With the Angels bullpen handing the Mariners another big lead, 8-3 in the seventh inning, the Angels are surely headed to a 6-11 start and a 5.5 game deficit in the AL West. After winning just 1 out of 3 against the M's, the Halos got swept by Minnie, and then took 2 out of 3 from Detroit. That was a fun little spirt. Now we are staring another potential Seattle sweep in the face, this time at home, and Angels fans are wondering when the bleeding will stop. Is there anything we can do to plug the hole in the boat before our starters return?
Here is our current DL (which, by the way, is even worse than I realized with the NHL Playoffs distracting me): Ervin, Lackey, Escobar, Darren Oliver, Dustin Moseley, Vlad, and Kevin Jepsen. With May being the month when most of those guys will be back (outside of Esco's predicted June return), we have a ways to go with our troubled roster. Who would have guessed that our April starting rotation would be 1. Joe Saunders, 2. Jered Weaver, 3. Anthony Ortega, 4. Shane Loux, and 5. Matt Palmer? Or that our bullpen would be 1. Jose Arredondo, 2. Jason Bulger, 3. Daniel Davidson (rocking Frankie's #57, by the way), 4. Brian Fuentes, 5. Rafael Rodriguez, 6. Shields, and 7. Speier? Looking at the names on the bullpen, it isn't too surprising that the bullpen's ERA is up over 8. Honestly, despite the large holes in our starting rotation, I want to give the opening hurlers props for doing such a good job. What to do about this bullpen, though. It's just bad. The rest of the roster is solid, outside of the ailing Vlad, so the pitching is the only problem, right?
Well, not completely. While the offense was ultra-hot during our losing in the very begining, the run differential is a tad off putting these days. With their -19 run differential, which is not counting the current 3-9 deficit against the M's, the Angels rank dead last in the AL West. Here is my list of the zeroes on the Angels roster in terms of offense, meaning the ones dragging down that team .269 average: First off, sadly, is my boy Howie Kendrick. HK-47 is hitting just .207 on the season, which is not good enough to win the batting title in case you were wondering. Chone Figgins, leading the squad off, has just a .230 mark, and Gary Matthews (playing a bigger role after Vlad's injury and constant offseason bitching) is slugging at just .242. What is wrong with you three? Also underperforming to this point are Vlad and Kendry's .250. However, there are some red hats really bringing the heat this season, and they include Bobby Abreu's .349 with 24 total bases in his 16 games. It cannot go unmentioned that Abreu has completely delivered since signing with the Halos. Also helping the offense has been Torii's .327/6/11, which is the most impressive start for the squad here in 2009. Let's not leave out JR's .292 or Aybar and Izzy's .286. So, we do have a couple of things to be proud of, which will bring me to my final point.
Can I be honest? This is the kind of season that I kind of enjoy. Hang with me now. The team is underperforming, yes; but we are getting a shot to see our young pitchers getting their MLB debuts in, young relievers trying to settle down and put up zeroes, a couple of studs with sticks just pounding the ball, and tons of bandwagon fans jumping off well before May 1st. When you lose most of your games, the wins are so much more exciting. Just ask Brandon and his Clippers. When you pull through with a sweet win in the midst of a losing season, it almost feels like the playoffs are here early. Just look, Abreu just laced a RBI single to drive in HK and I'm freaking pumped. In the middle of a 4-9 losing battle, I have a smile. Will this be one of those 81-81 seasons where I have a better time as a fan than when we go out in the first round against Boston after winning 100? Or, will all of this worry around Angels Nation be for nothing when the Angels turn this awful start around like they did as World Champions in 2002? I guess we shall see soon enough.
Hopefully that wasn't as rambling as it felt.
On my way out, here are a few items I'm thinking about: 1) The C's have a chance to take a 3-1 lead on the Bulls after a huge 107-86 win on Thursday. 2) Chicago has a chance to eliminate the Flames in their next game! 3) The Sharkies are playing for their playoff lives tonight, and winning. 4) I'm all about Dallas, TX native and Baylor grad Jason Smith as the Rams new OT and even more all about Ohio State graduate James Laurinaitis. I know, the Bukeyes suck, but this guy was actually predicted by scouts to be a second or third round draft pick in the NHL before choosing football instead. The Minnesota native must be some kind of stud to be that solid of an icer.
By the way, Chivas de Guadalajara and Jon's Everton CD are matching up this Wednesday in the Copa Libertadores. All I can say is that Everton is really going down. Really.
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