Saturday, March 31, 2007

One Month - Three Triple Plays

If a pitcher's best friend is the double play, what do pitchers think of the triple play?

The Angels turned their third triple play of Spring Training Thursday night at Dodger Stadium. With runners on 1st and 2nd, Howie Kendrick snared a line drive, tagged second base and threw to Casey Kotchman at first to complete the feat.

Just 8 days earlier the Angels turned a triple play against the Padres. And 17 days earlier the Angels turned one against the Rockies.

One month. Three triple plays.

Against the Padres, runners were on the corners and the "little league steal" was on. Ervin Santana struck out the batter and Mike Napoli threw down to second to get Todd Walker. On the throw to second, Brian Giles left for home plate and was eventually tagged out in a rundown.

The play turned against the Rockies started with runners on 1st and 2nd and Steve Finley at the plate. Finley hit a soft liner to first base that was caught by Kotchman. The runners, thinking that the ball had hit the ground, continued to run as Kotchman tossed the ball to Dustin Moseley who was covering first. Moseley then threw the ball to Erick Aybar who tagged 2nd base for the triple play.

In the Angels illustrious? 46 year history they have turned a total of 6 triple plays:
7/5/1997 - Anderson (cf) to DiSarcina (ss) to Erstad (1b)
9/8/1996 - Howell (3b) to Hudler (2b) to Snow (1b)
7/23/1977 - Mulliniks (ss) to Remy (2b) to Solaita (1b)
7/14/1977 - Ron Jackson (3b) to Remy (2b) to Solaita (1b)
6/27/1972 - Spencer (lf) to McMullen (3b) to Alomar (2b) to Cardenas (1b)
6/26/1970 - Ruiz (3b) to Alomar (2b) to Cowan (1b)

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Ex-Angels updates

I'm always wondering how the ex-Angels players are doing. The easiest way is to check the Cardinals' box score. Until today, when it's all laid out here.

Hitters
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _AVG_ SLG_ OBP_ G AB HR RBI MISC
FLA Amezaga _ _ .147 .147 .171 15 34 _0 _1

AZD Callaspo_ _ .415 .610 .432 14 41 _2 _7 (13 r)
NYM Easley _ _ _.233 .333 .281 10 30 _1 _3
STL Eckstein _ _.222 .333 .333 _7 18 _0 _2
CWS Erstad _ _ _.275 .333 .296 15 51 _0 _6 (10 so)
TOR Glaus _ _ _ .227 .455 .292 10 22 _1 _2
SEA Guillen _ _ .296 .593 .333 _8 27 _2 _6
STL Kennedy _ _ .200 .400 .227 _8 20 _0 _2
SFG Molina _ _ _.190 .286 .222 14 42 _1 _5 (7 so)
HOU Palmeiro _ _.500 .556 .571 12 18 _0 _1 (6 r)
TBD Paul _ _ _ _.183 .227 .308 10 22 _0 _1 (7 so)
STL Spiezio _ _ .333 .524 .453 17 42 _2 _6 (10 bb)

Pitchers
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ W-L _ ERA_ G _IP MISC
CLE Byrd _ _ _ _1-1_ 2.45_ 4 11.0
BOS Donnelly _ _1-0_ 7.04_ 8 _7.2
FLA Gregg _ _ _ 0-0_ 2.45_ 6 _7.1 (5 k)
MIN Ortiz _ _ _ 0-0_ 0.75_ 4 12.0 (10 k/1 bb)
KC Peralta _ _ _0-0_ 3.60_ 4 _5.0 (5 k)
BOS Romero _ _ _0-1_ 1.17_ 7 _7.2 (6 k)
NYM Schoeneweis 1-0_ 0.00_ 6 _6.2 (3 h, 5 k)
NYM Sele _ _ _ _1-1_ 7.82_ 4 12.2 (21 h)
MIL Turnbow _ _ 0-0_ 0.00_ 7 _7.0 (5 k/2 bb)
SEA Washburn _ _1-1_ 1.98_ 4 13.2
SEA Weaver _ _ _0-2_ 8.31_ 4 13.0
MIL Wise _ _ _ _1-1 10.80_ 7 _6.2 (5 k)
SEA Woods _ _ _ 0-0_ 5.14_ 5 _7.0

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Carrasco vs Bootcheck vs Moseley

The pitching battle is heating up. With Weaver and Colon not scheduled to start the season, there is an extra spot in the starting rotation up for grabs.

The "planned" rotation
1. Colon
2. Lackey
3. Escobar
4. Santana
5. Weaver

The "current" rotation
1. Lackey
2. Escobar
3. Santana
4. Saunders
5. ???

Fighting for that 5th spot are Hector Carrasco, Chris Bootcheck and Dustin Moseley. They have all pitched extremely well in Spring Training so far and here is a look at each.

Carrasco figures to start the season in Anaheim in the bullpen. He has made four starts this spring and his era is a minuscule 2.02. He started five games for the Angels last year, but his value as a reliever will most likely keep him in the pen to start the year. Especially since early in the year the bull pen is busy with the starters are on pitch counts.

Bootcheck was so highly regarded that the Angels put him on waivers over the off season. Like Carrasco, he is also having a great spring with a 2.53 era in 10.2 innings. He was a first round pick in 2000, but has never made it with the Angels despite playing in parts of three seasons. Last year, he appeared in seven games and gave up 12 earned runs in 10.1 innings. He seems destined for another year at Salt Lake.

Moseley is fighting hard for the last spot in the rotation. He has appeared in four games this spring and has a sparkling 1.98 era in 13.2 innings. He made two starts for the Angels last year going 1-0, but he gave up 11 earned runs in just 9 innings. He's my frontrunner right now for the 5th spot in the rotation. So if you have tickets for the April 6th game vs the A's, it's time to start cheering for Moseley.

No Green Unis.

I was hoping to see the Angels wear green for St. Patrick's Day, but no luck. Not even a green hat. Maybe next year.

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Beware the Ides of March

The Ides of March seem like an appropriate day to start writing about the Angels. They're a little past the half way point of Spring Training and roster spots are starting to fall into place. So here I go with the surprises and disappointments of the Spring.

Biggest Surprises

3. Howie Kendrick - He's hitting .464 (13 for 28) and might help the fans forget about Kennedy quicker than we forgot about Glaus, Eckstein, Spiezio, etc. He stole home against the Giants and Bengie Molina on Wednesday. I'd mention that it was the back end of a double steal involving Jose Molina but that diminishes the accomplishment.

2. Erick Aybar - The do-everything Figgins wannabe is hitting .367 (11 for 30) while playing center field and second base as well as his natural position, shortstop. He also had a walk off single Wednesday against the Giants.

1. Garret Anderson - He stole a base against the A's on March 11th. That alone garners him the top spot. He's also hitting .467 in 15 at-bats.

Biggest Disappointments

3. Juan Rivera - I know it's an old story, but we need his bat. In case you haven't checked, he's hitting .000 (0 for 0) this spring. I don't like Winter Ball.

2. Catchers not named Napoli - I know that we don't count on our catchers to hit, but.... Jose is hitting .211 (4 for 19) and Mathis is hitting .200 (5 for 25). And these are spring training numbers. They will be lucky to be hitting Maicer's weight (165) during the regular season.

1. Gary Matthews Jr. - I believe him. He didn't take HGH. That's why he hired Robert Shapiro to defend him. I also believe that the Holocaust didn't occur, the moon landing was staged in Hollywood and the Loch Ness Monster is currently teamed with OJ Simpson looking for the "Real Killer". Sarge 2 is also hitting a paltry .269.