LOS ANGELES ANGELS NOTES:
LEADING OFF: Today marks the third (1-1) of six games on the Angels opening road trip of the 2023 season against Oakland (1-1) and Seattle (April 3-5).
HALO DEBUT: Today, Tyler Anderson makes his Angels debut after signing a three-year contract, Nov. 16, 2022… Last season, with the Dodgers, Anderson was selected to the National League All-Star team and finished the year with a 15-5 record and 2.57 ERA (178.2 IP – 51 ER) in 30 games (28 starts), with 138 strikeouts.
THE 11 SPOT: Yesterday afternoon, the Angels plated 11 runs in the top of the third inning, marking the Halos highest scoring frame since July 2, 2016 (11 runs in the 7th inning at Boston)…It was the sixth 11+ run inning in franchise history… Gio Urhsela and Taylor Ward both had two hits in the inning, while Luis Rengifo had two walks.
RECENT RECORDS THROUGH FIRST 3 GAMES OF SEASON
2022: 1-2
2021: 2-1
2020: 1-2
2019: 1-2
2018: 2-1
A UNIQUE SAVE: Yesterday afternoon, Tucker Davidson earned his first career save after tossing 4.0 scoreless frames to finish off the Angels 13-1 win over Oakland…The 12-run victory marked the largest run differential in a save for an Angels pitcher since Chris Bootcheck (4 IP) in a 14-1 win vs. Royals on May 28. 2005.
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).
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 seven 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 – .366
- Ichiro Suzuki – .354
- Brian Harper – .345
- Victor Martinez – .344
- Chili Davis – .342
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER – LHP TYLER ANDERSON
• TODAY’S GAME: Making Angels debut today…Is entering eighth Major League season and made seventh straight Opening Day roster…Signed a three-year contract with Angels, Nov. 16, 2022.
• LAST TIME OUT: Earned the win in final Spring Training start on March 27 vs. Dodgers at Angel Stadium, after working 5.1 innings and allowing two earned runs on four hits with one walk and five strikeouts…Both runs came on solo HR (by Mookie Betts & Miguel Rojas).
• SPRING RECAP: Made four total starts in Spring Training games, including two in traditional Cactus League play, the Angels exhibition contest vs. Team USA and a Freeway Series game against the Dodgers…Combined to go 2-1 with a 3.44 ERA (15.2 IP – 6 ER) with nine strikeouts.
• VS. OAKLAND: In three career starts vs. A’s, is 2-0 with a 1.08 ERA (16.2 IP – 2 ER) and 13 strikeouts…Today marks first start against Oakland since Sept. 28, 2021 for Seattle at T-Mobile Park (ND; 4 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 SO).
• AT OAKLAND COLISEUM: In two career starts in Oakland, is 2-0 with a 0.71 ERA (12.2 IP – 1 ER) and 11 strikeouts…Last outing at the Coliseum came on Sept. 20, 2021 for Seattle (W; 7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 SO).
• GOOD DAY: Owns a 3.95 ERA (253 IP – 111 ER) for his career in day games, compared with a 4.26 ERA (549.1 IP – 260 ER) at night…Last year, made six starts in day games for Dodgers and pitched to a 2.70 ERA (33.1 IP – 10 ER) and 31 strikeouts.
• THE CHANGE: Last season, held opponents to a .179 (41/229) average against his changeup.
• 2022 RECAP: Made 30 appearance (28 starts) for Dodgers last season…Was selected to National League All-Star team after going 15-5 with a 2.57 ERA (178.2 IP – 51 ER) and 138 strikeouts…Among N.L. leaders, he ranked tied for second in winning percentage (.750), fifth in ERA, tied for fifth in wins, seventh in WHIP (1.00) and eighth in opponent batting average (.221).
• DODGER LEADER: Led Dodgers staff with 178.2 IP (career-high) in 2022 and ranked third with 15 wins (careerhigh)…Also had career-bests in ERA (2.57), WHIP (1.00) and opponent average (.221)
• 2022 POSTSEASON: Started Game 4 of the 2022 NLDS for the Dodgers at San Diego and worked 5.0 scoreless innings…Allowed two hits and two walks with six strikeouts in Padres 5-3 win.
• NEAR NO-NO: Took a no-hitter into 9th inning of June 15, 2022 start for Dodgers vs. Angels, walking two and striking out eight…Shohei Ohtani’s one out triple in the 9th inning originally broke up the no-hit bid; following the game, an official scoring change overturned an error call, resulting in Jared Walsh breaking up the no-hitter with a 7th inning infield single.
• GETTING AROUND: Angels are his sixth Major League team…Has previously played with Colorado (2016-19), San Francisco (2020), Pittsburgh (2021), Seattle (2021) and Los Angeles (N.L.) (2022).
• CAREER NOTES: Native of Las Vegas, NV, where he attended Spring Valley HS…Was a first round (20th overall) selection by Colorado in the 2011 Draft out of the University of Oregon…Made Major League debut with Rockies on June 12, 2016 vs. San Diego.
OAKLAND ATHLETICS NOTES:
ABOUT THE A’S: Have split the first two games of the season…with a win today, the A’s would win the first series of the season for just the second time in the last 13 years (won three of four from the Angels to start 2020)… allowed 11 runs in the third inning yesterday, which fell one short of the Oakland record for runs allowed in an inning (12 in the 15th inning on July 3, 1983 against Texas)…this is the A’s 56th season in Oakland where the A’s have won 17 American League West titles, four AL Wild Cards, six AL pennants and four World Championships…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 1-1 on this season-opening six-game homestand against Los Angeles-AL (1-1) 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 on 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.
TENURE: Of the 26 players on the A’s Opening Day roster, only four played for Oakland in at least each of the previous three seasons: Ramón Laureano (2018-22), Seth Brown (2019-22), James Kaprielian (2020-22) and Tony Kemp (2020-22)…only Kemp, who has been on each of the A’s last four Opening Day rosters, has a streak of more than two consecutive Opening Day rosters with the A’s…Laureano is on his fourth Opening Day roster with Oakland (2019-21, 23)…Seth Brown, who was drafted on June 10, 2015 has the longest tenure in the A’s organization…he is followed by Nick Allen, who was the A’s third round pick in 2017, and James Kaprielian, who was acquired from the Yankees on July 31, 2017…18 of the 26 players were acquired by Oakland since the conclusion of the 2021 season (all but Acevedo, Allen, Brown, Jackson, Kaprielian, Kemp, Laureano, Moll).
ROOKIE AND VETERANS: The A’s had six rookies on the Opening Day roster (Capel, Fujinami, Muller, Noda, Ruiz, Waldichuk)…five players had six or more years of service: Familia (10 years, 8 days), May (8 years, 12 days), Peterson (6 years, 142 days), Díaz (6 years, 100 days) and Aguilar (6 years, 82 days).
THE YOUNG AND THE OLD: The average age on the A’s Opening Day roster was 28.50 years, which is the A’s youngest since 2015 (27.92)…Esteury Ruiz, who was 24 years and 43 days, is the youngest…he is followed by Nick Allen (24 years, 173 days) and Ken Waldichuk (25 years, 81 days)…Trevor May was the oldest at 33 years and 188 days and he is the youngest oldest player on an A’s Opening Day roster since Mark Ellis in 2010 (32 years, 303 days)…he is followed by Jeurys Familia (33 years, 171 days) and Jace Peterson (32 years, 325 days).
THE INJURED LIST: The A’s begin the season with five players (Blackburn, Piña, Rucinski, Snead, Tarnok) on the injured list after starting the season with three last year…used the IL 31 times last year, which broke the Oakland record of 27 set in 2016 and matched in 2021…however, used the IL nine times for Covid in 2022 and three times in 2021.
TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER: Ken Waldichuk (2-2, 4.93 ERA in 2022)
FOR STARTERS: Is scheduled to make his first start of the season…begins his second season in the majors and is on his first Opening Day roster…made his Major League debut with Oakland last September.
SPRING TRAINING RECAP: Was 0-4 with a 10.54 ERA and 1.057 OPS in five games, including four starts…opponents hit .328 and he walked 12 in 13.2 innings…allowed at least two runs in all five appearances…his four losses tied for the most in the majors and match the most by an A’s pitcher since 1991, the first year spring stats are available (Eveland, 2009)…tied for the second most walks in the Cactus League…also pitched in a minor league game on March 21.
Began the season in the New York Yankees organization, was dealt to the A’s at the trading deadline and joined Oakland in September for his big league debut…went 2-2 with a 4.93 ERA and .781 opponents OPS in seven games, all starts…struck out 33 batters in 34.2 innings and walked 10 for a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 3.30.
OPPONENTS BATTING: Allowed a .244 opponents batting average, which broke down to .138 (4-for-29) with a .366 OPS against left-handed hitters compared to .275 (28-for-102) with an .897 OPS against right-handers…surrendered 17 of his 18 extra base hits and issued nine of his 10 walks to righthanded hitters…yielded a .288 batting average and .843 OPS the first time through the order, .196 with a .650 OPS the second time and .238 with a .923 OPS after that…the first two hitters in the batting order combined for a .371 batting average against him but he held the three through nine hitters to a .198 average…opponents were 0-for-12 on an 0-2 count.
THIS AND THAT: Was 2-1 with a 3.63 ERA and .653 opponents OPS in three starts in the Coliseum, 0-1 with a 6.23 ERA and .884 OPS in four starts on the road…however, surrendered four of his five home runs in Oakland…had a 7.52 ERA and .962 opponents OPS in odd numbered innings, a 1.26 ERA and .523 OPS in even numbered innings…did not allow a run in the fourth inning (6.0 ip)…tossed five innings or fewer in five of his seven starts.
