There aren’t many good reasons to watch the Los Angeles Angels right now, but one of the best ones will be in the spotlight tonight as Walbert Urena takes the hill for the Halos against the Houston Astros.
Most of the other reasons to watch the Angels revolve around the upcoming trade deadline, but seeing Urena in action right now is just fun. He’s been a revelation so far, with an ERA of 2.78 to go with 83 strikeouts in 87-1/3 innings so far and a record of 6-7.
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Pay no attention to the wins and losses for Urena, however. Right now it’s all about his development, which has been strong, and the inevitable bad outings are becoming fewer and further between. Urena has allowed just two earned runs in his last three starts, although he did cough up a hairball against the Athletics before that when he gave up seven earned runs in just 4-1/3 innings.
When Urena is dealing, though, he shows how much his stuff plays. The velocity has always been there, but Urena is proving to be advanced beyond his years when it comes to knowing how to pitch. The Astros lineup will be yet another good test, and the streaky ‘Stros come into this one having one five of their last six.
Houston is also just two games out in the ridiculously weak AL West, where the Texas Rangers lead the division despite being just a game over .500. The Angels are already positioned to play spoilers, but there’s plenty of action when it comes to their trade deadline candidates, a lengthy and growing group that includes the likes of Jose Soriano, Zach Neto, Jo Adell, Kirby Yates, Reid Detmers, Jorge Soler and Brent Suter, just to name the obvious ones. If you’re on the field for the Halos right now, you’re a trade candidate, unless your name is Mike Trout.
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Houston will send Tatsuya Imai to the mound, and he’s something of an adventure in his own right. Imai is still figuring it out in MLB after coming over from Japan, and he comes into this one with an ugly ERA of 5.59.
Don’t be fooled by that initial number, though. Imai is 3-1 in his recent starts with an ERA of 4.33, and four of his last five starts have been reasonably strong. He’s one of the reasons the Astros have come back to contend after getting off to a terrible start, which is basically the opposite of what the Angels are up to these days. There’s something for everyone in this one, so it should be a fun watch.
