AL West Weekly Recap
The MLB season is underway and that means teams are beginning their 162-game quest for a World Series trophy. The American League West division is expected to be the toughest division in baseball, and it’s no surprise given the amount of superstar talent and playoff experience among these ballclubs.
Perhaps the most exciting team in the division may also be the most unpredictable. The Los Angeles Angels have two of the sport’s most electric stars. International sensation Shohei Ohtani doubles as a pitcher and a hitter, performing both at a superstar level, and he’s paired with future Hall-of-Famer Mike Trout.
The Angels began their season with a three-game road series against their familiar AL West opponent, the Oakland Athletics. The Angels dropped the opening-day matchup but would go on to win the next two games.
The Oakland A’s head into the season with little-to-no expectations. They scored a cumulative three total runs in their opening series against the Angels while allowing 20. The series included a 13-1 blowout in game two where the Angels dismantled the pitching staff of Oakland.
Starting Pitcher for the A’s was rookie Shintaro Fujinami. Fujinami allowed eight earned runs before he was pulled in the third inning.
Angel’s hitters have started off the season hot, with three different players batting for a .400 average. Taylor Ward has been the premier star in the Angels lineup through the first week of the season, leading the team in home runs, RBIs and hits.
The defending champion Houston Astros opened up the season with a four-game home series against the Chicago White Sox. The Astros suffered a loss in the opener then would go on to win two of the next three, resulting in a 2-2 split. The elite pitching of both these teams was on full display as neither offense was able to score more than six runs in any of the four games.
Newly-acquired first basemen Jose Abreu has been an efficient source of offense for the Astros. Through the first week, Abreu is hitting for a .381 average and leads the team in hits tallied.
The Astros feature maybe the best pitching rotation in all of baseball, showcasing superstars like Framber Valdez, Christian Javier and Luis Garcia. Valdez got the start on opening day where he dealt for five scoreless innings and only allowed six runners. The Astros would go on to lose that game by a 3-2 score.
The most impressive weekend from an AL West team belongs to the Texas Rangers. Texas completed a three-game sweep of the defending National League champion Philadelphia Phillies. The offense would dominate the Phillies pitching staff by scoring 27 runs in just the first two games.
The expectations for the Rangers may be high this season and deservingly so, pairing a great lineup featuring all-stars Marcus Semien and Corey Seager with an elite pitching staff led by Jacob deGrom.
In the final game of the series, pitcher Martin Perez would pitch five-and-a-third innings for the Rangers while only allowing one earned run given up to a powerful Phillies lineup.
If the most impressive team was the Texas Rangers, the most disappointing team had to be the Seattle Mariners.
After making the postseason last season, the Mariners open up the season with optimism that they will build off of a successful season last year. The Mariners saw the Cleveland Guardians in a four-game series to begin the season. Seattle opened the series with a 3-0 shutout win but then would lose the following three games.
Former Cy Young winner Robbie Ray was on the mound for game two of the series when he allowed three earned runs in three-and-a-third innings of work. Ray also walked five batters in his short appearance and the Mariners would go on to lose 9-4.
Sketch Morton is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email Sam7539@psu.edu.
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Sketch Morton
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