Key Takeaways from the Angels Series Loss to the Mets

Two struggling teams met in Anaheim this weekend and the only thing that was really determined is just how close these two teams really are. An extra inning game on Saturday was followed by a game that was 2-1 until the 8th inning. The bullpens were the difference in the series, and that does not bode well for the Angels.

Here are the key takeaways from this series.

The Josh Lowe experiment needs to end.

Lowe went 0 for 12 this series. He did not walk, either. He simply stepped to the plate a dozen times and made a dozen outs including 3 strikeouts.

Yes, Perry Minasian made an ill advised trade that weakened an already weak bullpen to acquire Lowe. However, the three year downward slide in offense has turned into an absolute freefall and there is no excuse to keep Lowe in the lineup.

Lowe does not justify hitting like a pitcher by playing superb defense. Even moving Bryce Teodosio to center field to improve the outfield defense while sacrificing nothing at the plate would be a step up. Of course, improving on both sides of the ball is an option.

Speaking of options. Lowe has options remaining. Let him try to recapture his 2023 glory in Salt Lake.

Jack Kochanowicz is a legitimate starting pitcher.

Pitchers often make adjustments in the off season then look good in Spring Training. Sometimes that success carries over for a couple of starts at the beginning of the season. Even less often they continue to work for a prolonged period of time.

Kochanowicz is getting to the point where his successful adjustments look to have changed his career. It isn't one start against the struggling Mets. It is the fact he has looked good since March and we are in May now.

The bullpen is horrible but at least the offense is weak.

This might legitimately be the worst bullpen the Angels have trotted out in franchise history. Time will tell, but so far the unit is responsible for more angst than relief. Friday night's loss was assured when the Angels needed 4 innings from the bullpen. Todays' game went from winnable to not in the top of the 8th innings.

Failing to develop a functional bullpen despite investing so many draft picks into relievers is a huge failure on Minasian's part. And Angels fans have every right to complain. When a unit has been as horrible as the Angels bullpen fans will look to blame failure for losses on the bullpen.

But let's be real. When Urena left the game on Friday the Angels had scored 3 runs. We all knew that would not be enough to win with this bullpen but the offense failed to deliver more.

Prior to Nick Sandlin getting rocked yet again, the Angels were down 2 to 1. It would have taken a shutout by Kochanowicz and the bullpen to secure a win on a day the offense only scores 1 run.

The Angels should try a new game strategy.

Considering the Angels starting pitching has been good this season only to see the bullpen get rocked let's reverse things. Let the bullpen pitch the first three innings of the game. That way we know how many runs they will surrender and can adjust from there. Just get the mystery out of the way.

Right not it does not really matter who Kurt Suzuki calls in from the bullpen. Outside of Sam Bachman they have all been horrible as of late. Just pick three names out of a hat and give them each an inning. Then we pray Soriano or Kochanowicz can go the rest of the game.

This would give the Angels all game to come back from the inevitable 3 to 5 runs the bullpen will allow.

The funny thing is this last paragraph started as a joke with my friends. After I got a good laugh out of everybody we stopped and realized it actually makes sense. This is still a joke, for now, but the fact the bullpen is so bad is not a joking matter.

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