Friday, April 30, 2004
Taming the Tigers/Arena Baseball!
They're Grrrrrrrrrrrrrreat!
After hitting double digit runs twice in 3 games at Comerica, the Angels are 5-1 on their current roadie, taking 2 of 3 from the mighty Tigers. Detroit's not that much of a hitter's park, despite the weak Tiger pitching staff and the fact that the Tigers offense have averaged 6 a game there so far, tied for 6th in the bigs. The Halos looked good, except for Mr. Colon. His Wednesday shellacking didn't smell very good at all, despite his fragrant last name. His line: 4 IP, 7 H, 7 ER. Worry? Are ya kiddin' me? He still fanned 6. Everyone has those starts. Bartolo just found out that even the Tigers (who are much better than last year, by the way) can still smack the ball if you get it up in the zone. When he faces the D-Rays in a few days, the smiles will be back for his owners.
Who looked great in Detroit? Try three right-handed hitters named Guerrero, Glaus, and Guillen who all went yard in the basically the toughest park for a righty to do so. They knocked in 3, 5, and 3 respectively and Guerrero and Glaus had five XBH between them. Also, we're one month in and here's an update on the Guillen/Salmon watch. In the preseason, I noted that these two "Angels in the Outfield" (sorry) would have very similar lines this season. Thus far, Salmon's health has limited his ABs slightly, but look at this--Guillen: .259/2/12 w/11R. Salmon: .188/2/10 w/8R. Pretty close except for AVG and Guillen's free-swingin' ways (17K, 5BB) compared to Salmon's (10K, 8BB) will diminish that difference over the course of the year. Right now: Guillen 90% owned. Salmon 3%.
Headline: Garret Anderson on DL; Is that right?
GA's never hit the DL in his entire MLB career. Well, he has now. Already out most of last week, he continued to sit through Detroit and is now back in CA skipping the MIN series to meet with team doctors. What's the word? Well, it could be serious. Don't go buy milk and batteries just yet, but it's possible that his back problems could be something nerve-related, which is much more serious than a muscle. Baseball Prospectus' Will Carroll says that because of the intermittent loss of sensation in GA's hands, it could be a disc impinging on the nerves. Now, I'm not a doctor, but that doesn't sound good. The results of his tests aren't in yet and he may very well be back May 7th against TB, but be prepared that for once with GA, this could linger and keep him out.
Other Broken Wings
Eckstein heard his groin "pop" according to just about every media avenue that covered the story (which is really more than I cared to know) when he slid back into first on a pickoff move Tuesday. He couldn't even sit up later that night yet Wednesday was back out sprinting and doing stretching exercises. A Thera-Gesic miracle? He could see a little action in MIN, even on the Turf-crete that is the Metrodome. Escobar bled on himself for 4 innings last Saturday because of a split nail. He might be replaced by Gregg or Sele tomorrow. Don't be surprised if he goes to the DL retroactively. But that's all speculation, so wait for a game time decision. Maybe Gregg will get to showcase his stuff as early as tomorrow. If so, expect Ramon Ortiz to start looking over his shoulder.
The Platoon That Isn't
Adam Kennedy didn't play yesterday for the second time this year, Scioscia giving him a "regular day off". Kennedy has only sat two days, both against lefties. Since 2001, he's only averaged 94 ABs per year against LHP (20% of his ABs) and while he's already faced southpaws 21 times this year (30% of his ABs) and he has started in 6 of the 8 games that the Halos faced LHP, don't be surprised if Scioscia continues to give him his "regular days off" coincidentally when the Angels face LHP. Halter has shown he can do adequately (said generously) in a fill-in role at 2B and Amezaga could spell him some. Kennedy should continue to play most days, but this "non-existent platoon" will probably continue to exist. Should it? Kennedy's OPS vs. LHP this year? .840.
Eating Crow. . . But Not Much
In my preseason analysis, I said that Washburn's success in '04 hinged on "two things: Ks and HRs." Apparently, I wasn't optimistic enough for many of you and my mail let me know. One reader even claimed he was "local", giving him a better read than me, although unless by "local" he meant he actually knows the players, I really don't know how that helps. Anyway--the numbers. K/9: 7.1 (up 2.0). Big improvement. HR/9: 0.9. Not great, but better than league average. One more thing I said was the Ws would return "with run support". So far: 11.93 R/9, which leads the AL. I'll concede I didn't give enough credit to Wash for his potential to rebound, but I just want to point out that his 4-1 record comes as no surprise to me considering the stats.
On Deck . . . Arena Baseball!
That's what Scioscia called playing in MIN, according to the LA Times. Despite it's moniker "HomerDome", it's actually a tougher park to hit one out than most people believe. That will help our beloved "Meat Machine" Ortiz, Lackey, or Sele (if he subs for Escobar) who have all shown tendencies for mucho fly balls. The Metrodome is, however, the only place to play a baseball version of Horse by calling one "off the speaker in right-center and over the trash bag" for a dinger. The Angels face a hot Twins team who'll throw Carlos Silva, Brad Radke, and Johan Santana. I'm sticking with my original pick of 2 out of 3 here to finish the roadie 7-2. Expect quite a few runs this weekend and balls bouncing everywhere. Reporting for the Angels, Matt Allen, ESPN.
After hitting double digit runs twice in 3 games at Comerica, the Angels are 5-1 on their current roadie, taking 2 of 3 from the mighty Tigers. Detroit's not that much of a hitter's park, despite the weak Tiger pitching staff and the fact that the Tigers offense have averaged 6 a game there so far, tied for 6th in the bigs. The Halos looked good, except for Mr. Colon. His Wednesday shellacking didn't smell very good at all, despite his fragrant last name. His line: 4 IP, 7 H, 7 ER. Worry? Are ya kiddin' me? He still fanned 6. Everyone has those starts. Bartolo just found out that even the Tigers (who are much better than last year, by the way) can still smack the ball if you get it up in the zone. When he faces the D-Rays in a few days, the smiles will be back for his owners.
Who looked great in Detroit? Try three right-handed hitters named Guerrero, Glaus, and Guillen who all went yard in the basically the toughest park for a righty to do so. They knocked in 3, 5, and 3 respectively and Guerrero and Glaus had five XBH between them. Also, we're one month in and here's an update on the Guillen/Salmon watch. In the preseason, I noted that these two "Angels in the Outfield" (sorry) would have very similar lines this season. Thus far, Salmon's health has limited his ABs slightly, but look at this--Guillen: .259/2/12 w/11R. Salmon: .188/2/10 w/8R. Pretty close except for AVG and Guillen's free-swingin' ways (17K, 5BB) compared to Salmon's (10K, 8BB) will diminish that difference over the course of the year. Right now: Guillen 90% owned. Salmon 3%.
Headline: Garret Anderson on DL; Is that right?
GA's never hit the DL in his entire MLB career. Well, he has now. Already out most of last week, he continued to sit through Detroit and is now back in CA skipping the MIN series to meet with team doctors. What's the word? Well, it could be serious. Don't go buy milk and batteries just yet, but it's possible that his back problems could be something nerve-related, which is much more serious than a muscle. Baseball Prospectus' Will Carroll says that because of the intermittent loss of sensation in GA's hands, it could be a disc impinging on the nerves. Now, I'm not a doctor, but that doesn't sound good. The results of his tests aren't in yet and he may very well be back May 7th against TB, but be prepared that for once with GA, this could linger and keep him out.
Other Broken Wings
Eckstein heard his groin "pop" according to just about every media avenue that covered the story (which is really more than I cared to know) when he slid back into first on a pickoff move Tuesday. He couldn't even sit up later that night yet Wednesday was back out sprinting and doing stretching exercises. A Thera-Gesic miracle? He could see a little action in MIN, even on the Turf-crete that is the Metrodome. Escobar bled on himself for 4 innings last Saturday because of a split nail. He might be replaced by Gregg or Sele tomorrow. Don't be surprised if he goes to the DL retroactively. But that's all speculation, so wait for a game time decision. Maybe Gregg will get to showcase his stuff as early as tomorrow. If so, expect Ramon Ortiz to start looking over his shoulder.
The Platoon That Isn't
Adam Kennedy didn't play yesterday for the second time this year, Scioscia giving him a "regular day off". Kennedy has only sat two days, both against lefties. Since 2001, he's only averaged 94 ABs per year against LHP (20% of his ABs) and while he's already faced southpaws 21 times this year (30% of his ABs) and he has started in 6 of the 8 games that the Halos faced LHP, don't be surprised if Scioscia continues to give him his "regular days off" coincidentally when the Angels face LHP. Halter has shown he can do adequately (said generously) in a fill-in role at 2B and Amezaga could spell him some. Kennedy should continue to play most days, but this "non-existent platoon" will probably continue to exist. Should it? Kennedy's OPS vs. LHP this year? .840.
Eating Crow. . . But Not Much
In my preseason analysis, I said that Washburn's success in '04 hinged on "two things: Ks and HRs." Apparently, I wasn't optimistic enough for many of you and my mail let me know. One reader even claimed he was "local", giving him a better read than me, although unless by "local" he meant he actually knows the players, I really don't know how that helps. Anyway--the numbers. K/9: 7.1 (up 2.0). Big improvement. HR/9: 0.9. Not great, but better than league average. One more thing I said was the Ws would return "with run support". So far: 11.93 R/9, which leads the AL. I'll concede I didn't give enough credit to Wash for his potential to rebound, but I just want to point out that his 4-1 record comes as no surprise to me considering the stats.
On Deck . . . Arena Baseball!
That's what Scioscia called playing in MIN, according to the LA Times. Despite it's moniker "HomerDome", it's actually a tougher park to hit one out than most people believe. That will help our beloved "Meat Machine" Ortiz, Lackey, or Sele (if he subs for Escobar) who have all shown tendencies for mucho fly balls. The Metrodome is, however, the only place to play a baseball version of Horse by calling one "off the speaker in right-center and over the trash bag" for a dinger. The Angels face a hot Twins team who'll throw Carlos Silva, Brad Radke, and Johan Santana. I'm sticking with my original pick of 2 out of 3 here to finish the roadie 7-2. Expect quite a few runs this weekend and balls bouncing everywhere. Reporting for the Angels, Matt Allen, ESPN.
