Matt Shoemaker, dominant offense lead Angels back to postseason
The Angels are going back to the postseason. They became the first team to clinch a playoff berth this season with Monday night's win over the Mariners (LAA 8, SEA 1). Los Angeles has baseball's best record at 94-56 and they can clinch the AL West division title as soon as Wednesday.
The Halos have not been to the postseason since 2009 and they're going back this October for many reasons, including their dominant offense and rookie righty Matt Shoemaker. The eight-run outburst against Seattle was no fluke -- the Angels have scored at least seven runs in nine of their last 11 games. Nine of their last 11 games!
Remember, offense is way down around the league and has been trending that way for years. But thanks to Mike Trout, Kole Calhoun, Howie Kendrick, Albert Pujols and others, the Angels have baseball's highest scoring offense at 4.91 runs per game. The Tigers are the second highest scoring team in the game at 4.74 runs per game, so the gap between first and second is not small. This offense is no joke.
While the eight runs surely helped in the postseason-clinching win over the Mariners, it was Shoemaker who earned the win on his statsheet. The 27-year-old improved to 16-4 on the season and lowered his ERA to 3.04 with 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball on Monday. He's made 20 starts (and seven relief appearances) and thrown 136 innings this season.
Shoemaker is a true player development success and perseverance story as an undrafted free agent who signed in 2008 and slowly climbed up the minor league ladder. The Angels came into the season with the consensus worst farm system in baseball and Shoemaker was still unable to crack their top 30 prospects list in Baseball America's annual Prospect Handbook. Heck, he had a 6.31 ERA in five Triple-A starts before getting the call for good in May. Yet here he is, a 16-game winner.
The Angels lost ace Garrett Richards to a season-ending knee injury last month but the rotation has not missed a beat thanks in part to Shoemaker, who has allowed more than two earned runs just once in his last 10 starts. At this point the question is not whether he will be in the postseason rotation, but whether he will be the No. 2 starter behind Jered Weaver and ahead of C.J. Wilson and Hector Santiago.
Once GM Jerry Dipoto solidified the bullpen with the trade deadline pickups of Huston Street, Jason Grilli, Joe Thatcher, and others, the Angels took off and emerged as the best team in baseball. Their offense is a powerhouse that hits all kinds of pitching, and the rotation has survived the loss of Richards thanks to the surprising Shoemaker. Thanks to all of that, there will once again be October baseball in Anaheim.
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