Michael: What’s up everybody?
You’re listening to episode three of the Blue and Red Podcast. I’m Michael Stephenson. I’m on the Talon Marks newspaper at Cerritos College. And the Blue and Red Podcast is not about politics. I need to make that very clear each and every episode right at the top. We’re not talking politics, and we never will.
The blue and red podcast is about the Angels and Dodgers. This is for the baseball fans, specifically, fans of our two teams here in California. And man they’re both off to a hot starts.
On today’s podcast. I’m gonna go over of course on how the teams are doing this year, and I’m gonna give out some awards. Who’s the MVP thus far, one month into the season, for each team’s and who’s been the best pitcher on each of the teams to start the season?
Let’s start with the Angels because they continue to surprise the baseball world. They’re in first place in their division, the American League West with the 20-11 record. And if you’re going to start anywhere with the Angels, you must start with the success of Mike Trout.
Mike Trout has been fantastic and the Angels will only go as far as Mike Trout takes them. I’ve had to be the case the last couple of years but Mike Trout no longer is a one man wrecking crew. The Angels have a team this year. They have pitching, they finally have the pitching and that makes them a contender in the year of 2022.
Shohei Ohtani, he’s having a fantastic year. Just a couple of nights ago, The angels were taking on the Tampa Bay Rays and Mike Trout hits a home run show and Ohtani hits a home run the very next at bat and then Otani hits his first Grand Slam of his career. Those are the two guys you must talk about when you’re talking about the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
But the success of the Angels is because of the other guys. Outside of Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout and the other guys are hitting the ball and they’re pitching well.
Taylor Ward, the American League Player of the Week last week, is hitting .364 this season. He’s the right fielder for the Angels and he’s been one of the hottest hitters in all baseball.
Jared Walsh leads the team in RBIs, he’s got 22, and of course Ohtani leads the team in runs, Mike Trout got seven homers, he’s leading the team, but the MVP thus far if I weren’t going pick Mike Trout or Shohei Ohtani, the MVP on the offensive sides got to be Taylor Ward.
He’s batting lead off and you got to get runners on for Mike Trout and Ohtani who are going to be able to cash them in with their at bats. So Taylor Ward is the offensive MVP for the 20-11 first place Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
On the pitching side. That’s what the Angels have been waiting for the last couple of years who’s gonna be the pitcher to step up and become the ace of their pitching staff? Because pitching is king and that’s been Noah Syndergaard who they signed a one year contract this offseason. He’s been injured the last couple of years for the New York Mets but he’s been fantastic. A 2.45 ERA. He goes six innings every time he’s taking the mound and that’s what they need and the Angels bullpen, which they added arms to this offseason with Aaron Loop. They re-signed while Raisel Inglesis, they’re closer. A couple of guys are getting the job done but Noah Syndergaard to have an ace on your staff.
That’s the key and that’s been the key for the Angels thus far. So the Angels do deserve some respect too but let’s move on from the Angels. Everyone can talk about the angels right now. One month into the season because they play well. And the expectations were well you know what? They want to get a couple of years, well this finally be the year that they put it all together?
Well, the Dodgers as a Dodger fan, I must say the expectations are always high. No matter how good they are the first couple months of the season the only thing that matters when it comes to the Los Angeles Dodgers is how they perform in October.
Because how good the Angels have been this year, they’ve been the talk of the town. The Dodgers are doing the Dodger things. They have the best record in the National League.
They’ve won 19 games they’ve only lost 8 games. They’re one and a half games in the first place in the National League West above the San Diego Padres. They’re coming off a sweep of the Chicago Cubs. The Dodgers have the best pitching staff in all of baseball right now with a 2.14 ERA. That’s the best ERA in all of baseball.
And their offensive MVP is Freddy Freeman, who they took from the World Series Champion Atlanta Braves this offseason, and to be able to watch Freddie Freeman perform on a daily basis has been a pleasure.
This guy is one of the best hitters I’ve ever seen. He’s batting .314 this year. .314. It seems like he’s driving in runs every game. He’s hitting the ball to all sides of the field. He’s getting doubles triples, I think the series against the Cubs he had four doubles and then of course Mookie Betts.
He was off to a slow start, but he’s leads the team with 26 runs, every single time Mookie Betts scores, it‘s a good sign for the Dodgers because they usually win.
And the Dodgers aren’t really hitting the long ball this year Mookie Betts is leading the team with five homers. Trea Turner’s leading the team with 21 RBIs.
But at the top of that lineup, Freddy Freeman batting second, he’s been the guy and he was added to an already all star lineup that the Dodgers have. Freddie’s been fantastic. And that’s why the Dodgers are 19-8 the best record in the National League and on the pitching side.
You can’t ask for a better pitching staff than what the Dodgers have put together. I said earlier, I think on Episode One that if we were going to take a weakness that the Dodgers had was probably starting pitching and that has not been the case.
Clayton Kershaw. I think it’s his 15th season. We talked about his record breaking night last week I ended up missing it and it was awesome. The crowd was standing for about a minute and a half. He had to step off the mound twice for a curtain call after becoming the all time strikeouts leader in Dodger history.
He leads the team with a 1.80 era, he leads the team with 32 strikeouts. And as good as Clayton Kershaw has been, the new ace of the staff Walker Buehler, he’s been just as good. He’s got four wins, tied with Clayton Kershaw. Every time he’s pitching, he’s going deep into baseball games which saves your bullpen and makes you that much better the next time out.
And Craig Kimbrel that they traded for, I think one week before the season to be the new closer for the team. He’s got five saves this year.
So as good as the Angels have been, yes, I’m around Angel fans all the time. I’ve been to two games this year. It’s fun. It’s nice to see them have success because I’ve heard Angel fans complain for years now. About once they get pitching, they will be a juggernaut.
Well, you know what they’ve been good, credit to them. But while they’re doing good, let’s not forget about how good the Los Angeles Dodgers are. Best record in baseball going about their business. Let’s have the Angel, just shine a light on them, because they deserve it. And maybe they fall off next month. Maybe they don’t, maybe they are a contender throughout the season.
And can you imagine that these two teams met in the World Series? Can you imagine a freeway series in the World Series? We’ve seen the Subway Series in baseball history between the New York Mets and the New York Yankees. But what they call it here is a freeway series and that would be fantastic.
Maybe I’ll get into what that might be like down the road on the next podcast. But thank you for tuning in to episode three of the Blue and Red Podcast about the Angels and Dodgers. If you’re a baseball fan, I hope you enjoy. Until next time, I’m out.
