Thirty games in: The pitching has saved them

Here we are, 30 games into a season that began with a nightmare, then was quickly sidetracked by enough serious injuries to make the trainer's room SRO.

Yet you look at the American League West standings today, and the Angels are 16-14, just a half game out of first place.

The obvious question is how in the name of Arte Moreno's favorite neon sign maker did they manage to pull this off? The simple answer is pitching.

Two things needed to happen after John Lackey, Ervin Santana, Kelvim Escobar and, for the most part, Vladimir Guerrero went down for a month or longer. Joe Saunders and Jered Weaver, the two remaining healthy members of the starting rotation, had to win most of their games. And the stand-in pitchers had keep the bottom from falling out.

Well, Saunders and Weaver have been spectacular. Of the Angels' 16 victories, they own half of them, with each remarkably sporting the same sparkling 2.66 earned-run average. As for Matt Palmer and Shane Loux, they've performed far better than anyone could have anticipated, especially considering their recent minor league records.

The rest of the team's performance has been nothing to blog home about. The offense has been your typical punch-and-run Scioscia operation with little power. Torii Hunter's early home run streak helped, but, as expected, he has cooled considerably. Bobby Abreu has brought some welcome plate discipline, but the rest of the lineup quickly has fallen back to its swing-at-anything approach.

The defense hasn't been too good, either, although Hunter did provide the highlight-reel play of the season so far with that dazzling, game-saving catch in the ninth inning on Sunday. Until recently, it's the bullpen that has been the biggest culprit, though. It had been getting roughed up worse than Ricky Hatton against Manny Pacquiao until it rebounded some in the past few days.

Through it all, through the Nick Adenhart tragedy, the early loss of three starting pitchers and a franchise hitter, the division favorites managed to hang in there. Their A.L. West opponents will look back and wonder how Scioscia's guys failed to fall eight or 10 games behind. But they didn't.

A month from now, if they're as spry and healthy as they figure to be, it will be the Angels' turn to look back -- and behind -- at the rest of the division.

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The most encouraging moment of the weekend for the Angels? It had to be Scot Shields looking very much like his old self, working two hitless innings with four strikeouts against KC on Sunday.

The fans have been all over him, and I wrote recently we should cut him some slack, based on all his years of brilliant work as a set-up man. Even I thought the wear and tear on that arm might have taken too much of a toll, however.

But it certainly didn't look like it Sunday afternoon. 

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You didn't think I'd get through an entire blog without a Brandon Wood comment, did you?

Well, guess what position Wood has been playing since the Angels sent him back to Salt Lake City? No, not third base. He has returned to shortstop, a move that could have very interesting implications for both him and the organization.

Have they decided they want to re-sign Chone Figgins to play third base and move Wood ahead of the flashy, but still erratic Erick Aybar at short in 2010? If I know management, they'll deny it. But trust me on this:

Wood is not playing shortstop again at triple-A by accident.

-- Steve Bisheff

Comments

[George Kaplan]

Steve--Regarding Brandon Wood, the Bees have Freddy Sandoval and (the slumping) Matt Brown at 3B already. At SS, though, the pool is thinner, with Wood head and shoulders ahead of Luis Figueroa and Gary Patchett. Brown isn't as bad as he has been since the start of the season, and the Bees figure to be better with the left side of their IF being Wood and Sandoval/Brown.

As for Figgins, the Angels will make an offer, but neither for the total money nor the duration Figgins will be expecting. Some other team will better that offer and Figgins will be in another uniform come 2010. Whether they replace Figgins with Wood, or whether the team throws in the towel with Aybar (less likely) remains to be seen.

[Scott C. Worden]

Hey Steve,

It's amazing how well Loux and Palmer have pitched with the way their track records were. Ortega had one bad outing but also helped the Angels cause. I said if the Angels were at .500 by the end of April, then they would be okay and they were about two below at that time. If Vlad comes back, our offense will be very strong. Morales has done a great job (Teixeira is still under the Mendoza line by the way) and Bobby Abreu has been hitting above .350 despite not hitting a home run. Everyone else has a respectable batting average. Yes they haven't reached their potential but once we get our starters back, they will get better. It should be a really fun team to watch once we get them back and if Shields can turn it around. Speier concerns me a little bit. He lost his composure in the last game and he seems frustrated with his lack of control. We need the Speier of two seasons ago to reincarnate.

[Buffalo Rob]

As encouraging as Shields was yesterday, the bullpen still looks like it's in serious trouble. If not for Torii Hunter's spectacular catch, we'd be talking about ANOTHER blown save by Brian Fuentes. And even after Hunter's catch, he put the next two batters on base before ending the inning with a double play. Fuentes has been horrible this year. I didn't follow him in Colorado much but he apparently has just two pitches: a ball about a foot outside the strike zone, and a slow, straight fastball down the center of the plate that major league hitters wallop. Even if the Angels make the playoffs, it's hard to imagine Fuentes closing out games against the teams we'd be playing against in October.

Mike Napoli's outstanding contributions shouldn't be ignored either. Scioscia finally gave in and let his best power hitter bat every day and it has really paid off.

What does this say about how smart this team is when it comes to offense?
It took YEARS (and injuries) to finally get Napoli consistent AB's.
They thought Howie Kendrick would win a batting title someday.
They DIDN'T think Callaspo was going to be any good.
They thought Dallas McPherson could replace Troy Glaus.
They are letting Brandon Wood rot in AAA.

It shouldn't be any surprise that pitching has saved the team again so far this year. It's hard to imagine it ever being any different.

[brettski]

In response to the post above:

Napoli never got consistent at-bats because outside of his power, he is a relatively average hitter. I dont have the exact stats but I'm guessing his career average is about .250? That's why he never got consistent AB's.

Everybody admits McPhearson was a mistake, all teams make mistakes on prospects. Having said that, his downfall was injuries, it was not neccesarily his skills. He had lingering back issues that had him on the DL more than he was healthy.

Wood "rots" in AAA because of 2 reasons: 1-His path is blocked by Figgins and the defensive platoon at short of Izturis and Aybar. 2-If you haven't noticed, every time we call him up he is terrible. He is a strikeout machine at the major league level. He's had plenty of oppourtunities.

And last but not least, despite Howie's current average, he is over .300 during his career and he will pick it up soon. His power is up a little bit this year and it seems like he is trying to pull alot, give him time he will correct it and become the force he has always been.

[Terry Crow]

It is hard to get too excited about Shields until he puts some decent outings together. I would think that almost any big league pitcher can go two innings without giving up a run on occasion. The team got lucky with the minor league pitchers. Reagins is yet to make a good move since he has had the job.

[Buffalo Rob]

In response to the post above:

Is Napoli really just an "average hitter" without his power? His career on-base percentage is .369. That's higher than Figgins' career OBP of .359, and he's been our lead-off hitter for years now. So even if you ignore the fact that Napoli is the best power hitter in the franchise (and there is NO REASON to do that), he's still a good hitter because he knows how to get on base. This franchise has struggled greatly with that over the past decade. His OBP and SLG are both significantly better than what you'll find anywhere else on the team or in the organization.

Wood has disappointed in his call-ups but you don't learn to hit major league pitching by not facing major league pitching. Is the team really hoping to develop a major league hitter by never playing him in the major leagues? Blocked by Aybar and Figgins? He's not even "blocked" by anyone that good.

Kendrick's numbers were decent for his age in 2007 but he never walks and a .300 average with little power isn't going to make him much of a "force" ever. A career OBP of .326 isn't very impressive.

[J in Vegas]

With a career OBP of nearly .370 and an OPS of .870, Nap's a guy who deserved a starting job beginning last season, regardless of his batting average. The guy gets on base and can mash to the tune of a home run every 15 AB's. You find a spot in that lineup for a hitter like that.

Whether or not he plays 3B or SS, the Halos and the press have been touring Wood for about four years now. He's 24 and has nothing more to prove at AAA. I think it's time to fish or cut bait with him. When the choice is either an Aybar/Izturis platoon or Wood, I'd choose to see what Wood can do. Plus he looked pretty solid last time he got in a few AB's. His upside is so much higher than Aybar or Izturis, who are adequate defensively, but provide little on the offensive side. Neither one can hit for power. Neither will accept a walk. At the very least they shouldn't be at the top of the lineup.

As for Figgins blocking him, it's always been my opinion that the Angels should use Figgins the same way that DET and OAK used Tony Phillips: have him pack three gloves for a road trip and be prepared to play anywhere in the field. His versatility is his greatest strength. Let him spell someone else every day and still get his leadoff ability in the lineup. Either way, open a position for Wood to play and get him 400 AB's and see what he can do.

[Brettski]

You do make a good point about Napoli, he is a good hitter and should play everyday. I have been waiting for about 3 years for Wood to produce. Whenever anyone goes on the DL he gets called up and is handed a starting job and just stinks it up. Hopefully maybe this is the year he gets rid of that mental block that he has. I'm tired of him hitting 30+ home runs every year in the minors and striking out more than hitting in the majors.

The reason I brought up the block at 3rd and SS is because Figgins is the catalyst for all that they do, he's the table setter. And if he doesn't play 3rd, where does he go? If he plays the outfield who sits on the bench? Hunter? Abreu? Vlad (when healthy)? There just isn't room to move him around every night. Also the organization has alot of confidence in Aybar, he plays very good defense and plays Angels baseball; he hustles he makes alot of contact which works well with their hit-and-run style. Now I would take a productive Brandon Wood over both of them, but when given the oppourtunity he hasn't been productive.

[Buffalo Rob]

Brett,

No doubt Brandon Wood has disappointed in his chances with the Angels the past couple seasons. Getting cut from his winter ball team wasn't a good sign either. But he obviously has the potential to be a significant contributor offensively. The team should find out now what they have in him. Vlad and Figgins are both free agents after this season. If it turns out Wood is ready to play at a major league level, that could play into their decision.

Where would I play him? I'd love Aybar's defense, but I'd pull him out and put Wood in. If they don't think Wood is ready to play SS in the majors, they could shift Figgins over there and put Wood at 3B. Either way, I think it's time he got ABs with the Angels.

[George Kaplan]

Re: Callaspo--The Diamondbacks also thought Callaspo was expendable, since they traded him to the Royals, two seasons after the Angels traded him to Arizona for Jason Bulger. Callaspo was Minor League Player of the year for Arizona, but couldn't deliver either time he was called up in 06 or 07. Some players blossom later, but the fact remains that Kendrick has done more in his pro career than Callaspo has (and Kendrick is over a year younger). Had the Angels kept Callaspo and traded Kendrick to Arizona, the team's front office would have never heard the end of it.

Re: Wood--I doubt he'll ever be a high-average player. I see him and I think Troy Glaus. But he will improve if he is handed a starting role and is allowed to play every day, instead of spot starting, which is all he is allowed to do now. He blossomed late last season, when he was called up and was playing consistently. He was great during Spring Training. The team has decided it needs Figgins this season and thus there are few spots on the team for Wood. Better he play every day in SLC than ride the bench in Anaheim.

[Brian]

Brettski - That Brandon Wood who would need two weeks to start hitting appears long gone. He proved that during spring training. He got off to a great start. His two starts when he was called up were great too. That Mariners game was just bad luck. He hit the ball every time to Beltre. Any other third baseman wouldn't have made those plays.

I say now is Brandon's time. Bring him back up and let him play. Howie Kendrick has been given chance after chance and still can't hit. Time to at least give Brandon as much of a chance as Howie keeps getting.