Working into shape, Angels' Skaggs, Rangers' Smyly face off

Left-hander Tyler Skaggs is scheduled to start for the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday afternoon against the Texas Rangers, and provided he indeed takes the mound, it would be a small victory in itself.

Skaggs has the unfortunate history of being hit hard, not necessarily by opposing batters, but by injuries throughout his young career. He suffered a torn ligament in his pitching elbow in August of 2014, had Tommy John surgery, and didn't return to a major league mound until July of 2016.

A groin injury during the second half of last year limited him to just four starts in the final two months of the season. Still, his 24 starts in 2018 were a career high by six, even though he first broke into the big leagues in 2012.

So one could understand the Angels' erring on the side of caution during spring training when Skaggs complained about his left arm. Ultimately he was diagnosed as having "forearm fatigue," but Skaggs was limited to just three Cactus League starts, pitching 9 2/3 innings

That might explain why Skaggs seemed to hit a wall in his first start of the season last Sunday against Oakland. He retired the first eight batters of the game, but needed 33 pitches to get out of the third inning. Finally with two outs in the fifth, Angels manager Brad Ausmus yanked Skaggs from the game after 86 pitches.

'I thought he was good early -- really good early," Ausmus said. "I thought he might've tired a little bit. It is a different situation when you're pitching in a big league ballpark. The adrenaline's there. Your first few outings you're going to have that adrenaline rush. It can fade off quickly."

If Skaggs can manage his pitch count and maintain his stamina, the Rangers could be in for a long day. Skaggs is 4-2 with a 5.25 ERA in 10 career starts against Texas, but he was much better against the Rangers last season, going 2-0 with a 0.82 ERA in two starts, striking out 13 in 11 innings.

Shin-Soo Choo (7 for 14, three doubles) and Elvis Andrus (7 for 17, one homer, one double) have had success against Skaggs, but Rougned Odor (0 for 14) and Joey Gallo (1 for 8) have struggled.

If anyone can feel for Skaggs, it's lefty Drew Smyly, who will get the start for Texas. Smyly missed two full seasons -- 2017-18 -- while recovering from Tommy John surgery, and his first start of the season last Monday was his first in the majors since Sept. 26, 2016.

Even though he allowed just one run and four hits against Houston, he was pulled after three innings and 73 pitches. According to Rangers manager Chris Woodward, Smyly had a "stressful" first two innings, which required 58 pitches. Woodward figured it would be better to ease Smyly back in, and the pitcher didn't argue.

"It felt great," Smyly said. "I've been waiting on that day a long time, so it felt good to be back on a major league mound and compete and go out and try to help the team. I wish I could have lasted longer, but results weren't going to mean much to me today.

"Being back out there, it's been a long road recovering, and it was just a special moment to get back."

Smyly is 0-3 with a 4.91 ERA in six career games (four starts) against the Angels, but has been successful against Mike Trout (3 for 14) and Albert Pujols (2 for 9).

Trout helped L.A. snap a five-game losing streak on Friday night, hitting solo homers in the sixth and eighth innings to lift the Angels to a 3-1 victory over the Rangers. He also homered in the series opener, an 11-4 Rangers win on Thursday.

Gallo has homered in each of the past two games for Texas.

Angels shortstop Andrelton Simmons missed Friday's game because of tightness in his lower back, but he said he expecting to be back in the lineup for Saturday's game.

--Field Level Media