was never clocked higher than 95 mph. But against the Twins, he topped 95 mph 11 times.
Barria is 0-0 with a 3.29 ERA in three career games (two starts) vs. Oakland.
Left-hander Cole Irvin (7-9, 3.62), who was born and raised in Anaheim and grew up an Angels fan, has already faced the Angels three times this season, going 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA. However, it will be the first time to face the Angels at Angel Stadium, a place he used to work as a groundskeeper while in high school.
His best performance against them was in his most recent start on July 19 when he threw seven scoreless innings.
“The first couple times (he faced the Angels) there were a couple pitches that maybe got away from me,” Irvin said of his improvement the third time out. “At the same time, I have a general game plan that I want to attack and I feel I haven’t completely executed it the way I want to yet. They’re a good offense, so you just have to limit damage and keep us in the ballgame.”
Ohtani is 3-for-9 against Irvin, with one homer, one double and two strikeouts.
