all!"WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Angels PregameAngels PostgameGamethreadsHalos Heaven PodcastsShohei OhtaniMinor LeaguesInterviewsPregameAngels NewsSeries Preview: Angels @ A’s (SOS - Season Opener Series)New Tony Gwynn Jersey ,8commentsIt’s finally time for some real meaningful baseball!PDTShareTweetShareShareSeries Preview: Angels @ A’s (SOS - Season Opener Series)Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY SportsAngels 0-0Athletics 0-2Here we are - finally at opening day (unless you count MLB’s publicity stunt in Japan last week which screwed with everyone’s head). So the A’s are actually 2 games into the season and the Angels haven’t even played a game but are ahead of them in the standings. Last year, the surprise A’s won 97 games, finishing 17 total games in front of the 4th place Angels. But this time will be different, right? The good news is that despite the A’s looking like (on paper at least) a better team than the Angels last year - the Angels actually beat the A’s 10 games to 9 in the season series. These two teams will square up 19 times in 2019 and after the opening series won’t meet again until the end of May.The A’s rotation may have as many question marks as the Angels and they haven’t even announced starters for game 3 and 4 year.Know your foe:A’s - who’s hot (Japan Series):Marcus Semien4 for 8 with 2 walksA’s Bullpen (Trivino, Wendelken, Rodney, Petit)8.2 IP, 0 ER Dave Winfield Jersey , 11 KsWeather ForecastGAME 1Pitcher vs. BattersNotable StatsSummary:Trevor Cahill gets to start the season for the Angels - and it’s against his former team. He knows these hitters and we’ll soon see if that’s an advantage or not. Of course Cahill has never really faced these guys either - at least not formally.Pitch Data:Kole Calhoun and Mike Trout are probably happy to be facing Mike Fiers on Opening Day because they have pretty much owned him. Fiers really hasn’t pitched that well against the Angels, and in 2018 he gave up 7 runs and 14 hits over 9 innings. Fiers did make an appearance in the Japan series where he gave up 5 runs over 3 innings against the Mariners.Pitch Data:Verdict: Given the Angels experience with Fiers over the past few years, that should give them the edge in this game. Starting out the season with a win would be a nice boost.GAME 2Pitcher vs. BattersNotable StatsSummary:Here we are with the Dark Knight’s debut in Anaheim. Hopefully Matt Harvey is more of a Batman than a Mickey Mouse. This A’s lineup will be a new challenge for Harvey who hasn’t really faced any of them in his career.Pitch Data: Albert Pujols loves him some Marco Estrada. Just look at those beautiful numbers above. Estrada only tossed 6 innings in spring training and he gave up 6 runs on 9 hits and 2 walks. Estrada faced the Angels twice last year, allowing 6 runs over 11.1 innings.Pitch Data:Verdict: Matt Harvey may impress in this game. Hopefully he impresses. He certainly has the pitching matchup edge here.GAME 3Pitcher vs. BattersNotable StatsNoneSummary:Felix Pena’s experience with the A’s didn’t go so well last year and when he started against them in September he allowed 6 runs over 4 innings. Pena had a pretty impressive spring training with 25 Ks over 14.2 innings.The A’s haven’t yet announced their pitcher, but if things line up as expected, it could be veteran Brett Anderson. Like Pena, he had an impressive spring training but is not a high strikeout pitcher. Anderson was hard on the Angels last year and in 3 starts allowed only 4 runs.Pitch Arsenal:Verdict: Anderson vs. Pena may be the best matchup of the series if it happens. Vet vs. “rookie”. Strikeout pitcher vs. well, Brett Anderson. Could be a game that goes either way.GAME 4Pitcher vs. BattersNotable StatsSummary:Go ahead and ignore Tyler Skaggs’ spring stats and his 7.45 ERA over 9.2 innings. If he can stay away from David and Semien Rollie Fingers Jersey , and last at least 5 innings, I’d call that a win for his start.The’s “might” roll out Frankie Montas for the final game of this series. The 26-year-old showed some good promise in 2018.Pitch Data:Verdict: Skaggs will be looking for a strong start here after a rough spring. He was working on some stuff so I expect him to look much better in this one.Overall Verdict: I would bet on at least a series split. The Angels have a good offense, perhaps even with Justin Upton out and they fared well against the A’s last year. Three wins would be huge but don’t expect a sweep (on either side).Current StandingsNotes/Credits:(ERA stats are from last season)(Pitch tracking data from baseballsavant.mlb.com)(Last 5 year splits from FanGraphs Splits Tool) The 28-year-old starting pitcher is undefeated in arbitration"WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections NewsAnalysis & EditorialsCleveland Indians prospects & minor leaguesGame RecapsTransactionsIndians newsTrevor Bauer outduels the Indians in arbitration, will earn $13 million for 2019New,228commentsThe 28-year-old starting pitcher is undefeated in arbitrationESTShareTweetShareShareTrevor Bauer outduels the Indians in arbitration, will earn $13 million for 2019Brad Rempel-USA TODAY SportsFor the second straight year, Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Trevor Bauer has won his arbitration case against the Tribe and will earn $13 million for 2019, effectively doubling his $6.5 million salary from a season ago. He is now the fourth-highest paid on the roster for 2019 Randy Jones Jersey , behind Carlos Santana, Corey Kluber, and Jason Kipnis.The Indians had countered with a salary of $11 million in arbitration.The significant salary bump should come as no surprise to fans who watched Bauer deliver a Cy Young-caliber season in 2018 before he was sidelined in August after being struck by a line drive to the ankle, resulting in a small stress fracture in his right fibula. He was able to return for the postseason as a reliever, but struggled for the most part in three appearances.During the regular season, Bauer finished with a career-low 2.21 ERA, struck out a career-high 221 batter, and was worth 5.8 WAR. He’ll be expected to anchor the Tribe’s formidable rotation in 2019 alongside Corey Kluber http://www.padresfanproshop.com/authentic-brad-hand-jersey , Carlos Carrasco, Mike Clevinger, and Shane Bieber.He is also the only player I’ve heard describe arbitration as “a fun process.”