Blue Jays Series Preview Vs. Los Angeles Angels

The Blue Jays wrapped up their first homestand of the season in an extra innings loss to the Boston Red Sox Thursday afternoon. They will now begin a seven-game road trip that begins on the west coast.

The Toronto Blue Jays (3-12) will take on the Los Angeles Angels (7-11) in a battle of the early season basement dwellers at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.

The Blue Jays sit last in the American League East trailing 7.5 games back of the Baltimore Orioles and the Angels are in a tie for third in the American League West trailing 4.5 games back of first.

Here is an inside look of the upcoming four-game series.

What You Need To Know

Friday, April 21, 2017

First Pitch: 10:07 p.m. EST

TV: Sportsnet One

Radio: Sportsnet 590 The FAN

Starting Pitchers: RHP Mat Latos (0-0) vs. RHP Alex Meyer (0-0)

Saturday, April 22, 2017

First Pitch: 9:07 p.m. EST

TV: Sportsnet One

Radio: Sportsnet 590 The FAN

Starting Pitchers: RHP Casey Lawrence (0-1 13.50 ERA) vs. LHP Tyler Skaggs (0-1 5.19 ERA)

Sunday, April 23, 2017

First Pitch: 3:37 p.m. EST

TV: Sportsnet One

Radio: Sportsnet 590 The FAN

Starting Pitchers: RHP Marcus Stroman (1-2 4.05 ERA) vs. RHP Jesse Chavez (1-2 3.71 ERA)

Monday, April 24, 2017

First Pitch: 10:07 p.m. EST

TV: Sportsnet One

Radio: Sportsnet 590 The FAN

Starting Pitchers: LHP Francisco Liriano (1-1 5.11 ERA) vs. RHP Ricky Nolasco (1-2 4.76 ERA)

Mat Latos will make his Blue Jays debut Friday night. After pitching nine innings with the Buffalo Bisons, Latos has a 1.00 ERA and he could very well make his second start against the St. Louis Cardinals next week (that’s if J.A. Happ or Aaron Sanchez don’t return from the DL).

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For Alex Meyers, he will make his big league debut on Friday. Meyers is coming off pitching 15 innings with a 4.80 ERA during this time with the Salt Lake Bees.

Turning to Saturday’s game, the Blue Jays will look to Casey Lawrence to pitch against Tyler Skaggs. This will mark the first big league start for Lawrence after making his debut coming out of the bullpen against the Tampa Bay Rays earlier this month. Skaggs will make his fourth start of the season.

Marcus Stroman will look to keep his two-seamer down in the zone for his start on Sunday against Jesse Chavez. Chavez will take on his former club. The 33-year old has logged a 4.57 ERA in 39 relief appearance for the Blue Jays before he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers last August. Chavez won the fifth rotation spot with the Angels out of Spring Training.

The series finale takes place on Monday night with Francisco Liriano up against Ricky Nolasco. Liriano has improved in his last two starts since his disastrous outing against the Tampa Bay Rays two weeks ago. He’ll look to earn his second win of the season.

Nolasco has recorded a 4.76 ERA through his first four starts this season. The 34-year old will also look for his second win of the season after picking up his first win against the Houston Astros on Tuesday.

Players To Watch

One obvious player to keep your eye on is Mike Trout. Trout is off to a hot start as the two-time American League MVP is hitting .333 with four home runs and 12 RBI.

Surprisingly enough, Kevin Pillar is swinging a hot bat too. The talented centre fielder is hitting .339 as he is helping his team try to generate some runs and offense as the leadoff hitter.

Jose Bautista will look to turn things around after striking out four times Thursday afternoon. Bautista will look to swing a better bat after uneducated baseball fans booed him.

Player Injuries

Toronto

3B Josh Donaldson (10-day DL strained right calf)

LHP J.A. Happ (10-day DL left elbow inflammation)

LHP J.P Howell (10-day DL left shoulder soreness)

OF Dalton Pompey (10-day DL concussion)

RHP Aaron Sanchez (10-day DL right middle finger blister)

RHP Bo Schultz (60-day DL torn right UCL- out for season)

RHP Glenn Sparkman (60-day DL fractured right thumb)

Los Angeles

RHP Andrew Bailey (10-day Dl right shoulder inflammation)

RHP Vicente Campos (10-day DL arm surgery recovery)

LHP Andrew Heaney (60-day DL left elbow surgery recovery)

RHP Garrett Richards (10-day DL right biceps strain)

RHP Huston Street (60-day DL strained right lat)

RHP Nick Tropeano (60-day DL right elbow surgery recovery)

3B Luis Valbuena (10-day DL right hamstring strain)

Last season, the Angels won the season series 4-3 as their all-time record is tied 203-203. Give the Blue Jays a chance to capitalize this weekend. They’re hitting, the pitching is keeping them in games, they just need to score more runs to have success this weekend.

Next: Blue Jays fans should be ashamed of their actions yesterday

The Blue Jays will head to Busch Stadium for a three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals starting on Tuesday.