Back on June 12, I dropped a post on "The state of the 29-29 Angels." In that post I countered the downers feelings about the Halos, pointing out all the good things about the team and fact that I firmly still believed that my Red Hats would win the AL West when it was all said and done. Now, just two weeks after that post, I'm putting this post out to assess the state of our team here on June 26, 2009. We'll start by looking at Wednesday night's triumph.
Much has been made of Joe "Big Joe Saundo" Saunders' ups and downs this season. He's had some great games and some horrible games, and we don't really know what to expect when he steps on the mound. Wednesday night, however, he was on point. Joey (8-4, 3.66) went 6 innings of 1 run ball against the much loved Rockies. The big 5-1 punched out 6 victims, while only allowing 5 to reach base (4 hits/1 walk). He wasn't having a crazy amazing game, but he was doing just fine. Joe was relieved by the recently solid Justin Speier (1 inning of perfect ball with 3 amazing strikeouts), the not so perfect Raffy Rodriguez (1 inning of 2 run ball), and the quite gifted D.O. (1 perfect inning with one strikeout). Can I just mention that the bullpen has been pretty solid lately?
With the change in our pitching staff thanks to injuries, let's take a new look at that special Angels rotation. As of today, the starters are Joe Sunders (8-4, 3.66), Jered Weaver (7-3, 2.53), John Lackey (2-3, 5.83), Matt Palmer (6-1, 4.70), and Sean O'Sullivan (1-0, 3.00). The only difference in this rotation from the last "state of the Angels" post is that Ervin Santana has found his way back to the DL. With Erv out, SOS came in, and anyone would agree that he has filled the role delightfully. Jered Weaver has continued to do an amazing job, as we have documented, with the #3 AL spot in ERA, the #4 spot in WHIP in the AL, and the #2 AL spot in complete games. The squad has earned 5 wins in Jered's last six starts, the only loss coming in the battle against his brother, and he looks to get back to his solid winning ways tonight against the Diamondbacks. John Lackey has slowly started turning things around, allowing just 7 runs in his last 15 innings (going 1-1), and hopefully came keep up the winning. Matt Palmer may have suffered his first loss in his last start, but you still have to love this guy, and don't get me started on how much I have enjoyed watching Big Sean O. The bullpen is slightly different than the last post, with Esco heading to the DL, we have Bulger, Jepsen, Oliver, Raffy, Speier, and Aussie Thompson, with Brian Fuentes closing better than anyone in the American League. The bullpen seems to have turned things around here lately, getting the innings going well when they need to, and I still think that the Halos will make a move to bolster things before the break, no matter what everyone says.
The offense was gang busters in their last game, earning 11 runs on 11 hits, with Chone Figgins doing his thing at 3 for 4 with 3 runs. He was joined in the VIP club by Bobby Abreu (2 for 3 with 3 RBI), and Vladdy (a surprising 2 for 5 with 3 RBI evening). The Angels actually went 6 for 14 with runners in scoring position, doing quite a nice job compared to that Dodgers series. I think it's funny that Vlad has a 2 for 5 night to raise his average to .277 and all of the popular sports media outlets are talking about how he is "back to Super Vlad." The Impaler is a different person than we'd like him to be, and just because he's raised his BA to .277 doesn't change the fact that he has the target on his back to be the big Angels trade bait this season. I mean, come on, we have to trade him before his contract runs out! I'm hear to talk about Chone Figgins. I've always been somewhat hard on Figgins, for having a low OBP as a leadoff hitter most seasons, but I have always like him. How can you not root for #9? This year, Figgins has been making himself known. He still seems kind of underrated around baseball despite his amazing numbers, but he is doing it at the right time with his contract expiring after the '09 season. Get this: Chone is hitting .330/.405/.422 with 1 jack and 20 RBI. He has 23 stolen bases and 19 extra base hits. Figgy has the #3 batting average in the AL, the #4 amount of swipes, the 4th most runs of any AL player, and the #4 OBP. Finally, he is one of the league's premier leadoff hitters. Even better is that his away batting average if .366, with an away .899 OPS. That is just out of control. If the Angels keep him throughout the season, which you have to imagine that they will, the question becomes: Will they put up the cash to resign him if he keeps this up? He's getting paid $5.775 million this year, and if he finishes as strong as he has started, you know he's going to get a huge raise. Will we keep him? I don't even know what I think we should do just yet.
At 38-32, the Angels trail the first place Texas Rangers by just 0.5 games in the AL West table. My boys are rolling at a +4 run differential, and coming into a series against the last place Arizona Diamondbacks (30-43), my Red Hats are looking to get another sweep of the NL West to take over first place. Of course, we have to take into account that the Rangers are matching up against the Padres this weekend, but let's just go out on a limb and say that the Angels will lead the AL West by 0.5 games when we go to bed on Sunday night.
In conclusion, I don't see the state of the 38-32 Angels as much different than I saw the state of the 29-29 Angels just two weeks ago. I guess back then I just knew that they had potential to blow up and be a solid team, and now they have kind of started to show it. But, not much has changed. I still think they'll win the AL West, I still think they have their true challenge in the playoffs (especially with Boston primed to make another playoff run), and I still think that they are the most exciting team in baseball. With a 2 game winning streak and a 7-3 record over their last 10 games, I'd like to see you try and argue with me. Especially you, Dodger fan.
Let's bust Arizona.
I'd also like to point out that in light of the US' win against Spain, this SportsPickle story is much less funny. We are a soccer nation!
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