*Some LSF housekeeping before starting the actual post. Since it's the first of the month, I figured I would throw our most in depth stats ever at you:
-Total posts per Blogger: 778
-Total tweets per Twitter: 960
-August had 38 posts, which is 2nd most all time behind July 2010.
-Current B/J/A post strike: Just 6 days.
-Most viewed post ever: "LSF T&F World Championship Review" by Tommy on 8/22/09: 70 page views.
-2nd most viewed post ever: "We're by far the greatest team the world has ever seen" by Beasy Bee on 12/12/07: 59 page views.
-Page views in August: 1,790
-Page views all time: 3,475 (August was a huge month for us).
-Halos Heaven provided 13 referals in August.
-Google sent us 259 referals in August.
-Top Google search keyword leading readers to our blog: Pete Bourjos (4).
-LSF Audience by Nation (this shocked me!):
1) US with 1,026 readers
2) UK with 138
3) Canada with 114
4) Denmark with 56
5) Luxembourg with 43
(Russia was a close sixth)
-LSF Audience by computer:
57% reach us with IE
21% use Firefox
9% use Safari
80% reach us on a Windows machine
10% use Macintosh
Thanks to Blogger for providing our most in depth statistical analysis ever. There was some good stuff there. Surprising stuff, too!
Now to the actual post:
Just because those guys pictured above (way above, now) are wearing pink jerseys doesn't make them (insert Seinfeld joke vacuum noise here). Those guys pictured above may actually be picking up the bat for the offensively disabled Angels starting tonight in Seattle, and you're going to love them! September 1st is the day that MLB teams are allowed to have a full 40 man roster up (though few, if any, will expand that much) at the show, and it is usually known as THE chance for the up and coming talent of a down and going team to show their stuff. Before we get into the who/what/when/where/why of the Angels projected callups, let's (very) quickly deal with last night's 1-3 loss at the Safe.
Dan Haren v King Felix was billed as a pitching duel to end all pitching duels, and it lived up to the hype. Danny Boy went 7 innings of shutout ball with 8 Ks, and was completely matched by Hernandez's 7 innings of shutout ball with 8 Ks. With these two horrible offenses, it would be up to the bullpens to decide who would break through. In the end, the Halo's 'pen (and offense) sucked more, and we lost 1-3 to those Pugent Sound punks.
The minuses:
-Kevin Jepsen continues to prove me right, by sucking. He blew the 1-0 lead we quickly built once Felix left, and completed just 0.67 IP of 3 run ball. 2 walks when you just get 2 outs is never good.
-Speedy Pete got his first career error on a bobble in that fatefull bottom of the 8th.
-Mathis (with the bases loaded and one out), Napoli, and Hunter all GIDP in the game.
-El Comedulce went 0 for 3 with 3 punchouts.
-Scioscia started Mahis AGAIN.
The pluses:
+Dan Haren was on point, despite getting the no decision.
+Alberto Callaspo was the only multi-hit Halo with 2 hits in the leadoff spot.
+Matsui and Napolini both worked 2 walks a piece.
+HK-47 ripped a RBI ground-rule double.
-Hat-cisco got us out of the eighth inning collapso-jam.
At 64-69, the Angels sit in the same place as yesterday, 10.5 back of Texas and 2 back of Oakland. The final game of the series with Seattle tonight will be a rubber match pitting Trevor "Ding Dong" Bell (1-4, 5.07) against Jason Vargas (9-7, 3.53). Bell was special his last time out, despite getting no love from the bats. Giving up 2 runs in 7 innings against Murder-More wasn't good enough, as the team lost 1-3 (the balk game). Meanwhile, Vargas may be tuckering out, as he has pitched 66+ innings more than ever before in a single season. The M's lefty is 0-2 with an 8.03 ERA over the last couple of starts. He's posted a 1.71 ERA in 3 starts against the Halos this year, though, so who knows? I kind of feel like if we don't win this series, we should just forfit the rest of the season. Whose with me?
In other news, the Angels have received their "player to be named later" from the Twinkies for the Fuentes deal, and he's a giant. 7 foot 1 inch tall minor league pitcher Loek Van Mil is coming aboard (Loek is pronounced "Luke"). The 25 year old from the Netherlands would become the tallest big leaguer in history once (not if) he makes it up to the show. His full name is actually Ludovicus Jacobus Maria Van Mil, and he was on the Twins 40 man this year. In A and double-A, Loek went 1-3 with a 6.15 ERA in 26 outings as a reliever. He had 27 Ks in 33.67 innings. Last year, at the same levels, his ERA was a much better 2.79 in 33 games. So, we'll wait and see, but hopefully he'll end up being a stud.
Now on to the meat of the post (let's go with pastrami), it's time to explore who may get that September cup of coffee with the big boys and what we can expect of them. As we consider who and how many, I'll just point out that the Angels have activated Rich Thompson, Jason Bulger, and Brian Stokes off of the DL, and they are all headed to help out the bullpen. So, let's take a look at players on the 40-man who aren't currently active with the big club, but soon could be:
Pitchers
-Bobby Cassevah (3-4, 4.53 in 42 relief outings at SLC): Up for 7 games in 2010 already, Cassie held a 5.56 ERA with 7 Ks in 11.3 IP. His 35 Ks in 55.67 IP at AAA this season hasn't been all that impressive, but even he could help out this bullpen.
-Bobby Mosebach (2-1, 7.00 in 13 relief outings at SLC): Last year, Moose was 2-2 with a 2.23 ERA at SLC and held a 7.71 ERA in 3 games with the big boys. Again, he's dropped off big time since getting called up last season, but you never know.
-Matt Palmer (2-3, 2.90 in 12 games, 6 starts at AAA): Despite his injuries this year, Palmer has continued to show that his success last season wasn't a fluke. 30 Ks in 40 innings, and all the experience with the big club should make him an easy call up today.
If non-40-man-roster pitchers can come up, consider: Fernando Rodriguez (4-6, 6.03 with SLC leading 82 Ks) and Eric Junge (5-2, 5.40)
Catchers
-Ryan Budde (.250/.326/1/15 in 50 games at SLC this year): We all know Budde from a walk off he hit for the Angels back in our semi-recent memory. Granted, he hasn't exactly torn it up with the Bees this year, but in 6 games with the Angels, he hit .400. There's something about this kid that I like.
If non-40-man-roster catchers can come up, consider: Hank Conger (.295/10/45).
Infielders
-Kevin Frandsen (.282/3/15 in 48 AAA games for us and Boston): We all know (and love?) Franny, right? The Wood replacement hit .288 with 13 RBI over 46 games with the Halos this year and was a casualty of bringing Callaspo in. He should easily be back, and it'll be nice to see him again.
-Robb Quinlan (.258/0/8 in 34 games with SLC): Back in the minors for the first time since '05 is tough, but Q is a lock to get called up no matter what. He's kind of like that meal you get at Chilli's. You know it isn't really that good, but you keep going back and ordering it because it feels comfortable. In his 23 big league games this year, Q hit just .121. The extra "B" is for "bummer."
-Mark Trumbo (.301/34/115 in 133 games at SLC): Like the golden ticket of the callup brigade, Mark Trumbo is ready. He should be starting at firstbase TONIGHT, no ifs ands or buts about it. Can't wait to see him.
If non-40-man-roster infielders can come up, consider: UCSB's Nate Sutton (.256/2/35), repeat callup Paul McAnulty (.316/23/77), or Alexi Amarista (.305/5/65).
Outfielders
-Cory Aldridge (.323/13/59 in 77 SLC games): He may have hit just .077 in 5 games when called up earlier in the season, but he's a clubber in the minors, and will surely get another shot up before season's end.
If non-40-man-roster outfielders can come up, consider: Terry Evans (.276/14/69), Nick Gorneault (.252/11/50), and Tyson Auer (.317/5/39 and too many steals to mention).
I'm pretty sure non-40-man players can't come up, but it's fun to dream.
Alright youngsters, let's go win us this series.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
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