LOS ANGELES ANGELS NOTES:
LEADING OFF: Today marks the second (0-1) of six games on the Angels opening road trip of the 2023 season against Oakland (0-1) and Seattle (April 3-5)…Halos are looking to avoid starting 0-2 in a second consecutive season; only time in franchise history that Angels lost first two games in consecutive years was 2000-2001.
OPENING SHO: On Thursday, Shohei Ohtani made his second MLB Opening Day start as a pitcher and tossed 6.0 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and three walks with 10 strikeouts… He became the fourth pitcher in Angels history with 10+ strikeouts on Opening Day, joining Nolan Ryan (12 SO; 1973 & 1975), Andy Messersmith (11 SO; 1970) and Jered Weaver (10 SO; 2012).
SANDY GETS THE START: Today, Patrick Sandoval makes his season debut for the Angels…This Spring, Sandoval made two starts in the World Baseball Classic for Mexico, going 1-0 with a 1.23 ERA (7.1 IP – 1 ER) and eight strikeouts in games against the United States and Japan…Sandoval has a 0.87 ERA (20.2 IP – 2 ER) in four career games at the Oakland Coliseum.
MOST CAREER HOME RUNS VS. OAKLAND ATHLETICS
(since A’s moved to Oakland in 1968)
T1. Rafael Palmeiro – 43
T1. Alex Rodriguez – 43
T3. Adrian Beltre – 41
T3. Mike Trout – 41
- Dwight Evans – 39
OPENING DAY TRENDS: On Thursday night, the Angels were defeated by Oakland by a 2-1 score, marking Halos ninth Opening Day loss in the last 10 years…LAA defeated Chicago White Sox on Opening Day in 2021 to snap streak of seven consecutive Opening Day losses (2014-20)…Prior to the even game losing streak, Angels won each of five previous Opening Day games (2009-13)…The seven-game season opening skid from 2014-20 is the longest in team annals.
HIGHEST CAREER BATTING AVERAGE
AT OAKLAND COLISEUM (min. 125 PA)
- David Fletcher – .369
- Ichiro Suzuki – .354
- Brian Harper – .345
- Victor Martinez – .344
- Chili Davis – .342
A TRADITION UNLIKE ANY OTHER: The Angels started the season at the Oakland Coliseum for the fifth time in the last seven years…This was the first time in MLB history that any team began a season in the same road ballpark at least five times in a seven-year span (ELIAS)…Halos opened four straight years (2017-20) at the Coliseum before playing the last 2021-22 Openers at home.
WELCOME TO THE RENAISSANCE: With Anthony Rendon, Hunter Renfroe & Luis Rengifo hitting 4-6 in the Angels Opening Day batting order, it was the first lineup in franchise history to feature three straight players who have the same first three letters of their last name…The last MLB occurrence was by Detroit on July 20, 2015 (Victor Martinez, J.D. Martinez, Jefry Marte).
OPENING DAY STAPLE: With his start on Thursday night, Mike Trout became the fourth player in Angels history to make 11+ Opening Day starts, joining Garret Anderson (14), Tim Salmon (13) and Brian Downing (11)…Trout also matched a franchise record with 11 consecutive Opening Day starts at one position, joining Tim Salmon, who made 11 straight in right field from 1993-2003.
BABY BACKSTOP: With his start on Thursday, Logan O’Hoppe (23 years, 49 days) became the youngest Opening Day catcher in Angels history (previous was Buck Rodgers – 23 years, 237 days in 1962)…He was the first Angels rookie catcher to start on Opening Day since Bengie Molina in 2000.
SETTING THE ROSTER: Wednesday, the Angels made a series of transactions to set the final Opening Day roster at 26 players…LAA selected the contract of INF Jake Lamb and placed C Max Stassi (10-day; left hip strain), INF Jared Walsh (10-day; headaches & insomnia), RHP Chris Rodriguez (15- day; right shoulder surgery in 2021), RHP Griffin Canning (15-day; left groin strain) and RHP José Marte (60-day; right elbow stress reaction) on the injured list.
OAKLAND OPENERS: Angels are now 2-7 all-time against Oakland on Opening Day (2-1 at Angel Stadium & 0-6 at the Coliseum)…The A’s have won five straight Opening Day’s against LAA (2017-20, ‘23) since Halos last victory in the 2009 Opener…Only team Angels have faced more often on
Opening Day is Seattle (11 times).
OPENING ROAD SKID: With Thursday’s loss, Halos have now lost six straight road Opening Day games…Last road win on Opening Day came in 2013 at Cincinnati in the first Interleague Opening Day game in MLB history. THE NEW GUYS: Angels Opening Day roster featured eight players new to the organization in 2023: LHP Tyler Anderson, INF Brandon Drury, RHP Carlos Estévez, INF Jake Lamb, LHP Matt Moore, OF Brett Phillips, OF Hunter Renfroe and INF Gio Urshela.
INTERNATIONAL SHO: Shohei Ohtani was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2023 World Baseball Classic…Ohtani made three appearances (two starts) on the mound for Japan, going 2-0 with a 1.86 ERA and 11 strikeouts and earned the save in the Championship Game against the United States…. At the plate, he hit .435 (10/23) with four doubles, one home run, eight RBI and nine runs scored…Among all players in the WBC, no player hit a longer home run (448 ft.), had a higher exit velocity (118.7 MPH) or threw a faster pitch (102.0 MPH) than Ohtani.
VETERAN ROSTER: The Angels Opening Day active roster featured just one rookie: Logan O’Hoppe.
IN THE DUGOUT: Phil Nevin is in his first full season as Angels Manager after serving as the Interim Manager for the final 106 games of the 2022 season…A Fullerton, CA native, Nevin signed a one-year contract on Oct. 5 for the 2023 season.
TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER – LHP PATRICK SANDOVAL
• TODAY’S GAME: Making season debut today…Is in fifth Major League season with Angels…Made third Opening Day roster (also, 2020 & 2022).
• SANDY IN THE WBC: Made two starts in the 2023 World Baseball Classic for Mexico, going 1-0 with a 1.23 ERA (7.1 IP – 1 ER) and eight strikeouts…The two starts came against the United States (W; 3.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO) & Japan (ND; 4.1 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 SO).
• LAST TIME OUT: Last pitching appearance came on Sunday in a minor league game in Tempe.
• VS. OAKLAND: In eight career games (all starts) vs. Athletics, is 2-3 with a 1.84 ERA (44 IP – 9 ER) and 37 strikeouts…Last season, was 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA (25 IP – 5 ER) in his four starts against the A’s.
• AT OAKLAND COLISEUM: In four career games (all starts) in Oakland, is 1-1 with a 0.87 ERA (20.2 IP – 2 ER) and 17 strikeouts…Last season, was 1-0 with a 0.73 ERA (12.1 IP – 1 ER) in two starts at the Coliseum… Enters today’s start with 9.1 inning scoreless streak at the Oakland Coliseum.
• 2022 RECAP: Made 27 starts for Angels last year, going 6-9 with a 2.91 ERA (148.2 IP – 48 ER) and 151 strikeouts…Led A.L. (min. 100 IP) with a 0.48 HR/9 innings rate, allowing just eight home runs on the year… In final 11 starts of the year, pitched to a 1.95 ERA (64.2 IP – 14 ER) and 60 strikeouts.
• WHIFF OF CHANGE: Generated a 44.5% whiff rate on his changeup last season, which was the second-highest rate for any pitch in the Majors (min. 175 PA); trailed only Framber Valdez’s curveball (45.4%)…Opponents batted .215 (35/163) this season against his changeup with 73 strikeouts.
• MOTOWN SHUTOUT: Recorded first career complete game and first career shutout on Aug. 19, 2022 at Detroit…He allowed just four hits while striking out nine, walking none and facing just one batter over the minimum across just 97 pitches (73 strikes).
• INSIDE THE PARK: Allowed just eight total home runs last season (all to right-handed batters)…Held opponents homerless through first nine starts of 2022 was the longest streak to begin a season in Angels history and longest overall streak for LAA since John Lackey had a nine game streak in 2005.
• GOOD NIGHT: Last season, was 4-4 with a 2.50 ERA (72 IP – 20 ER) with 75 strikeouts in his 13 night starts, compared with a 2-5 record and 3.29 ERA (76.2 IP – 28 ER) in his 14 day games…His 14 day game starts ranked T-4th in the American League.
• SWING AND MISS: Ranks ninth in A.L. (min. 125 IP) with a 29.5% swing & miss rate…Last year ranked fourth in the A.L. (min. 75 IP) with a 33.9% whiff rate…On June 6, 2021 vs. Seattle, induced 32 swings and misses, which was highest single game total for any pitcher in Majors in a game last season and the fifth highest total for any MLB pitcher since 2008.
• NEAR RECORD STREAK: In 2022, compiled the fourth longest streak without an earned run (15.0 IP) by a starting pitcher to begin a season in Angels history…Came up 4.0 innings shy of Club record 19.0 IP by Nolan Ryan (1978) and Ken McBride (1962). (ELIAS)
• NEAR NO-NO: On July 24, 2021 at Minnesota, came within two outs of tossing a no-hitter before allowing a one out double to Brent Rooker in the 9th inning…Set career highs with 8.2 innings pitched and 13 strikeouts in the game (W; 8.2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 13 SO)…Marked first time an Angels no-hit bid was broken up in the 9th inning since John Lackey (8.1 IP) on July 29, 2008 at Boston.
• IN THE WIN COLUMN: Earned first Major League win on Sept. 23, 2020 at San Diego after tossing three scoreless innings in relief…The win came in his 18th career Major League appearance…His 70.1 career innings entering the game were the most in Angels history at the time of earning a first career win.
• CAREER NOTES: Originally drafted by Houston in 11th round of 2015 First-Year Player Draft out of Mission Viejo HS (CA), which is located just 20 miles from Angel Stadium…Acquired by Angels on July 26, 2018 in exchange for C Martin Maldonado.
OAKLAND ATHLETICS NOTES:
ABOUT THE A’S: The A’s opened their 56th season in Oakland on Thursday with a 2-1 win over the Angels…have not started the season 2-0 since 2004…trailed 1-0 entering the bottom of the eighth inning but scored twice in the eighth for the win…had just three wins when trailing after seven innings last year… the win was the A’s first Opening Day victory since a 7-3, 10-inning decision against Los Angeles (AL) in 2020 and the A’s are now 4-0 against the Angels on Opening Day over the last seven years (are 0-3 against everyone else)…the A’s have won 17 American League West titles, four AL Wild Cards, six AL pennants and four World Championships since moving to Oakland…only the Atlanta Braves (22), New York Yankees (20) and Los Angeles Dodgers (20) have more division titles than the A’s…since the A’s moved to Oakland in 1968, only the Yankees (11), Cardinals (8) and Dodgers (8) have more league championships and only the Yankees have more world championships (7)…have a 4495-4182 (.518) record over the previous 55 seasons in Oakland…only four teams have won more games over that span (New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston, St. Louis)…this is the Athletics franchise 123rd season in the American League…since 1901, the A’s have 17 AL West titles plus 15 AL pennants and nine World Championships…only the Yankees (27) and Cardinals (11) have won more World Championships…the A’s are 9210-9654 (.488) in their previous 122 seasons…that includes a 3886-4248 record from 1901-54 in Philadelphia and 829-1224 from 1955-67 in Kansas City.
HOME AND AWAY: The A’s are 1-0 on this season-opening six-game homestand against Los Angeles-AL (1-0) and Cleveland (three games)…went 29-51 (.362) at home last year, which set an Oakland record for lowest home winning percentage…had the second worst home record in the majors to Washington (26-55, .321)…begin their first road trip next Friday, a seven-game trip to Tampa Bay (three games) and Baltimore (four games)…went 31-51 (.378) on the road in 2022, which was the third worst road record in the American League.
DURING THE SPRING: The A’s went 11-17-3 (.355) this spring, which was the worst record in the Cactus League and third worst in the majors ahead of Pittsburgh (9-18-4) and Miami (7-16-4)…it was the fifth lowest spring winning percentage in Oakland history…went 5-10-3 last spring and have back-to-back losing springs for the first time since 2016-18 when they had three straight…the A’s led majors in on-base percentage (.367), walks (153), hit by pitches (26) and lowest strikeout-to-walk ratio (1.83)…the walks were second most by an A’s team during the spring since 1990, the earliest year spring stats are available (had 154 in 1997)…the hit by pitches were the most since 2009 (28) and the on-base percentage was the best since 2013 (.367)…tied for second in the CL in triples (9), ranked fourth in OPS (.783) and plate appearances per strikeout (4.45) and tied for fourth in runs (171) and doubles (64)…had the most grounded into double plays in the majors (32)…had the second fewest home runs in the CL (27) and the fifth lowest slugging percentage (.416)…the pitching staff had the highest ERA (6.35), opponents OPS (.849) and on-base percentage (.385) in the majors, the third highest batting average (.283) and fifth highest slugging percentage (.465)…the ERA was the highest by an A’s team during the spring since at least 1990 (previous: 6.22 in 1999)…also led the majors in runs (209), walks (171) and wild pitches (36)…the walks are the most by an A’s team during the spring since at least 1990…tied for the second most home runs allowed in the CL (40)…were one of two teams in the majors without a balk (Cardinals)…the A’s defense had the fourth fewest errors in the CL (23) and tied for fifth in outfield assists (4)…had the most passed balls (7).
THE RULE CHANGES: The A’s stole 40 bases this spring, which was third most in the Cactus League…it was the most by an A’s team during the spring since at least 1990 (previous: 39 with the 1995 replacement players)…tied for the fourth fewest caught stealings (6) and had the fifth best stolen base percentage (87.0)…the A’s average time of game was 2:46, compared to 3:07 from last spring…however, had the highest average time of game in the majors (Phillies, 2:43)…league-wide, the average time of game was 2:35 compared to 3:01 last spring.
OPENING DAY STARTING LINEUPS: Two players returned from last year’s Opening Day starting lineup (Brown, Kemp), which were the fewest by an A’s team since 2015 when they also had two…Ramón Laureano made his fourth Opening Day start with the first three (2019-21) coming in center field…Conner Capel was the A’s fourth different designated hitter in the last four years…Kyle Muller was the A’s third different Opening Day starting pitcher in the last three years and the fifth in the last six.
ROSTER NOTES: The A’s opened the season with 13 pitchers and 13 position players…it marked the sixth time in the last seven years Oakland began the season with at least 13 pitchers (had 12 in 2019 in Japan)…seven players returned from last years Opening Day roster (Acevedo, Brown, Jackson, Jiménez, Kemp, Moll, Oller), which matched the fewest returning players by an A’s team since Opening Day rosters are first available in 1992 (also 2012)…eight other players on the roster played for the A’s at some point last year, two were acquired in trades), one was selected in the Rule 5 draft and one was claimed off waivers)…seven were signed as free agents, including six to a Major League contract (Aguilar, Díaz, Familia, Fujinami, May, Peterson) and one to a minor league contract (Perez)…those are the most free agents on an A’s Opening Day roster since 1995 when they had eight.
TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER: Shintaro Fujinami (3-5, 3.38 ERA in 2022 in Japan)
FOR STARTERS: Was signed by the A’s as a free agent on Jan. 13, 2023 after pitching 10 seasons in Japan and will be making his Major League debut today…will become the 57th pitcher in Oakland history to start in his ML debut…the last to win was Adrián Martínez at Detroit last year on May 10… the last to strike out 10 or more batters was Aaron Harang on May 25, 2002 against Tampa Bay…the last to toss at least seven innings was Rich Harden on July 21, 2003 at Kansas City…the last complete game was by Mike Morgan June 11, 1978 against Baltimore and the only shutout is by Mike Norris April 10, 1975 against Chicago…the 56 pitchers to start in their debut have combined for a 16-19 record and a 4.10 ERA.
SPRING TRAINING RECAP: Was 3-0 with a 3.86 ERA in five starts…held the opposition to a .121 batting average but issued 17 walks in 18.2 innings for a .325 on-base percentage…the walks were the most in the majors and the most by an A’s pitcher during the spring since Todd Van Poppel had 17 in 1996…also had six wild pitches…tied for second in the Cactus League in wins, tied for eighth in games started and tied for 10th in innings pitched.
2022 RECAP: Was 3-5 with a 3.38 ERA in 16 games, including 10 starts, with Hanshin…walked just 21 batters in 66.2 innings for an average of 2.8 walks per nine innings, which was the lowest mark of his career…struck out 65 for a career best strikeout-to-walk ratio of 3.10…also pitched in nine games for Hanshin’s minor league affiliate in the Western League and was 4-1 with a 1.77 ERA in nine appearances…struck out 50 and walked just 15 in 40.2 innings…recorded his 1,000th career strikeout on Sept. 9 against Yokohama.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS: Spent the first 10 seasons of his professional career pitching for Hanshin in Japan before signing with the A’s as a free agent on Jan. 12, 2023…went 57-54 with a 3.41 ERA in 189 career appearances, including 154 starts, with the Tigers…struck out 1,011 batters in 994.1 innings, an average of 9.15 per nine innings, but walked 459 for a mark of 4.15 per nine innings…allowed a .240 opponents batting average…was a Nippon Professional Baseball All-Star in each of his first four seasons (2013-16), earning MVP honors in the 2015 game…led the Japanese Central League in strikeouts (221), complete games (7) and shutouts (4) in 2015…127 of his 128 appearances over his first seven season were starts but he had 34 relief appearances and 27 starts over his final three years in Japan…was selected by four teams (Hanshin, Orix, Yakult, Chiba Lotte) as the first pick of the 2012 NPB draft out of Osaka Toin High School, a draft that included Shohei Ohtani… Hanshin won the rights to sign him…made his debut two weeks before his 19th birthday…pitched for Japan in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.
