Norse of Action

 The Angels so far: Noah Syndergaard has won both his starts, Shohei Ohtani has lost both his starts. It's a whole new ballgame.

In the last three games, the Angels have gone from curious AL West denizen to leading the division over the Houston Astros [thanks to Seattle for their help]. And while the argument can be made that the Angels sweeping Texas while the Astros have to combat a much better team like the Mariners does put them on uneven playing fields....I don't care, I'm very happy that someone other than the Astros is in first, and am even happier that it's finally the Angels.

At first glance, though, this seems like an Angels team that is picking up where last year's left off. Rendon and Adell aren't hitting, Trout isn't at 100% yet, the big guns are people like Jared Walsh and somehow Tyler Wade [I'm happy to see it, though]. At the very least, Shohei Ohtani is leading this team in home runs with 3, but for a team that boasts Ohtani, Trout and Rendon all healthy at the same time, you'd think the lineup would be a little bit more forceful. So far, a lot of the minor players have been laying in the hurt, like Matt Duffy, Brandon Marsh and Jack Mayfield. Which isn't bad, I'm just hoping that Trout and Rendon eventually take off fully. Ohtani, I think will be fine. 

The pitching has been the equalizer, and the team has mostly staved off losses not solely on the strength of people like Noah Syndergaard, Patrick Sandoval and Michael Lorenzen, but on the extremely strong bullpen, and the additions of Aaron Loup, Ryan Tepera and Archie Bradley. Still, having Noah Syndergaard healthy has been a huge asset, as he's won both his starts, and has focused more on craft and less on being a pure strikeout artist [he's got 5 Ks overall]. Maybe the tide is turning and players are figuring out that throwing hard as hell on every pitch is dangerous [Hunter Greene will learn this very soon, I think].

I am very glad this team has made it to first, but I also think that if the team continues at these little habits, and at this state, they might lose first eventually as well. The core needs to reignite, and people like Jose Suarez and Shohei Ohtani need to even things out on the mound, in order to really convince me that this Angels team has legs.

Coming Tomorrow- A trusted starting pitcher for a team that might be a shoo-in for last place this year.