As Spring Training went on, and we all got to see where this team looked like it was headed, I made the (bold) statement that the Halos' bullpen would be the guys making headlines for this team in the 2011 campaign. I planned (and still plan) on seeing the Angels return to their Western Division Championship caliber here in 2011, and I planned (and still plan, although slightly less) on seeing the bullpen be the reason that the Halos would be able to do so. Well, if this weekend's 1-3 series loss to the Kansas City Royals has taught us anything (and I hope it hasn't), it is that I clearly know nothing about baseball.
The bullpen was the story on the opening weekend, but it was for all the wrong reasons.
On Thursday, after the spotless Jered Weaver was taken off the mound (6.3 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 6 K, 0 ER) way too early by Mike Scioscia, the bullpen made their howlingly unfunny debut (only real LSF fans will catch the Simpsons reference). Hisanori Takahashi couldn't hit the side of a barn, going 0.3 of 3 hit, 1 run ball, allowing a jack. What a start to his Halo career. He was followed, eventually, by Kevin Jepsen's first of a couple of bad outings this weekend. 2 walks, a jack, and another third of an inning with a run allowed. A 27 ERA for each of those guys wasn't destined to blow Weaver's beautiful start, though, as Fernando Rodney held things down, sort of, for an exciting save.
On Friday, after Dan Haren stepped up as a true #2 (7 IP, 6 K, 1 ER), Michael Kohn took the mound for the first time in a late inning 1-1 situation. Kohn served up a fat jack to some Hawaiian joker named Kila Ka'aihue that allowed the Royals to walk off with the big win. The KC 'pen only coughed up one hit over two innings, while ours totally melted down.
On Saturday, the bullpen was up to it again, if you can believe it. After Ervin Santana opened up his season with 6.67 innings of 3 run ball (6 Ks), the aforementioned Kevin Jepsen got to his old tricks again. Jeps allowed 4 hits and 2 runs in his inning, and while not allowing a walk off, he basically gave the Royals the game with yet another bad outing. At this point you start to wonder, are the Royals this good, or is the Halo bullpen actually this bad? Option one, although very unlikely, would be nice.
And then there was yesterday. After a thrilling back and forth battle, the Halos came up big to take a 9-7 lead into the ninth inning at Kauffman. Fernando Rodney looked like a joke out there, walking the bases loaded to start his save situation. The game kind of got away from him, eh? He was sweating before throwing his first pitch. Maybe he should fix that hat. And then, as the game drifted long into the 4 hour and 45 minute mark, Jason Bulger took the hill in the 13th and gave up another walk off jack to lose the game. The Royals just ate out bullpen alive.
And don't get me started on Scott Kazmir. 1.67 innings? 5 earned runs? How many times does this guy have to suck before we hand him his pink slip? Give me a break. This is one of the biggest jokes in recent Halo history.
But we have to try and figure out what happened with this bullpen. Why is our 'pen, which is primed to be the driving force of this team, looking so weak in the early going? It's a tough question. The weak links have to be exposed. This was always a solid bullpen with some caveats. Those caveats are named Fernando Rodney, Jason Bulger, and Kevin Jepsen. I've been talking and talking about these three guys, and how the bullpen would be solid in spite of them, not because of them. A lot of fans are high on Jepsen and always have been, and you know we always want an Anaheim native to succeed. But it's just not happening, let's face it. We're talking about a 4.54 ERA over 125 career innings pitched. And, he's obviously not off to a great start this year. Everyone knew that Fernando Rodney would be a short term closer solution, and we don't need to go into that (Walden is knocking on the door). As for Bulger, he's always been a question mark for me. The Valdosta State University alumn has always seemed inconsistent to me. A 4.49 ERA in 126.3 career innings kind of shows that my sense is correct. He's had 3 seasons with a 4.88 or higher ERA, and he's going to have to do a lot early on this season to make me feel good about him walking out of the pen.
However, the bullpen has some very strong points that should right the ship eventually. Scioscia and Butcher just need to figure out who is going to fill what role before the relievers are going to be able to thrive. Scioscia has always had problems handling the staff, I don't think anyone would argue with that, but one has to hope the top relievers can rise to the top despite him. I'm looking to Walden, Thompson, Takahashi, Kohn, and (eventually) Scott Downs to put this thing together. I still think that they have the stuff to carry this team once the starter heads to the bench. Only time will tell if I'm right.
While most of the media is focused (as I have been thus far) on the bullpen's failures in our 1-3 start, I think the offense needs to be talked about just as much (if not more, to help ward off the impending depression). In four games, the Halos scored 18 runs (that's 4.5/game, if it matters) on 48 hits (that's 12/game) over the weekend, and really showed that they are going to come out better than last season when it comes to the bats.
On Thursday, Torii Hunter and Jeff Mathis (yes, Jeff Mathis) hit solo bombs and each got two hits. They were joined by Maicer Izturis and Peter Bourjos, who also picked up two hits. Ma$e went 2 for 5 in the leadoff slot, and picked up a stolen base, as well, in the game, surprising the heck out of me after the Spring he had. The bombs, though, were maybe the most surprising thing over the weekend.
The next day, Howie Kendrick's solo homer in the first inning was the only run producing action in the game. Erick Aybar slotted into the leadoff spot and went 2 for 4 and picked up a stolen base as well. But, we went 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position, and it was mostly quiet on the Kansas City front. But on Saturday, Big Game was up to it again, blasting another solo job. Howie Kendrick went 2 for 5, while Erick Aybar and Alberto Callaspo also got 2 hits a piece. Abreu went 1 for 4 in his new normal #3 slot, and also picked up a walk.
Yesterday's extra inning clash featured more offense than you would imagine the Angels could produce. 9 runs on 19 hits didn't do enough to win the game, but it gave hope that this offense could really gel this season. The Angels blasted 5 homeruns, as HK went yard twice, and Izzy, Abreu, and Callaspo all put one over the fence. AC/DV's yard shot was especially imrpessive, as he launched the heck out of the thing. Mark Trumbo has two doubles in the game, while Izturis, Kendrick, and Callaspo all had three hits, and Bobby Abreu was amazing with a 5 for 5 game WITH 2 walks! We just kept hitting, and hitting, and hitting. It was great to see, even with the bullpen failing us in the 9th and beyond.
The Angels rolled out four different lineups over this four game series in Kansas City, if you can believe it. While the 1-5 looked similar, it was the 6-7-8 that got shifted around a little bit. We'll take a look and pick our favorite lineup.
Thursday: Izturis, Kendrick, Abreu, Hunter, Wells, Aybar, Trumbo, Mathis, and Bourjos
Friday: Aybar, Kendrick, Abreu, Hunter, Wells, Callaspo, Trumbo, Mathis, and Bourjos
Saturday: Izturis, Kendrick, Abreu, Hunter, Wells, Callaspo, Aybar, Wilson, and Bourjos
Sunday: Izturis, Kendrick, Abreu, Hunter, Wells, Callaspo, Trumbo, Mathis, and Bourjos
Based on the offensive production, and the addition of Trumbo, as well as having my boy Izzy on top, yesterday's lineup card was my favorite choice. I hope that we roll out with that for the near future here.
So who is hot and who is not, after the first four games? Let's explore this real quick.
Hot-
Alberto Callaspo is hitting .500 so far, making Adrian Beltre look like a loser (.154 BA for how much money?).
Erick Aybar might be better this season than I think. He's started this year with a .417 clip.
Bobby Abreu's 5 for 5 day certainly helped, but he's started the year pretty red hot at .416.
Howie's hitting .368 en route to his first ever batting title, and how about two jacks in one game? He's on pace to finish with 121 RBI this year.
Ma$e is putting up a .353 mark and 3 RBI, which is even nicer considering his up and down (mostly down) Spring. He also has one of the Halos' two stolen bases (EA has the other).
Jered Weaver, Dan Haren, and Ervin Santana picked up 6 Ks each, as the starters (save Kazmir) looked great out there.
Jordan Walden had 5 Ks in relief, and he was throwing some pretty impressive heat.
Not-
Jeff Mathis may have had you thinking he was back after Opening Day, but we're already back down to reality with his .154 mark.
Vernon Wells is hitting .167 over his first four games as an Angel. Will he turn it on soon? Just remember, I said he'd have an iffy year in '11 before blowing up huge in '12.
Torii Hunter was another guy who looked better than he was when you gave him the eyeball test. .211 to start the season, he's going to have to pick it up.
Kevin Jepsen, Jason Bulger, Mike Kohn, Fernando Rodney, and Hisanor Takahashi all looked "not hot."
This whole post has come to this. We're 1-3 to start the season, we're 2.5 games back in the division, and we're looking at a quick series against Tampa Bay after today's day off to try and get back into the swing of things. The division has Texas at 3-0, Seattle at 2-1, Oakland at 1-2, and then us. Lucky for us, Tampa Bay is looking even more desperate than we are. The Rays got swept by the O's over the opening weekend, and got outscored 12-3 in the process. They never scored more than a single run in any of their three games. Are they ripe for the picking, or are we walking into a trap? Let's hope this bullpen can back up the offensive force that we've all of ths sudden found so that we can pick up a couple of wins.
The series starts Tuesday at 3:40 our time, as Jered Weaver (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.63 WHIP) jumps up to start in place of the still injured Joel Piñero against Jeff Niemann (no starts yet). Our bullpen may be 0-3 with a 5.06 ERA so far, but Big Baby Weaver is 3-1 with a 2.45 ERA in his career against Tampa, and will look to carry us to win #2.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
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