LATIMES.COM/SPORTS S SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2019D5
NATIONAL LEAGUE
BATTING AVERAGE
Rendon, WAS.................338
Reynolds, PIT .................331
Marte, ARI.....................331
Yelich, MIL.....................326
McNeil, NY.....................324
HOME RUNS
Alonso, NY....................... 45
Yelich, MIL........................44
Bellinger, Dodgers..............44
Suarez, CIN......................42
Freeman, ATL ....................38
RUNS BATTED IN
Freeman, ATL.................. 115
Rendon, WAS..................114
Bell, PIT .........................114
Escobar, ARI ...................110
Arenado, COL..................108
STOLEN BASES
Acuna, ATL....................... 34
Turner, WAS ......................31
Dyson, ARI .......................28
Yelich, MIL ........................27
Marte, PIT........................25
RUNS SCORED
Acuna, ATL..................... 113
Freeman, ATL ..................109
Bellinger, Dodgers............107
Rendon, WAS..................106
Blackmon, COL................102
ERA
Ryu, Dodgers.................2.45
Soroka, ATL....................2.54
Scherzer, WAS ................2.60
Gray, CIN .......................2.75
deGrom, NY ...................2.76
W-L
Fried, ATL......................16-4
Strasburg, WAS ..............16-6
Hudson, STL ..................15-6
SAVES
Yates, SD......................... 39
Smith, SF.........................32
Iglesias, CIN.....................29
STRIKEOUTS
Strasburg, WAS .............. 222
deGrom, NY ....................220
Corbin, WAS ...................210AMERICAN LEAGUE
BATTING AVERAGE
Anderson, CHI ................333
LeMahieu, NY .................329
Brantley, HOU .................324
Alberto, BAL...................321
Devers, BOS...................316
HOME RUNS
Trout, Angels.................... 45
Soler, KC..........................40
Kepler, MIN......................36
Cruz, MIN .........................35
Sanchez, NY.....................34
RUNS BATTED IN
Abreu, CHI ..................... 107
Devers, BOS....................107
Bogaerts, BOS.................105
Trout, Angels...................104
Soler, KC ........................101
STOLEN BASES
Smith, SEA ...................... 40
Mondesi, KC .....................36
Villar, BAL.........................33
Andrus, TEX ......................27
Ramirez, CLE.....................24
RUNS SCORED
Betts, BOS ..................... 127
Devers, BOS....................116
Trout, Angels...................110
Bregman, HOU ................108
Semien, OAK...................103
ERA
Verlander, HOU ..............2.57
Cole, HOU .....................2.81
Morton, TB.....................3.07
Minor, TEX .....................3.12
Bieber, CLE....................3.24
W-L
German, NY..................17-4
Rodriguez, BOS..............17-5
Verlander, HOU...............17-5
SAVES
Chapman, NY ................... 36
Hand, CLE........................33
Osuna, HOU......................32
STRIKEOUTS
Cole, HOU...................... 266
Verlander, HOU ................257
Bieber, CLE.....................233LEADERS
Through Friday’s gamesINSIDE BASEBALL
The Angels didn’t know it then,
but the best day of their 2019 sea-
son took place four days before it
started.
Mike Trout basked in the rau-
cous hollers from the fans assem-
bled for a nationally televised news
conference. The best player in
baseball was about to begin his
ninth season with the Angels. Free
agency would have been two years
away, and, with it, the chance to
play wherever he liked. Instead, he
had essentially committed the rest
of his career to a team that last
won a postseason game the year
he graduated high school.
Trout spoke of his respect for
the Angels ownership and man-
agement, his camaraderie with
teammates and his appreciation
for the Southern California
weather. There was another factor,
too, the one that clinched his
decision to stay.
“The direction of the fran-
chise,” he said on that jubilant
March afternoon. “That was big
for me. If it was going the other
way, I would have had to consider
going. It never crossed my mind.”
Six months later, the direction
of the franchise appears stagnant.
The Angels are on pace to win
75 games this season, after win-
ning 80, 80 and 74 in the previous
three years. They last had four
consecutive losing seasons from
1974 to 1977, when the midseason
managerial change was a rite
during an Anaheim summer. In
this era, as the power has shifted
from the manager to the general
manager, so too has the account-
ability.
Billy Eppler has been the An-
gels general manager for all four of
these losing seasons. He per-
suaded Trout to stay, and that
alone ought to qualify his tenure as
successful.
But, for Eppler, the time has
come to win. The Angels last week
told him he would return next year.
They did not promise him any-
thing beyond that.
Eppler inherited a major league
team that had been eliminated
from the playoffs on the final day
of the 2015 season, and some or-
ganizational handcuffs.
Owner Arte Moreno does not
believe in tanking, to his credit, so
he directed Eppler to rebuild a
minor league system ranked last
by Baseball America without
trading major leaguers to replen-
ish the farm. That would have
been challenging on the minor
league level even without the
league imposing spending limits
on draft picks and Latin American
amateurs, and challenging on the
major league level even without
free-agent resources affected by
the $375 million Moreno invested
in Albert Pujols and Josh Hamil-
ton.
“You’re threading a pretty
narrow gap there,” Eppler said.
By last offseason, Eppler felt
pretty good about the Angels. The
farm system ranked among the
top half in baseball. If the Angels
didn’t push to win bidding wars for
free-agent pitchers Patrick
Corbin, Nathan Eovaldi and J.A.
Happ, they could push this off-
season. In the meantime, a wave of
kids would be just about ready —for the Angels, or for a trade that
could net the Angels a long-term
piece of their starting rotation.
“We made the conscious deci-
sion to pivot to one-year deals,”
Eppler said. “We focused in that
bin, knowing we would have an
opportunity to stick that money
back in our pocket.”
So he spent $34.35 million on
one-year contracts for pitchers
Matt Harvey, Trevor Cahill and
Cody Allen, catcher Jonathan
Lucroy and first baseman Justin
Bour. He went 0 for 5. Eppler
awarded his largest free-agent
contract to infielder Zack Cozart,
signed for $38 million after a career
year with the Cincinnati Reds,
then injured and ineffective in his
two years in Anaheim.
In four years under Eppler, the
Angels never have finished in the
top five in runsor earned-run
average. But they’re sixth in runs
this year, even with left fielder
Justin Upton sitting out half the
season because of injury.
The 2020 outfield appears set:
Upton in left, Trout in center and,
probably, Jo Adell — ranked as
baseball’s best outfield prospect —
in right. Shohei Ohtani and Albert
Pujols would share the desig-
nated-hitter role, Andrelton Sim-
mons would play shortstop, and
the Angels would figure out the
rest of the infield among Pujols,
Cozart, Tommy La Stella, David
Fletcher, and youngsters Luis
Rengifo, Matt Thaiss and Jared
Walsh.
“We feel like the answers can
come from within there,” Eppler
said.
Catcher appears to be a black
hole. Eppler can patch a bullpen;
closer Hansel Robles was claimed
on waivers and setup man Ty
Buttrey was the trade return for
two months of veteran Ian Kinsler.
That leaves the starting rota-tion. The Angels are about to
become the first team in 100 years
without even one pitcher making
20 starts in a season.
“I don’t think you would write
out a shopping list that says, ‘Need
three starting pitchers,’ ” Eppler
said.
The Angels ought to think
twice about that. Of the projected
top three starters, Ohtani and
rookie Griffin Canning are coming
off injuries, and Andrew Heaney
has yet to complete a season with
the Angels without a stint on the
injured list.
Eppler also hopes to hold one
spot for a competition among
Jaime Barria, Felix Pena, Dillon
Peters, Patrick Sandoval and Jose
Suarez. A championship-caliber
team might be better off stocking
all those guys as depth for when
the starting five needs reinforce-
ment.
That the Angels need arms is
an all-too-common offseason
refrain, and so is the reliance on
starting pitchers with a history of
injury. What would Eppler tell
Angels fans wondering why they
should trust him to assemble a
quality rotation this offseason?
“With the emergence of our
farm system, and players that will
be contributing at the major
league level, our number of needs
in the free-agent marketplace will
be smaller than in years past,
which allows you to entertain a
different caliber of player, in the
free-agent market or in the trade
market,” he said.
“If you have six needs, it’s really
hard to fill all of those in free
agency. I can tell you our primary
focus is going to be starting pitch-
ing.”
He paused, then repeated.
“Starting pitching,” he said.
Gerrit Cole, the Angels turn
their lonely eyes to you, and theirwallets too, stuffed with all the
money they saved with those
one-year contracts.
Cole turns 29 on Sunday. He is
the undisputed ace of the free-
agent class, a three-time All-Star,
with three 200-inning seasons out
of the last four.
He grew up in Orange County,
so the Angels are his hometown
team. It all sounds so perfect, until
you remember all those Philadel-
phia fans that assumed Trout
would sign with his hometown
Phillies. And, assuming Cole
wants to win, would he believe the
Angels would be his best option?
Heaven forbid the Angels focus
on Cole so intensely that Plans B,
C, and D come off the board. Cole
is represented by Scott Boras, who
often advises his clients to wait
deep into the offseason. In 2010, the
Angels went so hard after out-
fielder Carl Crawford that their
fallback option turned out to be
trading for Vernon Wells and his
$86-million contract, and giving up
slugging catcher Mike Napoli to do
it.
The free-agent starting pitch-
ers also include Madison Bumgar-
ner, Dallas Keuchel, Jake Odorizzi,
Hyun-Jin Ryu and Zack Wheeler.
The Angels need more than one
starter — Eppler says he needs
two — and they have to be willing
to overpay. Cole alone might cost
$200 million.
When Moreno bought the An-
gels in 2003, he inherited Bill
Stoneman as general manager
and wisely retained him. When
Stoneman retired, Moreno se-
lected Tony Reagins, then Jerry
Dipoto. Neither hire ended well,
but each of those guys got four
seasons and put up three winning
records.
Eppler has one more chance,
and likely one last chance, to put
up one winning record.Eppler is running out of time
Gina FerazziLos Angeles Times
ANGELS OWNERArte Moreno, left, might not give general manager Billy Eppler, right, much
more time to turn the club into a winner. The Angels have had four losing seasons under Eppler.Angels extended Trout’s
contract to build a winning
club around him, but the
GM needs quick results.
BILL SHAIKIN
ON BASEBALLPart of the fun of being a baseball
fan is debating who should win the
end-of-season awards. There’s a
formula that’s doing a good job of
making a Cy Young Award debate
unnecessary. Tom Tango’s Cy
Young points (read more about it
at baseballmusings.com) uses a
statistical formula that ends in a
point total for starting pitchers.
The person with the most points
probably will win the Cy Young
Award. Let’s take a look at this sea-
son (through Friday’s games), and
how well the formula did from 2010
t o 2 018.
2019 National League
- Jacob deGrom, New York, 64.0
- Hyun-Jin Ryu, DODGERS, 63.0
- Max Scherzer, Washington, 61.0
- Patrick Corbin, Washington, 58.8
- Sonny Gray, Cincinnati, 58.8
2019 American League
- Justin Verlander, Houston, 84.2
- Gerrit Cole, Houston, 74.8
- Shane Bieber, Cleveland, 62.6
- Charlie Morton, Tampa Bay, 62.1
- Lucas Giolito, Chicago, 58.9
2018
NL winner: Jacob deGrom,
New York
NL points: deGrom
AL winner:Blake Snell, Tampa
Bay
AL points:Snell2017
NL winner: Max Scherzer,
Washington
NL points: Scherzer
AL winner: Corey Kluber,
Cleveland
AL points:Kluber2016
NL winner: Max Scherzer,
Washington
NL points:Scherzer
AL winner: Rick Porcello, Boston
AL points: Justin Verlander,
Detroit (Porcello was second,
74.9-74.4)2015
NL winner: Jake Arrieta, Chicago
NL points:Arrieta
AL winner: Dallas Keuchel,
Houston
AL points:Keuchel2014
NL winner: Clayton Kershaw,
DODGERS
NL points: Kershaw
AL winner: Corey Kluber,
Cleveland
AL points: Felix Hernandez, Seat-
tle (Kluber was second, 101.9-98.7)2013
NL winner: Clayton Kershaw,DODGERS
NL points:Kershaw
AL winner: Max Scherzer, Detroit
AL points:Scherzer2012
NL winner: R.A. Dickey, New York
NL points: Dickey
AL winner: David Price, Tampa
Bay
AL points:Justin Verlander, De-
troit (Price was second, 84.8-83.1)2011
NL winner:Clayton Kershaw,
DODGERS
NL points: Kershaw
AL winner:Justin Verlander,
Detroit
AL points: Verlander2010
NL winner:Roy Halladay,
Philadelphia
NL points: Halladay
AL winner: Felix Hernandez,
Seattle
AL points:HernandezThere has been one tie in Cy Young
voting. In 1969, Denny McLain of
Detroit and Mike Cuellar of Balti-
more were co-winners. Cuellar was
first in the points formula (207.7-
203.6).
— Houston MitchellSTATS CORNER
BASED ONa formula, Jacob deGrom, left, and Justin Verlander,
right, would be the NL and AL Cy Young Award winners.Frank Franklin IIAssociated Press Vaughn RidleyGetty ImagesThree up
Texas appears to be the spot for
former Dodgers prospects to
flourish. The headlines have gone
to Astros DH/left fielder Yordan
Alvarez, obtained for reliever Josh
Fields. Alvarez is batting .306 with
a 1.055 OPS, and 22 home runs in
68 games. But, up Interstate 45,
Rangers left fielder Willie Calhoun
has 18 home runs in 64 games.
Calhoun, who was miscast with
the Dodgers as a second baseman,
was traded for pitcher Yu Darvish.
No harm: The Dodgers’ eight left
fielders have combined for 36
home runs.
With Shohei Ohtani of the Angels
limited to batting this season, the
“first player since Babe Ruth to ... ”
lines this year belong to Cincin-
nati’s Michael Lorenzen. On
Wednesday, Lorenzen became the
first player to hit a home run, be
the winning pitcher and play the
field since Ruth did so June 13, 1921.
Ruth finished that game in center
field, replacing the delightfully
named Chicken Hawks. The op-
posing center fielder that day: Ty
Cobb.
Ned Colletti, who ran the Dodgers’
baseball operations before An-
drew Friedman, was hired Friday
to scout for the NHL’s San Jose
Sharks. Colletti’s predecessor,
Paul DePodesta, is the chief strat-
egy officer for the NFL’s Cleveland
Browns. What could Friedman’s
next sports challenge be? The
United States never has won an
Olympic medal in table tennis.
Given the Dodgers’ intense ping-
pong sessions during spring train-
ing, he could go from Dodgers blue
to red, white and blue, and go get
the U.S. that elusive medal. But
World Series parade first, please.
Three down
The Philadelphia Phillies didn’t
spend $330 million on Bryce Harp-
er to finish third in the NL East
again, but that’s where they stood
Saturday, amid another second-
half swoon under manager Gabe
Kapler. He could be on the hot
seat. The favorite to replace him:
Mike Scioscia, who grew up in
Philadelphia. Complication:
Phillies general manager Matt
Klentak was the assistant in Ana-
heim to GM Jerry Dipoto, who
clashed with Scioscia. Would
owner John Middleton and old-
school President Andy MacPhail
make the hire themselves?
The Boston Red Sox had 17 reliev-
ers available Wednesday and 21
pitchers in all. “We’re going winter
ball style,” manager Alex Cora
said. “The games, instead of four
hours, are going to be five hours.”
The Red Sox won’t be able to try
that next year, when September
rosters will be limited to 28 play-
ers, down from 40. “Our starters
are not giving enough,” Cora said.
On the day he said that, the Red
Sox starters had a 5.03 ERA, sev-
enth-best in the American League.
Yikes.
With MLB attendancedown for
the fourth consecutive season,
Baseball Prospectus ran some
analytics and attributed about
35% of the decline to tanking
teams. The Chicago Cubs won in
2016 and Houston in 2017, both
after blowing up their rosters in
the hope of building a winner, but
the first part does not guarantee
the second. In related news, the
San Diego Padres are headed for
their ninth consecutive losing
season. In their last playoff game,
in 2006, Dodgers manager Dave
Roberts was their left fielder.
— Bill Shaikin
THREE UP ▲
THREE DOWN ▼
WHAT’S TRENDING IN MLB