Thursday, April 14, 2005
Parity, Parity, Parity
Nine games in and first place in AL West is 5-4. Last place is 4-5. This is going to be one of the most intriguing divisions in baseball this season, where the slightest margin of error could make all the difference. Baseball, as a whole, in my mind, is the parity king of professional sports (more on that later). The Halos are alone in 1st for now, but the other 3 teams sure are crowding the plate. The Angels and Rangers have already logged 2 super series and I'm just going to forget losing 2 of 3 at home to the Royals for now. Gonna just gloss right over that. Right now, we're gonna look at the rotation, a little injury news (all of it good in fact), and other miscellany.
Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes
Vlad DHed on Wednesday after getting popped in the knee with a catcher's throw on a stolen base. With the day off today and the knee feeling much better, he'll be A-OK for Friday. Kelvim Escobar threw a bullpen session on Monday and is scheduled Thursday for the Class A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (another cool minor league name, by the way). His elbow should be ready to go 4/19 in Seattle if there aren't any more setbacks. Dallas McPherson is hitting .238 at AAA Salt Lake, so while he's technically capable of being called up, don't expect that until he can show he's ready. For those of you who drafted him, he's becoming a higher risk proposition daily. No, Quinlan/Izturis/Merloni isn't the solution the Halos want at 3B, but Dallas will have to show he's up to speed first.
Worried About BD?
I was too. (Did that just sound like a commercial for some embarrassing disease?) Anyway, like many of you, I drafted Brendan Donnelly on a one or more (it's hard to keep track) of my teams and I'm less than satisfied with my return thus far. It seems as if every time he hits the hill, he's giving up runs. That's because he has in 3 of his 4 outings. Bail? No. While the 7.94 ERA and 1.76 WHIP are hideous, his K/9 was 12.0 in '04 and has been at 9.6 or higher the last 3 seasons. His K/BB was a career high 3.7 last year. He also got hit softer than ever before (opponents' LD% was only 16). He had a good spring too--all signs pointing to the fact that he'll soon rebound and be the ERA, WHIP, and holds hound that he's been in the past. Rest easy.
He's Not a Cookie
Chone Figgins is off to an unfavorable start as well. He's hitting south of .200 and--has a grand total of zero stolen bases? You're excused if you're asking, "I thought I paid for a speedster here." Well, the last two tilts in Texas show that Figgs is coming around. 5 runs scored, 3-7, and 2 BB, and the OBP shoots up almost 100 points. If he stays near the bottom of the order, it's possible he won't score as many runs as his 83 total last year. But the SBs are just a matter of time. Scioscia is a running manager and led the AL last year by calling 189 SB attempts. He's called at least 168 every year since 2001, so you can be sure Figgins will run plenty. The one possible thing you might not see return is the .296 AVG. Something around .280 might be more on target.
Around the Rotation
If you're worried that Bartolo's Colon is gonna stink again in the first half, don't panic yet. He's looked better than his numbers in the first 2 starts. Who does leave cause for concern is John Lackey, who's posted 8 BB in 9.2 IP. He doesn't usually pitch well in Texas, though. Watch those walks very closely--he normally has good control. Paul Byrd hasn't been as bad as his numbers suggest, but mediocre is the best I can say about him. Only spot start him in very favorable circumstances for now. Just like always, Jarrod Washburn in maddeningly inconsistent. One great start, one spine-chillingly awful one. The risk is all yours. And about that Escobar rehab start. The Halos must feel pretty good about him--fill-in starter Kevin Gregg threw 1.2 innings of relief Wednesday night.
Elephants, Sailors, and the Tribe
They're up next for the Halos. The A's series (as always) will be entertaining. The Angels won't see either of the youngins (Haren and Blanton) for Oakland. Zito and Harden, though, await. Saarloos is slated for Sunday--he's one of those borderline soft-tossers that nibble, nibble, nibble. If the Angels are patient, they should rake. They aren't necessarily known for patience though. Then it's back home for mini 2-gamers with Seattle and Cleveland. Game 1 of the Seattle series will probably see the Angels facing ex-Halo Aaron Sele. That will be fun (but probably not for Sele). Watch and enjoy. To watch and enjoy the continuing action on this page, click the E-mail Notification button (top right) to be informed as soon as a new column has arrived (shameless self-promotion over).
Who Has Competitive Balance?
I always hear about the NBA and NFL and their competitive balance because of their salary cap and blah, blah, blah. I hear about how some of baseball's teams are finished before the season starts. That may be a little true, but I noticed something recently--since the beginning of 1986, only 5 NBA teams have won championships. Four of those have repeated (only San Antonio didn't)! The NFL has had 11 different champs, but there are 6 teams with 2 or more and again 4 teams have repeated. Major League Baseball, the sport with no competitive balance (so they say), has crowned 12 different champions in that span and only the mighty Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays have been champs 2 years in a row. Now, who has competitive balance? That's right. For the Angels, Matt Allen--ESPN.
Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes
Vlad DHed on Wednesday after getting popped in the knee with a catcher's throw on a stolen base. With the day off today and the knee feeling much better, he'll be A-OK for Friday. Kelvim Escobar threw a bullpen session on Monday and is scheduled Thursday for the Class A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (another cool minor league name, by the way). His elbow should be ready to go 4/19 in Seattle if there aren't any more setbacks. Dallas McPherson is hitting .238 at AAA Salt Lake, so while he's technically capable of being called up, don't expect that until he can show he's ready. For those of you who drafted him, he's becoming a higher risk proposition daily. No, Quinlan/Izturis/Merloni isn't the solution the Halos want at 3B, but Dallas will have to show he's up to speed first.
Worried About BD?
I was too. (Did that just sound like a commercial for some embarrassing disease?) Anyway, like many of you, I drafted Brendan Donnelly on a one or more (it's hard to keep track) of my teams and I'm less than satisfied with my return thus far. It seems as if every time he hits the hill, he's giving up runs. That's because he has in 3 of his 4 outings. Bail? No. While the 7.94 ERA and 1.76 WHIP are hideous, his K/9 was 12.0 in '04 and has been at 9.6 or higher the last 3 seasons. His K/BB was a career high 3.7 last year. He also got hit softer than ever before (opponents' LD% was only 16). He had a good spring too--all signs pointing to the fact that he'll soon rebound and be the ERA, WHIP, and holds hound that he's been in the past. Rest easy.
He's Not a Cookie
Chone Figgins is off to an unfavorable start as well. He's hitting south of .200 and--has a grand total of zero stolen bases? You're excused if you're asking, "I thought I paid for a speedster here." Well, the last two tilts in Texas show that Figgs is coming around. 5 runs scored, 3-7, and 2 BB, and the OBP shoots up almost 100 points. If he stays near the bottom of the order, it's possible he won't score as many runs as his 83 total last year. But the SBs are just a matter of time. Scioscia is a running manager and led the AL last year by calling 189 SB attempts. He's called at least 168 every year since 2001, so you can be sure Figgins will run plenty. The one possible thing you might not see return is the .296 AVG. Something around .280 might be more on target.
Around the Rotation
If you're worried that Bartolo's Colon is gonna stink again in the first half, don't panic yet. He's looked better than his numbers in the first 2 starts. Who does leave cause for concern is John Lackey, who's posted 8 BB in 9.2 IP. He doesn't usually pitch well in Texas, though. Watch those walks very closely--he normally has good control. Paul Byrd hasn't been as bad as his numbers suggest, but mediocre is the best I can say about him. Only spot start him in very favorable circumstances for now. Just like always, Jarrod Washburn in maddeningly inconsistent. One great start, one spine-chillingly awful one. The risk is all yours. And about that Escobar rehab start. The Halos must feel pretty good about him--fill-in starter Kevin Gregg threw 1.2 innings of relief Wednesday night.
Elephants, Sailors, and the Tribe
They're up next for the Halos. The A's series (as always) will be entertaining. The Angels won't see either of the youngins (Haren and Blanton) for Oakland. Zito and Harden, though, await. Saarloos is slated for Sunday--he's one of those borderline soft-tossers that nibble, nibble, nibble. If the Angels are patient, they should rake. They aren't necessarily known for patience though. Then it's back home for mini 2-gamers with Seattle and Cleveland. Game 1 of the Seattle series will probably see the Angels facing ex-Halo Aaron Sele. That will be fun (but probably not for Sele). Watch and enjoy. To watch and enjoy the continuing action on this page, click the E-mail Notification button (top right) to be informed as soon as a new column has arrived (shameless self-promotion over).
Who Has Competitive Balance?
I always hear about the NBA and NFL and their competitive balance because of their salary cap and blah, blah, blah. I hear about how some of baseball's teams are finished before the season starts. That may be a little true, but I noticed something recently--since the beginning of 1986, only 5 NBA teams have won championships. Four of those have repeated (only San Antonio didn't)! The NFL has had 11 different champs, but there are 6 teams with 2 or more and again 4 teams have repeated. Major League Baseball, the sport with no competitive balance (so they say), has crowned 12 different champions in that span and only the mighty Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays have been champs 2 years in a row. Now, who has competitive balance? That's right. For the Angels, Matt Allen--ESPN.
