Sunday, September 30, 2007

Mets 'F' It Up

The Mets blew it.

I'm not talking about the 7 game lead with 17 games to play. I'm talking about today.

The Mets lost and the Phillies won so the NL East is theirs. The Padres lost and the Rockies won forcing a one game showdown between the two teams tomorrow in Colorado to see who wins the NL Wild Card.

A one game playoff is nice, but if the Mets would've won, the crazy scenario of shear mayhem would've come to fruition - 4 tie-breaker games before the NL playoffs could even start.

But alas, Tom Glavine got only one out and the Mets lost. Now to see where the rank with the 1995 Angels in all-time chokes.

Ex-Angels in the playoffs

A look at familiar names in the postseason.

Boston Red Sox - The only former Angel on their roster is Brendan Donnelly. Donnelly is out with Tommy John surgery. He last pitched on June 10th .

Cleveland Indians - Paul Byrd went 15-8 with a 4.59 era this season as Cleveland's 4th starter. He is scheduled to start Game 4 of the ALDS against the Yankees next Monday.

New York Yankees - Jose Molina hit .224 as an Angel this year and .295 as a Yankee.

Arizona Diamondbacks - Alberto Callaspo never played at the Major League level for the Angels but was a prospect when the Angels traded him to Arizona for Jason Bulger. The 24-year old Callaspo hit just .207 in 140 at-bats and probably will not make the post season roster. Outfielder Jeff DaVanon started the year with the D'Backs but was waived and signed by the A's in August.

Chicago Cubs - no former Angels.

Colorado Rockies - Ramon Ortiz was traded by the Twins to the Rockies in August. He has pitched sparingly for the Rockies allowing 11 earned runs in 12 innings pitched.

Philadelphia Phillies - JC Romero was acquired by the Phillies in June after the Red Sox placed him on waivers. The Phillies use Romero as a left-handed specialist and he has not allowed an earned run in 19 September appearances (13.2 innings). Last year with the Halos his era was 6.70. With the Phillies, it's down to 1.31.

San Diego Padres - There are no players on the Padres who have played for the Angels, but their managed by the Angels former pitching coach, Bud Black. Their hitting coach is former Angel Wally Joyner.

Other coaches with Angels ties are...
- Diamondbacks hitting coach Rick Schu (1b-3b 1990)
- Red Sox 1st Base Coach Luis Alicea (2b 1997)
- Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell (sp 1993-94)
- Rockies 1st Base Coach Glenallen Hill (dh 2001)
- Yankees Special Pitching Instructor Rich Monteleone (rp 1988-89, 1995-96)

Recap of Angels vs Red Sox games in 2007

The Angels and Red Sox played 10 times this year with the Red Sox winning 6 of the games. Here is a recap of those 10 games. Recap links go to Yahoo Sports.

(Coming later in the week, Angels vs Boston player stats)

April 13 at Boston Red Sox 10, Angels 1
-The Red Sox scored 6 runs in the 8th inning to pull away. John Lackey started and allowed 3 earned runs in 5.2 ip. The Angels mustered only 5 hits off starter Tim Wakefield and 3 Boston relievers.

April 14 at Boston Red Sox 8, Angels 0
- Curt Schilling pitched 8 shutout innings as the Angels bats were again silenced (5 hits) in Boston. Hector Carrasco started for the Angels before giving way to Darren Oliver, Chris Bootcheck and Greg Jones.

April 16 at Boston Red Sox 7, Angels 2
- Ervin Santana started for the Halos and the Sox had 5 runs before Santana recorded an out. Josh Beckett hit Vladimir Guerrero on the hand in the first inning and he was forced to leave the game.

August 7 at Anaheim Angels 4, Red Sox 2
- Maicer Izturis' solo home run in the 7th inning broke a 2-2 tie and gave the Angels a rare victory over the Sox. Jered Weaver outdueled Curt Schilling allowing 2 earned runs in 6 innings. "I could have very easily shut those guys out tonight if I had executed some pitches tonight," Schilling said.

August 8 at Anaheim Angels 10, Red Sox 4
- Gary Matthews Jr was 3-for-5 with 4 rbi as the Angel bats exploded for 14 hits. Joe Saunders was shaky -giving up 4 runs in 5.1 ip. Chris Bootcheck and Darren Oliver came out of the pen and gave up only one hit in 3.2 ip.

August 9 at Anaheim Red Sox 9, Angels 6
- Dustin Pedroia hit a solo shot off of Garret Anderson's glove in the 7th inning to snap a 6-6 tie. Dustin Moseley made the start for the Halos and gave up 6 earned runs in 4.2 ip.

August 17 at Boston Red Sox 8, Angels 4 (Game 1 of DH)
- John Lackey had his worst outing of the season as the Red Sox scored 6 runs in the 1st inning off of Lackey. Casey Kotchman was 4-for-4 in the loss.

August 17 at Boston Angels 7, Red Sox 5 (Game 2 of DH)
- In the second game of the duobleheader, Ervin Santana returned from the minor leagues and retired the first 13 batters he faced. The Angels took a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the 9th inning when Scot Shields and Francisco Rodriguez couldn't hold the lead. Shields struck out the first batter, then walked two batters and allowed a single to load the bases. K-Rod came in with the bases loaded to face David Ortiz. He threw a wild pitch allowing one run, then gave up doubles to Ortiz and Manny Ramirez as the Sox took a 5-4 lead. As Boston prepared for the doubleheader sweep, the Angels took advantage of Eric Gagne scoring 3 runs in the 9th to win the game.

August 18 at Boston Red Sox 10, Angels 5
- The Angels built a 5-0 lead going into the bottom of the 5th inning, but Jered Weaver couldn't hold it. The Red Sox scored 6 runs in the 5th including a grand slam by David Ortiz. The Angels managed just one base runner after the 5th and Justin Speier gave up 4 runs with two outs in the 8th inning in the loss.

August 19 at Boston Angels 3, Red Sox 1
- Joe Saunders pitched into the 8th inning allowing just one run and 6 hits. Scott Shields was shaky, allowing Saunders' inherited runner to score, but Justin Speier and K-Rod shut down the Sox for the win and a split of the series.

My National League dream of playoff chaos is still alive

On Thursday I posted my dream scenario for the National League with the Phillies and Mets tying for the NL East lead, the Brewers and Cubs tying for the NL Central lead and the Phillies, Mets, Padres and Rockies all tying for the Wild Card.

With one day left, the only tie settled is in the NL Central where the Cubs have clinched the division. The Diamondbacks have also clinched home field in the National League playoffs and will face the Chicago Cubs in the first round. The NL East winner will have home field advantage in the first round against the Wild Card winner.

With one game left, here is how the National League shakes out...

ARZ 90 71 --- West 1
SDP 89 72 1.0 West 2 - WC 1
NYM 88 73 2.0 East 1t - WC 2t
PHI 88 73 2.0 East 1t - WC 2t
COL 88 73 2.0 West 3 - WC 2t

For maximum chaos, I would like to see the following happen on Sunday:

1) The Brewers beat the Padres. If the Padres win, they clinch a playoff spot regardless of the other outcomes. This loss would leave the Padres with 89 wins.
2) The Rockies beat the Diamondbacks to finish with 89 wins.
3) The Mets beat the Marlins to finish with 89 wins.
4) The Phillies beat the Nationals to finish with 89 wins.

If this all happens, here is how the standings would look Sunday night...

ARZ 90 72 --- West 1
SDP 89 73 1.0 West 2t - WC 1t
NYM 89 73 1.0 East 1t - WC 1t
PHI 89 73 1.0 East 1t - WC 1t
COL 89 73 1.0 West 2t - WC 1t

Two teams tie for the NL East title and would need a tiebreaker game and 4 teams would tie for the Wild Card requiring more tiebreaker games.

Here's a look at the tiebreaker scenarios...

The easy scenarios

1) If the Mets & Phillies have the same record, they will have a one-game tiebreaker in Philadelphia. The location was determined with a coin flip a few weeks back.

2) If the Padres win, they are the NL Wild Card. If Arizona loses, the Padres and D'Backs would tie for the NL West (and best record in the NL) but Arizona wins on the head-to-head tiebreaker 10-8.

If the Padres lose, all hell could break loose.

3) If the Padres lose and the Mets, Phillies and Rockies lose, then the Padres are the Wild Card team.

The tricky scenarios

1) Padres Lose, Rockies Win, Mets Lose, Phillies Lose

-The Mets & Phillies play Monday in Philadelphia to decide the NL East winner.
-The Padres & Rockies play Monday in Colorado to decide the NL Wild Card.

2) Padres Lose, Rockies Lose, Mets Lose, Phillies Win

-The Phillies are the NL East champion and will host the Padres in the NLDS.
-The Padres are the NL Wild Card and will start the NLDS in Philadelphia.

3) Padres Lose, Rockies Win, Mets Lose, Phillies Win

-The Padres & Rockies play Monday in Colorado to decide the NL Wild Card.
-The Phillies are the NL East champion and will host the Wild Card winner in the NLDS.

4) Padres Lose, Rockies Lose, Mets Win, Phillies Lose

-The Mets are the NL East champion and will host the Padres in the NLDS.
-The Padres are the NL Wild Card and will start the NLDS in New York.

5) Padres Lose, Rockies Win, Mets Win, Phillies Lose

-The Padres & Rockies play Monday in Colorado to decide the NL Wild Card.
-The Mets are the NL East champion and will host the Wild Card winner in the NLDS.

6) Padres Lose, Rockies Lose, Mets Win, Phillies Win

-The Mets & Phillies play Monday in Philadelphia to decide the NL East winner.
-The loser of the Mets vs Phillies game plays San Diego on Tuesday to decide the Wild Card winner. If the Mets play the Padres, the game will be in New York, if the Phillies play the Padres, the game will be in San Diego.

7) Padres Lose, Rockies Win, Mets Win, Phillies Win (The crazy scenario)

-The Mets & Phillies play Monday in Philadelphia to decide the NL East winner.
-The loser of the Phillies vs Mets game joins the Rockies and Padres in a 3-team tie for the NL Wild Card.
-With three teams, the wild card tiebreaker games will be played on Tuesday and Wednesday. The team with the best head-to-head record among the 3 finalists gets to choose if it would rather have a bye on Tuesday (the right choice) or play both games at home. The Rockies have the best head-to-head record between these 3 teams (regardless of the 3rd team being the Mets or Phillies) and I would assume that they would take a bye. In that case, the NL East loser and Padres would play an elimination game in either San Diego (if it's the Phillies) or New York (if it's the Mets) on Tuesday.
-The winner of Tuesday's game would then host the Rockies on Wednesday in the final tie-breaker game to determine the NL Wild Card winner.

That's it. See how simple it is :) But first, the Padres have to lose to the Brewers.

First Round is set - Angels @ Red Sox

The American League playoff seedings are set and the Angels will open at Boston on Wednesday. Here is a look at the schedule. The start times have yet to be determined by MLB and TBS.

Wed Oct 3 at Boston
John Lackey vs Josh Beckett

Fri Oct 5 at Boston
Kelvim Escobar vs Curt Schilling

Sun Oct 7 vs Boston (Home game #1)
Jered Weaver vs Daisuke Matsuzaka

Mon Oct 8 vs Boston (Home Game #2) (if necessary)
Pitchers tba - the team down 2-1 (if not both teams) will probably use their Game #1 starter.

Wed Oct 10 at Boston (if necessary)
Pitchers tba

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Lackey leapfrogs to ERA Lead

With seven shutout innings against the Oakland last night, John Lackey lowered his era from 3.11 to 3.01. He also moved past Fausto Carmona of the Indians into 1st place in the American League.

He should win the title. Only two pitchers (Carmona & Haren) could pass him by throwing a shutout. Neither of them are scheduled to pitch again this year. Haren faced Lackey yesterday. Carmona last pitched on Wednesday and may throw a bit on Sunday. To pass lackey, he would need to pitch 3 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball. He could also beat Lackey by allowing one earned run in 6 1/3 innings.

AL ERA Leaders

1. John Lackey.....LAA 3.01
2. Fausto Carmona..CLE 3.06
3. Dan Haren.......OAK 3.07
4. Erik Bedard.....BAL 3.16
5. CC Sabathis.....CLE 3.21
6. Josh Beckett....BOS 3.27
7. Johan Santana...MIN 3.33
8. Kelvim Escobar..LAA 3.46


Two National League pitchers have lower ERAs than Lackey. San Diego's Jake Peavy has a 2.36 era and Arizona's Brandon Webb checks in with a 3.01 (percentage points lower than Lackey) era.

Last year, Lackey was 5th in the American League with a 3.56 era. He was also 5th in 2005 with a 3.44 era.

The last Angels player to win the ERA title was Frank Tanana in 1977.

Friday Night Standings & Stats Update

With Boston and Cleveland both winning, the Angels hopes of home field advantage in the first round are officially gone.

As of right now, here are the playoff matchups
Angels (3) @ Red Sox (1)
Yankees (4) @ Indians (2)

Current AL Standings (Including Friday 9/28/07)

BOS 95 65 .594 --- 3 Games Left(2 vs MIN)
CLE 95 65 .594 --- 3 (2 at KC)
LAA 93 67 .581 2.0 3 (2 at OAK)
NYY 92 68 .575 3.0 3 (2 at BAL)

*Boston owns the tie-breaker against Cleveland by winning the head-to-head matchup 5-2 this season.

AL Batting Leaders (Including Friday 9/28/07)

Chone Figgins currently has enough plate appearances to qualify for the daily batting leaders. His .334 average puts him in 5th place in the AL. To qualify for the end of the season rankings, Figgins still needs 5 plate appearances in the Angels final 2 games.

1) .360 Magglio Ordonez (2-for-4 today)
2) .350 Ichiro Suzuki (2-for-5)
3) .341 Placido Polanco (2-for-4)
4) .337 Jorge Posada (1-for-2)
5) .334 Chone Figgins (0-for-3)

(Link to original post on Figgins and plate appearances.)

Friday, September 28, 2007

ROTATION SET; RESTING DONE.


Ok Texas beat the ever living Dung out of us. But the regulars who rested against the Rangers (Vladimir Guerrero and Garret Anderson), most likely will play all three games against the Athletics. Don’t count on them playing every inning but after a few days off they will look to get their timing back and for the Halo’s to get back in form heading into the playoffs.

The pitchers have now been aligned for the first three playoff games and those lingering fans of Fatty (Colon) the rotation will be John Lackey, Kelvim Escobar and Jered Weaver. They will start in Oakland also in that order, and they won't be on pitch counts, though Escobar, who hasn't started since Sept. 17 because of shoulder inflammation, will be watched to make sure his arm is looking good.

The Angels must sweep the A's, the Red Sox must lose their final three games, and the Yankees have to lose at least once for the Angels to gain home field in the first round. But who cares. If they play the way they have for most of the season, showing superb starting pitching, and get back to that lock-down relief, hard line base running, clutch hitting and strong defense, Scioscia likes their chances no matter where they're playing -- even in Fenway Park, where the Angels are 14-22 since 2000.

Players, with question marks entering the final weekend of the season, could hold the key to Angels playoff fortunes.
1. Escobar, who is 17-7 with a 3.46 earned run average, suffers another shoulder setback Saturday, he probably will be replaced in the playoff rotation by either Colon or Joe Saunders.

2. Gary Matthews Jr.: He has missed 10 games in the last month because of a sprained right ankle; then Matthews landed awkwardly on the warning track in center field after flagging down a fly ball by Nelson Cruz in the first inning of the Rangers' 16-2 romp in Arlington irritating his left-knee on Wednesday and is uncertain for this weekend, and hopeful for the playoffs. But if Matthews can't go, Reggie Willits would start in center. Willits is a solid table-setter in the No. 9 spot, but he's nowhere near the defender Matthews is. But some times all you need is a little heart and you came up champs. EX factor did it for us in 2002 Little Reg in 2007?
3. Scot Shields: September has been a month of extremes -- the right-hander has been either dominant or hopeless. He struggled so much in August he was demoted from his setup role. The Halo’s need him to pitch well against Oakland to build momentum for the playoffs.

Playoffs:
Unlike past postseasons, teams have until lineup cards are exchanged before Game 1 to make revisions in the roster, in the event of last-minute developments.
Also, rosters no longer are frozen in a series once play begins. An injury, if documented properly by the medical staff, can lead to a replacement player being selected mid-series.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Thursday Night Updates

The Angels had a much needed day off while the Yankees won and Red Sox and Indians lost. With the Boston and Cleveland losses there still is a glimmer of hope that the Angels will open at home. For the Angels to get home field advantage in the first round they would have to a) Sweep Oakland, and b) have either Boston or Cleveland go winless in their last 3 games. Odds of that happening are roughly 32:1.

As of right now, here are the playoff matchups
Angels (3) @ Red Sox (1)
Yankees (4) @ Indians (2)

Current AL Standings (Including Thursday 9/27/07)

BOS 94 65 .591 --- 3 Games Left(3 vs MIN)
CLE 94 65 .591 --- 3 (3 at KC)
LAA 92 67 .579 2.0 3 (3 at OAK)
NYY 92 67 .579 2.0 3 (3 at BAL)

*Boston owns the tie-breaker against Cleveland by winning the head-to-head matchup 5-2 this season.

AL Batting Leaders (Including Thursday 9/27/07)

Chone Figgins currently has enough plate appearances to qualify for the daily batting leaders. His .336 average puts him in 4th place in the AL, just a few percentage points ahead of Jorge Posada. To qualify for the end of the season rankings, Figgins still needs 9 plate appearances in the Angels final 3 games.

1) .359 Magglio Ordonez (0-for-0 today)
2) .350 Ichiro Suzuki (1-for-4)
3) .340 Placido Polanco (0-for-0)
4) .3364 Chone Figgins (0-for-0)
5) .3360 Jorge Posada (0-for-0)

(Link to original post on Figgins and plate appearances.)

My dream National League finish

With four days left in the season, the American League playoff teams are all set. Things are quite different in the National League where 7 teams have a legitimate shot at making the playoffs. Here's my dream situation as to how the NL teams finish.

Current Standings (All Thursday games finished)

ARZ 88 70 --- West 1
NYM 87 71 1.5 East 1
SDP 87 71 1.5 West 2 - WC 1
PHI 86 72 2.5 East 2 - WC 2t
COL 86 72 2.5 West 3 - WC 2t
CHC 83 75 6.0 Cent 1
MIL 81 77 7.5 Cent 2

Here's what each team needs to do to maximize ties.

The Key Series
San Diego at Milwaukee - The Brewers need to take 3 of the 4 games. The Padres end with 88 wins and the Brewers would end with 84 wins.

The Mets need to finish 1-3 to end with 88 wins. They finish with St. Louis today and three home games against Florida.

The Phillies have 4 games left - one with Atlanta and a three-game home series against Washington. I'd like to see the Phils split 2-2, that way they end up with 88 wins.

The Rockies have one at Chavez Ravine tonight and then three at home against Arizona. Of the four games the Rockies need to win two to finish with 88 wins. The D'Backs have some flexibility. They can win 1, 2 or 3 games.

The Cubs play at Florida today and then finish with three at Cincinnati. They need to go 1-3 to finish with 84 wins.

If all these situations pan out, the Diamondbacks would have home field throughout, the Mets and Phillies tie for the East title, the Brewers and Cubs tie for the Central and the Mets, Phillies, Padres and Rockies tie for the Wild Card. Here's what the standings would look like...

ARZ 90 72 --- West 1
NYM 88 74 2.0 East 1t - WC 1t
SDP 88 74 2.0 West 2t - WC 1t
PHI 88 74 2.0 East 1t - WC 1t
COL 88 74 2.0 West 2t - WC 1t
CHC 84 78 6.0 Cent 1t
MIL 84 78 6.0 Cent 1t

That's it. There would be tie-breakers galore. So many, I'm not even going to try and figure out how baseball would solve them.

Go Brewers!

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Wednesday Night Update

Let's see, the Yankees won by 8, the Red Sox won by 5, the Indians won by 8 and the Angels lost by 14. Nothing like heading into the playoffs on a high note. The Indians also lost the night cap to the Mariners in 10, but that's understandable.

Barring a few small miracles, the Angels will be starting the playoffs in Boston next week. In fact, it could be official as soon as tomorrow. For the Angels to get home field advantage in the first round they would have to a) Sweep Oakland, and b) have either Boston or Cleveland go winless in their last 4 games.

As of right now, here are the playoff matchups
Angels (3) @ Red Sox (1)
Yankees (4) @ Indians (2)

Current AL Standings (Including Wednesday 9/26/07)

BOS 94 64 .595 --- 4 Games Left(4 vs MIN)
CLE 94 64 .595 --- 4 (1 at SEA, 3 at KC)
LAA 92 67 .579 2.5 3 (3 at OAK)
NYY 91 67 .576 3.0 4 (1 at TB, 3 at BAL)

*Boston owns the tie-breaker against Cleveland by winning the head-to-head matchup 5-2 this season.

AL Batting Leaders (Including Wednesday 9/26/07)

Chone Figgins currently has enough plate appearances to qualify for the daily batting leaders. His .336 average puts him in 4th place in the AL, just a few percentage points ahead of Jorge Posada. To qualify for the end of the season rankings, Figgins still needs 9 plate appearances in the Angels final 3 games.

1) .359 Magglio Ordonez (1-for-2 today)
2) .350 Ichiro Suzuki (2-for-6)
3) .340 Placido Polanco (1-for-4)
4) .3364 Chone Figgins (0-for-3)
5) .3360 Jorge Posada (3-for-6)

(Link to original post on Figgins and plate appearances.)


Chone does lead the American League in one category: caught stealing. He's been thrown out 12 times in 52 attempts. There are three National Leaguers with more, so he's not leading the majors.

It's a strange statistic considering the record for being caught is 42 and was set by Rickey Henderson in 1982. That happens to be the same year that Rickey stole 130 bases - also a record.


Good Links

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Dispelling a myth: Homefield is an advantage in the playoffs

Home field advantage does not exist in the MLB playoffs.

It is a statistically proven fact. In the past eight seasons, the home team has won 25 series while the road team has won 31 series.

Please stop calling the radio station after the game and worrying about it.

Think back to 2002.

Did the Angels have home field advantage?

Did they win the World Series?

The Angels went to New York, split two and won the series at home.

The Angels went to Minnesota, split two and won the series at home.

In the World Series the Angels had home field advantage and won in seven.

Three series and two of the three teams with home field advantage lost.

In fact, of the 7 post season series in 2002, 6 of the 7 teams with home field advantage lost.

Home field advantage does not exist in the MLB playoffs. Do not confuse baseball with the NFL or NBA, home field advantage just does not exist.

Last year, the Cardinals won it all. Not only are they the worst team in baseball history to win the World Series, they did it on the road. They didn't have home field advantage once.

In fact, the only team with home field advantage to win in the 2006 playoffs was the New York Mets who beat the Dodgers in the Division Series.

It's not always this much of a disadvantage, but the numbers favor the team WITHOUT home field advantage.

Records of Teams with Home Field Advantage
2006 1-6 .143 (Home team won 1 series and lost 6)
2005 5-2 .714
2004 4-3 .571
2003 2-5 .286
2002 1-6 .143
2001 5-2 .714
2000 3-4 .429
1999 4-3 .571
Tot 25-31 .446

So there it is. In the last eight seasons, the team with home field advantage has won less than 45% of the series.

The reason I only go back to 1999 is that from 1995-1998 the Division Series format was different. Currently the home team in the 5-game Division Series has games 1,2 and 5 at home. Between 1995-98, the home team played at home for games 3,4 and 5.

Here is a breakdown by series for the past 8 years.

Division Series     13-19 .406
League Championship   7-9 .438
World Series          5-3 .625

So, as it happens, you as an Angel fan would like to have the "road advantage" for the ALDS and ALCS and then the home field advantage for the World Series. With the American League hosting the World Series, the Angels look to have the advantage in 2 out of 3 series.

List of myths dispelled in recent blog entries:
List of myths to dispel in upcoming blog entries:
  • The Angels struggle against left handed pitchers.

Tuesday Night Updates

After the Angels dropped another to Texas, their chances of getting home field advantage seem to be dwindling. The Yankees also lost on a 10th inning walk-off home run by Dioner Navarro. The Red Sox and Indians both won, tightening their grasps on first round home series'.

As of right now, here are the playoff matchups
Angels (3) @ Red Sox (2)
Yankees (4) @ Indians (1)

CLE 93 63 .596 --- 6 Games Left (3 at SEA, 3 at KC)
BOS 93 64 .592 0.5 5 (1 vs OAK, 4 vs MIN)
LAA 92 66 .582 2.0 4 (1 at Tex, 3 at OAK)
NYY 90 67 .573 3.5 5 (2 at TB, 3 at BAL)

AL Batting Leaders (Including Tuesday 9/25/07)

1) .359 Magglio Ordonez (2-for-4 today)
2) .350 Ichiro Suzuki (2-for-6)
3) .340 Placido Polanco (2-for-4)

x) .339 Chone Figgins (0-for-3)

Because Figgins missed a month to start the season, he needs 13 plate appearances with 4 games remaining to qualify for the batting leaders. (Link to original post on Figgins and plate appearances.)

Good Links


Dispelling a myth: Kendry Morales Is A Power Hitter

Dispelling a myth: Kendry Morales is a power hitter.

I keep hearing Angels fans talk about the power that Morales brings to the plate. Just because he is built like a power hitter doesn't mean that he is a power hitter. He may develop into a power hitter, but right now he's not.

Proof
He has hit 8 home runs this year in AAA and in the majors in 362 at-bats. That is one home run every 45 at-bats (1:45). Projected to 600 at-bats, that's only 13 home runs in an entire season.

The strange thing is that he has shown some pop a few years ago in the lower minor leagues. In his first season (2005), he had 5 home runs in 90 at-bats at single-A Rancho Cucamonga (1:18). He was then promoted to double-A Arkansas where he hit 17 home runs in 281 at-bats (1:17).

Hopefully, he will develop power at the big league level. But the low power numbers at AAA Salt Lake City this year, make me think that he's still a couple of years away from hitting with power.

Year By Year HR Ratio and Projections

Year Lev  HR   AB Ratio Proj
2005 A     5   90  1:18  33
2005 AA   17  281  1:17  36
2005 Tot  22  371  1:17  36

2006 AAA  12  256  1:21  28
2006 Maj   5  197  1:39  15
2006 Tot  17  453  1:27  23

2007 AAA   5  255  1:51  12
2007 Maj   3  107  1:36  17
2007 Tot   8  362  1:45  13



*Projections are based on 600 at-bats per season.


List of myths dispelled in former blog entries:
List of myths to dispel in upcoming blog entries:
  • Home field advantage is an advantage
  • The Angels struggle against left handed pitchers.

Monday, September 24, 2007

Monday Standings Update

Monday night standings update. The Angels and Yankees both lost while Boston and Cleveland had the day off.

If the playoffs started today the matchups would be:
Yankees (4) @ Indians (1)
Angels (3) @ Red Sox (2)

AL Standings

CLE 92 63 .594 --- 7 Games Left (4 at SEA, 3 at KC)
BOS 92 64 .590 0.5 6 (2 vs OAK, 4 vs MIN)
LAA 92 65 .586 1.0 5 (2 at Tex, 3 at OAK)
NYY 90 66 .577 2.5 6 (3 at TB, 3 at BAL)


Sunday, September 23, 2007

Angels win the west.

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Sunday night standings update

If the playoffs started today the matchups would be:
Yankees (4) @ Indians (1)
Angels (3) @ Red Sox (2)

AL Standings

CLE 92 63 .594 --- 7 Games Left (4 at SEA, 3 at KC)
BOS 92 64 .590 0.5 6 (2 vs OAK, 4 vs MIN)
LAA 92 64 .590 0.5 6 (3 at Tex, 3 at OAK)
NYY 90 65 .581 2.0 7 (1 vs TOR, 3 at TB, 3 at BAL)
(Boston has the tiebreaker vs the Angels due to a 6-4 advantage head to head this year.)

AL Batting Leaders (Including Saturday 10/22)

1) .358 Magglio Ordonez (0-for-0 today - sat out)
2) .350 Ichiro Suzuki (1-for-4)
3) .342 Placido Polanco (2-for-4)

x) .344 Chone Figgins (0-for-4)

Because Figgins missed a month to start the season, he needs 22 plate appearances with 6 games remaining to qualify for the batting leaders.

Good Links

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Saturday night standings update

If the playoffs started today the matchups would be:
Angels (3) @ Red Sox (1)
Yankees (4) @ Indians (2)

AL Standings

BOS 92 63 .594 --- 7 Games Left
CLE 91 63 .591 0.5 8
LAA 91 64 .587 1.0 7
NYY 89 65 .578 2.5 8

AL Batting Leaders (Including Saturday 10/22)

1) .358 Magglio Ordonez (4-for-5 today)
2) .351 Ichiro Suzuki (2-for-4)
3) .340 Placido Polanco (0-for-5)

x) .347 Chone Figgins (3-for-4)

Because Figgins missed a month to start the season, he needs 27 plate appearances with 7 games remaining to qualify for the batting leaders.

Good Links

Dispelling a myth: Robb Quinlan should never play.

Dispelling a myth: Robb Quinlan should never play.

Robb Quinlan got the start last night against left handed pitcher Jarrod Washburn. While listening to the post game show it seemed that callers blamed Quinlan (and Scioscia's decision to start him) for the 6-0 loss.

Quinlan did go 0-for-3, but the other 8 Angels went 5-for-28 (.179).

What bothers me is that some caller who catches "every Angel game" is smarter than Mike Scioscia. I'm not saying Scioscia doesn't make mistakes, but he has a reason for putting Q in there.

Career AVG and OPS Against LHP

Quinlan_ .308 .847
Kotchman .261 .647
Morales_ .217 .522


How is this a hard decision?

For both average and power, Quinlan is a better choice. Quinlan hits 1 home run for every 25 at-bats against lefties. Kendry Morales has one in his career in 71 at-bats. Casey Kotchman has never hit a home run off a lefty in 119 at-bats.

List of myths to dispel in upcoming blog entries:
  • Home field advantage is an advantage
  • Kendry Morales is a power hitter
  • The Angels struggle against left handed pitchers.

Friday, September 21, 2007

Friday Night Standings & Stats Update

Updating the AL race after all games were played Friday night. The Angels lost to Jarrod Washburn and the Mariners 6-0. The Indians and Red Sox both won, but the Yankees also lost in 14 innings against Toronto.

If the playoffs started today the matchups would be:
Yankees (4) @ Indians (1)
Angels (3) @ Red Sox (2)

AL Standings

CLE 91 62 .595 --- 9 Games Left
BOS 91 63 .591 0.5 8
LAA 91 63 .591 0.5 8
NYY 88 65 .575 3.0 9

Tiebreaker Refresher (1st tiebreaker is head-to-head)

BOS 6 games - LAA 4 games
BOS 5 - CLE 2
NYY 10 - BOS 8
CLE 5 - LAA 5 (Cleveland wins on 2nd tiebreaker)
NYY 6 - CLE 0
LAA 6 - NYY 3

LA Times Article on tiebreakers with three or more teams.

AL Batting Leaders (Including Friday 10/21)

1) .350 Ichiro Suzuki (0-for-5 today)
2) .354 Magglio Ordonez (2-for-4)
3) .344 Placido Polanco (2-for-4)

x) .343 Chone Figgins (0-for-4)

Because Figgins missed a month to start the season, he needs 32 plate appearances with 8 games remaining to qualify for the batting leaders.

Playoff Schedule
Playoff Ticket Lottery
h


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AL Standings update - All Thursday Games Are Done

The Indians, Red Sox and Yankees were all off today. The Angels won, reducing their magic number to 1.

If the playoffs started today the matchups would be Yankees @ Angels & Red Sox @ Indians.

AL Standings

LAA 91 62 .595 --- 9 Games Left
CLE 90 62 .592 --- 10
BOS 90 63 .588 0.5 9
NYY 88 64 .579 2.0 10

Tiebreaker Refresher

BOS 6 games - LAA 4 games
BOS 5 - CLE 2
NYY 10 - BOS 8
CLE 5 - LAA 5 (Cleveland wins on 2nd tiebreaker)
NYY 6 - CLE 0
LAA 6 - NYY 3

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Don't piss off Vlad - The pictorial

Angel fans know that you don't mess with Vladimir Guerrero. Tonight the Seattle Mariners got a lesson. Here's a step by step pictorial for other teams.

Step 1. Opposing pitcher "misses high and inside." Oops.


Step 2. Like most baseball players, Vlad does not like to have baseballs thrown at his head. "I will exact my revenge on your next pitch, Rookie!"



Step 3. Vlad swings with all of his mite and hits a home run.



Step 4. Vlad hits a home run. "Revenge is a dish best served fria," says Vlad.



Step 5. Vlad slowly trots around the bases.



Step 6. Vlad returns to the dugout a hero as old bald guys in the stands who paid way too much for those seats give you a standing ovation.

And the moral of the story is...Don't piss off Vlad...

and don't be the bald dude sitting in the front row.

Face OFF

It is not often that a team in the MLB would say, “I wish we play the Yankees.” But every other team is not the Angels. Since Mike Scioscia became manager of the Angels the Halos have had this record against the remaining teams that will make the playoffs since the year 2000.

Remember Cleveland has had a record of under five hundred four of those seasons, so the totals will be skewed.

ANGELS RECORD VS TEAM SINCE 2000

Opp _G _W _L _Pct _RS _RA _Home _Road
BOS 67 30 37 .448 321 325 16-16 14-21
NYY 71 38 33 .535 337 356 18-17 20-16
CLE 72 39 33 .542 350 324 19-17 20-16


Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Wednesday night update - all games final

All relevant American League games have finished. The Angels, Indians and Yankees all won. The Red Sox lost to Toronto and lost their hold on home field advantage as well.

With wins today, both the Indians and the Angels surpassed the Red Sox. And with the Yankees win, the Red Sox have only a 1.5 game lead in the AL East.

If the playoffs started today the matchups would be Yankees @ Indians & Red Sox @ Angels.

AL Standings

CLE 90 62 .592 --- 10 Games Left
LAA 90 62 .592 --- 10 Games Left
BOS 90 63 .588 0.5 9 Games Left
NYY 88 64 .579 2.0 10 Games Left

Angels Magic Number

It is currently 3. With a 4 game series against the Mariners coming up at the Big A starting tomorrow, the Angels should clinch a playoff spot at home for the first time since 1986. (September 26, 1986. The Angels beat the Rangers 8-3.) As soon as the Angels beat the Mariners once, the worst the Halos can do is tie for the division title.

Figgins & the Batting Title

Chone Figgins sat out today. He has 466 plate appearances so far and needs 38 more to qualify for the Batting Leaders. With 10 games to play, I guess that he needs to play at least 8 games.

AL Batting Leaders (Including Wednesday 10/19)

1) .354 Ichiro Suzuki (2-for-3 today)
2) .353 Magglio Ordonez (0-for-4)
3) .342 Placido Polanco (1-for-4)

x) .346 Chone Figgins (0-for-0)


AL Home Field Advantage Heating Up

With less than 2 weeks remaining in the 2007 baseball season, the top four teams in the American League are separated by a mere 2.5 games.

I'm going to look at two things. First, the home and road records of these four teams to see who needs the top seed the most. Second, the record between these four teams since the 1st tie-breaker is head-to-head.

AL Standings
BOS 90 62 .592 ---
CLE 89 62 .589 0.5
LAA 89 62 .589 0.5
NYY 87 64 .576 2.5

The top team in the American League will have home field throughout the playoffs thanks to the AL's win in this year's All-Star Game. While all the teams have good home field advantages, nobody has a bigger difference between home record and road record than the Angels. The Halos are 26 games above .500 at home and one game above .500 on the road. The Yankees also have a big differential while the Red Sox and Indians have played well on the road this season.

Home
LAA 51-25 .671
NYY 49-27 .645
CLE 48-28 .632
BOS 47-28 .627

Away
BOS 43-34 .558
CLE 41-34 .547
LAA 38-37 .507
NYY 38-37 .507

Home WLP - Road WLP
LAA .164
NYY .138
CLE .085
BOS .068

Looking at these stats, it looks like the Angels should be shooting for the top record in the AL rather than resting everybody next week.

In the playoffs, the team with the best record plays the team with the worst record as long as the two teams are not in the same division. Right now the Red Sox are 1st and the Yankees are 4th. They are in the same division, so the Red Sox would play the 3rd team which right now is the Angels.

The Indians and Angels played 10 games this year and split them winning five apiece. The next tiebreaker is win-loss percentage within their own division. The Indians are 45-23 (.662) against the AL Central while the Angels are 28-19 (.596) against the AL West. Advantage Indians.

Record within Division (2nd tiebreaker)
CLE 45-23 .662
LAA 28-19 .596
BOS 40-28 .588
NYY 32-29 .525

Here is a breakdown of the head-to-head records of the 4 AL contenders. None of the teams play each other again so these records are final.

BOS 6 games - LAA 4 games
BOS 5 - CLE 2
NYY 10 - BOS 8
CLE 5 - LAA 5 (Cleveland wins on 2nd tiebreaker)
NYY 6 - CLE 0
LAA 6 - NYY 3

That's all the current information you need to know.

I'll post updates as the season winds down.

Monday, September 17, 2007

Updating Chone & Magic Number

Updating a couple of numbers that have been discussed lately. All statistics include Monday's games.

1. How many more plate appearances does Chone Figgins need to qualify for the batting leaders?
2. Angels current magic number after Monday night's 10-7 win.

1. Chone is now hitting .347 (142-for-409) in 462 plate appearances. To qualify for the batting leaders, he needs 502 plate appearances by the end of the season. A plate appearance is any at-bat and includes walks, sacrifices and hit by pitches.

As a leadoff hitter, Figgins usually gets 5 pa per game, so with 12 games remaining, he needs 8 or 9 more games.

Current AL Batting Leaders
1) .357 Magglio Ordonez (Det)
2) .353 Ichiro Suzuki (Sea)
3) .342 Placido Polanco (Det)
4) .338 Jorge Posada (NYY)
5) .329 Mike Lowell (Bos)
6) .325 Vladimir Guerrero (LAA)

Can Chone catch Ordonez?

If Figgins gets 40 more at-bats this season, he would need 19 hits (.475) to surpass Ordonez's current .357 batting average.

Angels' Magic Number

With the Angels win today the Magic Number is now 5. (Article with explanation of Magic Number.) Here's the easy formula: Magic Number = 163 - Angels Wins - Mariners Losses. i.e. 163 - 88 - 70 = 5

Situations needed for Mariners to make the playoffs.

If the Angels win 5 or more games, they win the West.
If the Angels go 4-8 (.333), the Mariners need to go 13-0 (1.000) to tie for the West division.
If the Angels go 3-9 (.250), the Mariners need to go 12-1 (.923) to win the West division.
If the Angels go 2-10 (.167), the Mariners need to go 11-2 (.846) to win the West division.
If the Angels go 1-11 (.125), the Mariners need to go 10-3 (.769) to win the West division.
If the Angels go 0-12 (.000), the Mariners need to go 9-4 (.692) to win the West division.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

All about magic numbers

Listening to the post game show today, I realized that there is some confusion with the magic number and if the Angels will clinch at home this week.

First, let me say that the Angels should clinch at home sometime next weekend against Seattle.

After today's 9-7 come-from-ahead loss, the Angels are now 87-62 (.584). The Mariners also lost, so they are now 78-70 (.527).

With the Seattle loss, the Angels' magic number is 6. The magic number is the combination of Angels wins plus Mariners losses needed to clinch the division.

How to calculate a magic number.

1. First, find out the maximum number of games Seattle can win. There are 162 games in a season and Seattle has lost 70. 162 - 70 = 92. If Seattle wins out, they will finish with 92 wins.

2. Second, add one to Seattle's maximum wins. 92 + 1 = 93. Since the M's can't win 93 games, as soon as the Angels win their 93rd game, they clinch the division.

3. Now take the new number (93) and subtract the number of games the Angels have won (87). 93 - 87 = 6.

Quick way to calculate:

Magic Number = 163 - Angel Wins - Mariners Losses

Does Seattle still have a chance? Yes, but it is really slim.

Here's the chart after today's losses by both teams.

If the Angels win 6 or more games, they win the West.
If the Angels go 5-8 (.385), the Mariners need to go 14-0 (1.000) to tie for the West division.
If the Angels go 4-9 (.308), the Mariners need to go 13-1 (.929) to win the West division.
If the Angels go 3-10 (.231), the Mariners need to go 12-2 (.857) to win the West division.
If the Angels go 2-11 (.154), the Mariners need to go 11-3 (.786) to win the West division.
If the Angels go 1-12 (.077), the Mariners need to go 10-4 (.714) to win the West division.
If the Angels go 0-13 (.000), the Mariners need to go 9-5 (.643) to win the West division.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Can Figgins Get Enough AB For Batting Title?

Detroit's Magglio Ordonez currently leads the American League with a .358 batting average. Ichiro Suzuki is second at .349 and Placido Polanco is third with .344.

Chone Figgins is batting .347 but is not included in the leaders because he does not have enough plate appearances (ab + bb + sacrafices) to qualify for the leader board.

To qualify for the batting title by the end of the season, Figgins needs to have 502 plate appearances. He currently has 443 pa with 17 games left. He will need to average 3.5 plate appearances per game the rest of the year to qualify and I think he will.

WhenFiggins leads off, he probably gets 4.5-5 plate appearances per game. So even if he takes a couple of days off, he should qualify.

Think back to May 31. Figgins had just been benched two days to "clear his head and work on some things." His batting average was an abysmal .133 (12-for-90) and Angel fans were calling for his head. He racked up 9 hits in 15 at-bats in a 4-game series with the Orioles and hasn't looked back.

Since then Figgins had hit .410 (124-for-302). And he is now within striking distance of a batting title.

It's hard to imagine that any player could transform himself in the middle of the season, but Figgins did it and I'm sure glad he did.

VLAD article

OK I normally do not do this but after reading this article I thought I would link it because it was such a nice piece on Vlad.
Enjoy.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3015574

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

A Perfect 10 for the Home Team.

The Angels are 9 1/2 games ahead of Seattle in the American League West with 18 games to play, and their magic number to clinch their third division title in four years is 10.

Starting next week on Thursday is a series that a few weeks ago seemed like one for the ages… Well one for this season to hang on starts. But with the stellar play of our friends from the north it could be either the plateau for a celebration or just another meaningless series until the playoffs start.

There are nine games between then and now and if both teams continue playing as they have over the past two weeks we should have this thing wrapped up some time before next Wednesday.

The Halos continue play this series against the O’s and then continue over to Chicago for a three game series followed by a three game series at home versus Tampa Bay. Seattle then comes to town for that previously mentioned explosive series before we finish on the road against Texas and then Oakland.

A magic number of ten with eighteen to play - not even the 1995 Angels could have blown this one.

New MLB Rule: Best Record Picks Schedule

MLB has given a slight reward to the team that finishes with the best record in the American League. In addition to having home field, the team gets to pick which schedule it would like from two predetermined schedules. One of the schedules plays 5 games in 7 days, the other plays 5 games in 8 days.

Personally, I don't think this matters, but it seems like some Yankees and Red Sox fans think it's a big deal, so I'm passing it on.

This year, the two schedules are as follows:

Series A Series B Possible Times
Wed Oct 3 Game 1 10:30am, 2:00, 5:30
Thu Oct 4 Game 1 12:30, 4:00, 7:30
Fri Oct 5 Game 2 Game 2 2:00, 5:30
Sat Oct 6
Sun Oct 7 Game 3 Game 3 9:00am, 12:30, 4:00
Mon Oct 8 Game 4 Game 4 2:00, 5:30
Tue Oct 9
Wed Oct 10 Game 5 Game 5

The one obvious advantage is if you play Series A, you can have your #1 starter pitch games 1 & 4 and your #2 starter pitch games 2 & 5 on regular rest. Of course, you'll then be screwed for the ALCS, but who's looking ahead?

For what it's worth, here is the rest of the AL Playoff Schedule

ALCS
Fri Oct 12 Game 1 5:00pm FOX
Sat Oct 13 Game 2 5:00pm FOX

Mon Oct 15 Game 3 1:00pm FOX
Tue Oct 16 Game 4 5:00pm FOX
Thu Oct 18 Game 5 5:00pm FOX

Sat Oct 20 Game 6 1:00pm or 5:00pm FOX
Sun Oct 21 Game 7 5:00pm FOX

World Series

Wed Oct 24 Game 1 5:00pm FOX
Thu Oct 25 Game 2 5:00pm FOX

Sat Oct 27 Game 3 5:00pm FOX
Sun Oct 28 Game 4 5:00pm FOX
Mon Oct 29 Game 5 5:00pm FOX

Wed Oct 31 Game 6 5:00pm FOX
Thu Nov 1 Game 7 5:00pm FOX

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Ex-Angels Report 9/11/07

Notes & Stats from former Angels in the Majors
  • Troy Glaus was accused of buying steroids while with the Angels (article). He should probably get back on the juice as his home run total has dropped from 38 last year to 20 this year.
  • Jarrod Washburn has lost his last 3 starts and is 1-7 with a 5.32 era since the All-Star game.
  • After going 4-0 (3.82 era) in August, Jeff Weaver is 0-2 (12.38 era) in September.
  • Jose Guillen was 4-for-5 with 3 rbi in Seattle's 14-7 win against Detroit on Sunday.
  • Last Thursday, Bobby Jenks allowed an earned run for the first time since July 17th. Jenks had appeared in 18 games and pitched 18 innings during that span.
  • Bengie Molina hit two home runs yesterday in the Giants 5-3 loss to Arizona. It was his first multi-homer game since May 7th.
  • 38-year old relief pitcher Russ Springer has not allowed an earned run in 11 straight games. Since the All-Star Break, he is 3-0 with a 1.73 era.

EX-ANGEL         TEAM  AB   R HR RBI  BB  SO   AVG   OPS
Troy Glaus        TOR 385  60 20  62  61 102  .262  .839
Damion Easley     NYM 193  24 10  26  19  35  .280  .824
Jose Guillen      SEA 518  76 20  89  37 101  .290  .815
Jose Molina       NYY  42   6  1   4   2   6  .310  .786
Bengie Molina     SF  448  36 19  79  13  50  .286  .767
Scott Spiezio     STL 184  26  3  27  22  35  .272  .757
Jamie Burke       SEA  91  15  0   7   5  12  .308  .755
Jim Edmonds       STL 333  37 11  44  36  69  .246  .717
David Eckstein    STL 379  50  2  27  21  21  .296  .702
Alfredo Amezaga   FLA 381  42  2  28  32  47  .265  .685
Darin Erstad      CWS 281  28  3  29  26  41  .256  .660
Orlando Palmeiro  HOU  95  12  0   6  14   7  .242  .619
Shea Hillenbrand  LAD  69   6  1   9   2  12  .246  .608
Jeff DaVanon      OAK  49   8  0   4   6  13  .224  .589
Adam Kennedy      STL 279  27  3  18  22  33  .219  .572
Sal Fasano        TOR  45   5  1   4   2  19  .178  .540
Alberto Callaspo  ARI 131   9  0   5   8  11  .206  .507
Steve Finley      COL  94   9  1   2   8   4  .181  .490
Josh Paul         TB  104   8  1   9   6  30  .192  .486

EX-ANGEL         TEAM  G  W-L  SV   IP   BB   K   ERA   BAA
J.C. Romero       PHI 37  0-2   0  24.2  22  22  1.82  .154
Russ Springer     STL 67  7-1   0  57.0  18  58  2.37  .189
Bobby Jenks       CWS 61  3-5  37  60.0  13  53  2.85  .197
Brendan Donnelly  BOS 27  2-1   0  20.2   5  15  3.05  .235
Kevin Gregg       FLA 66  0-5  29  75.1  38  79  3.23  .203
Matt Wise         MIL 54  3-1   1  53.0  16  42  3.74  .274
Joel Peralta      KC  55  1-3   1  81.1  17  65  3.76  .273
Derrick Turnbow   MIL 69  4-4   1  62.2  37  80  4.16  .179
Jarrod Washburn   SEA 28  9-13  0 170.2  56  97  4.32  .271
Paul Byrd         CLE 27 14-6   0 168.0  24  82  4.34  .295
Scott Schoeneweis NYM 60  0-2   0  51.1  26  32  5.08  .284
Aaron Sele        NYM 30  3-1   0  48.2  20  27  5.18  .355
Gary Glover       TB  58  5-4   2  68.0  24  42  5.29  .298
Jake Woods        SEA  4  0-0   0  10.2   7   4  5.91  .220
Jeff Weaver       SEA 23  6-12  0 125.0  30  69  6.05  .319
Hector Carrasco   LAA 29  2-1   0  38.1  23  33  6.57  .272
Bret Prinz        CWS  4  0-0   0   3.1   2   1  8.10  .286
Ramon Ortiz       COL  7  0-0   0  10.1   6   5  9.58  .341

Sunday, September 9, 2007

Angels Under .500 Against Lefties

With the back-to-back losses to Cleveland's CC Sabathia and Aaron Laffey, the Angels are now 16-18 (.471) in games started against left handed pitchers. They're 68-41 (624) against right handed starters. Could this be trouble in October?

The Angels hitting numbers are basically the same vs lefties as righties. Their team average against righties is .286, vs lefties it's .283. Not much different. Their OPS is equally similar, against righties it's .763 and against lefties, it's .769.

With the hitting numbers so close, the win-loss record might be a statistical aberration. In any case, I took a look to see who the Angels might face in the playoffs and how many left-handed starters were in each rotation.

Cleveland could be a playoff opponent for the Angels, but I doubt they would start Laffey despite his success today. Besides Sabathia, their 4-man playoff rotation would probably include three righties - Paul Byrd, Jake Westbrook and Fausto Carmona.

The Yankees, who as of today, would be the Angels opening round opponent have only one lefty- Andy Pettitte. Chien-Ming Wang, Roger Clemens, Mike Mussina, Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy are all right handed.

Boston also only has one southpaw, Jon Lester. Their right handed starters include Curt Schilling, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Tim Wakefield and Josh Beckett.

It appears that the Angels won't face more than one lefty each series.

Here's a look at the Angels player's stats.

          VS RHP       VS LHP      DIFFERENCE
          AVG   OPS    AVG   OPS   AVG   OPS
Quinlan  .207  .574   .267  .679   +60  +105
Willits  .273  .714   .333  .783   +60   +69
Mathis   .234  .690   .280  .837   +46  +147
Maicer   .274  .723   .300  .817   +26   +94
GA       .290  .819   .314  .891   +24   +72
Cabrera  .302  .723   .325  .884   +23  +161
Napoli   .248  .805   .265  .805   +17     0
Kendrick .321  .789   .333  .875   +12   +86
Figgins  .338  .829   .346  .894    +8   +65
Kotchman .290  .835   .279  .708   -11  -127
Vlad     .330  .946   .306  .956   -24   +10
Matthews .282  .808   .179  .565  -103  -243
Morales  .333  .904   .227  .545  -106  -359

Salt Lake Loses 3 Straight, Series

The Salt Lake Bees lost 4-2 today in Sacramento and were eliminated from the playoffs. After taking a 2 games to none series lead, Sacramento returned home and swept three games to win the best-of-5 series.

Nick Green took the loss for the Bees in his first game since being promoted from AA Arkansas. He allowed 4 runs in 7 innings.

After the game, 3rd Baseman/shortstop Brandon Wood and outfielder Terry Evans were called up to the Angels.

The moves leave only five players on the Angels 40-man roster not in the big leagues: Pitchers Jose Arredondo and Steven Shell, outfielders Nick Gorneault and Tommy Murphy and catcher Bobby Wilson.

Saturday, September 8, 2007

MLB Flips Coins To Decide Tie-Breaker Locations

MLB conducted coin tosses to decide where potential one-game playoff games take place. Evidently the Angels are a lock for the playoffs according to MLB since they weren't involved in any flips.

In fact, all the current division races in the American League required no flips.

In the AL Wild Card Race, the Yankees were the big winners (2-0) and the Mariners (0-2) were the big losers. Here are the results for the AL Wild Card.

Mariners @ Yankees
Tigers @ Yankees
Mariners @ Tigers

For the record, here are the NL results.

NL EAST
Mets @ Phillies

NL CENTRAL
Brewers @ Cubs
Cubs @ Cardinals
Cardinals @ Brewers

NL WEST
Padres @ D-backs
Dodgers @ D-backs
Rockies @ D-backs
Padres @ Dodgers
Rockies @ Padres
Dodgers @ Rockies

NL WILD CARD
Dodgers @ Padres
Phillies @ Padres
Padres @ Rockies
Cubs @ Padres
Padres @ Brewers
Phillies @ Dodgers
Dodgers @ Rockies
Cubs @ Dodgers
Dodgers @ Brewers
Phillies @ Rockies
Cubs @ Phillies
Phillies @ Brewers
Rockies @ Cubs
Brewers @ Rockies
Brewers @ Cubs

NL Flips Win-Loss Record

Diamondbacks 3-0
Rockies 5-3
Brewers 4-3
Padres 4-4
Cardinals 1-1
Cubs 3-4
Dodgers 3-5
Phillies 2-4
Mets 0-1

Friday, September 7, 2007

The Rally Monkey Must Be In Salt Lake

The Salt Lake Bees rallied with two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat Sacramento 11-10 in the second game of their best-of-5 playoff series. Adam Pavkovich singled home Matt Brown and Brandon Wood for the win.

It was the second consecutive night that the Bees came from behind in the last inning to win the game.

Brandon Wood led off the bottom of the 9th with a single. Matt Brown followed with a double that moved Wood to third. Pavkovich singled on a full count to right field scoring both runners. In their previous win, the Bees also did not make an out in their comeback inning.

The Bees trailed 10-6 in the 8th inning and rallied for 3 runs on hits by Tommy Murphy, Mike Eylward and Terry Evans and a key Sacramento error.

Six Salt Lake players had 2 hits in the game: Casey Smith, Tommy Murphy, Mike Eylward, Terry Evans, Nick Gorneault and Matt Brown.

The Bees play Friday night at Sacramento where they could close out the series. The winner of the series will play the winner of the Nashville Sounds (Brewers) vs New Orleans Zephyrs (Mets) series. New Orleans currently has a 2-0 lead in the best-of-5 series.

SI Report: Troy Glaus Accused Of Steroids

Sports Illustrated has reported that former Angels Troy Glaus received steroid shipments between September 2003 and May 2004 while with the Anaheim Angels. (article)

Glaus received the steroids in the mail to a Corona address that was traced to him.

After playing only 91 games for the Angels in 2003, Glaus alledgedly ordered nandrolone and testosterone from Signature Pharmacy in Orlando, Florida.

Glaus continues to be slowed by injuries in 2004 and played only 58 games before the Angels decided not to re-sign him. Angel fans were angry when the Halos let the 2002 World Series MVP sign with Arizona, but whispers of steroid concerns soon followed.

Glaus played one year with Arizona before being traded to Toronto. Did the Diamondbacks have the same info as the Angels? And why weren't the Blue Jays informed or concerned?

The Sports Illustrated report was filed by Luis Fernando Llosa and L. Jon Wertheim. The same two writers who in March reported that Gary Matthews Jr had received steroids from a pharmacy in Alabama.

The above photo shows Glaus fielding ground balls during Spring Training of this season.

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Is There A Catcher Controversy?

Mike Napoli played last night for the first time in over a month while recovering from a pulled hamstring. In his absence, Jeff Mathis has performed really well. No player should lose their job due to an injury, but I wouldn't be surprised if the two split the catching duties the rest of the season.

It's not that Mathis has played that much better, it's just that the Angels believe he has a higher ceiling than Napoli. And the Angels love playing with the long term in mind.

Both catchers were in spring training in 2006 when the 23-year old Mathis beat out everybody for the Angels Opening Day starting catcher job. Mathis wasn't ready and proved it to everybody by hitting just .103 (4-for-39) before Jose Molina and Napoli took over the catching duties. More frustrating was that Mathis didn't do a good job defensively. He has been named the Angels' Minor League Defensive Player Of The Year three times, but wasn't ready for that at the Major League level either.

With Mathis being sent back down, Napoli came in and hit .286 (40-for-140) with a .990 ops before the All-Star Break last season. It seemed like Napoli was the catcher of the future; the guy that everyone expected Mathis to be.

Then Napoli had a bad second half. He hit just .122 in August and finished the second half hitting just .164 (21-for-128) with an ops of .624. Meanwhile, Mathis continued to work on his game and hit .289 at AAA Salt Lake.

The starting catcher competition was opened up again this spring and Napoli won the job. Napoli played well this season. He was solid defensively and was hitting .253 with an ops of .805, before his injury. Meanwhile, Mathis was struggling offensively at Salt Lake hitting just .244, 45 points lower than last season.

Despite Mathis' lack of offense in AAA, the Angels felt confident enough with him as a back up that they traded their veteran backup catcher Jose Molina to the Yankees on July 21st. One week later, Napoli injured his hamstring stealing second base and the job was handed to Mathis.

With nobody looking over his shoulder, Mathis was able to relax. Maybe being relaxed was the difference. He has done a great job defensively, saving wild pitches left and right. Offensively he has struggled until this past week. In the last seven games, he has gone 11-for-26 (.423) with 5 multi-hit games and has raised his average from .200 to .246. He has also hit 3 home runs this past week.

Right now, I think the Angels will have the catchers split time to give Napoli a chance to get back to game speed. So the controversy will be put on hold.

However, come game one of the playoffs, we'll see who starts at catcher and let the debate begin.

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Colon pitches ok for Salt Lake

Bartolo Colon made a rehab start today for the Salt Lake Bees in their playoff opener against the Sacramento River Cats (Oakland A's).

Colon allowed three runs (all earned) in 6 innings. He gave up 5 hits and walked none with two of the hits being home runs by Daric Barton.

When Bart left the game, the Bees were leading 6-3 and he was in line for the win. However the Bees bullpen tandem of Alex Serrano and Greg Jones let Bart down. The River Cats scored two in the 8th and one in the 9th to tie the game at six. The tying run was driven in by former Angel Lou Merloni.

The River Cats then scored two more runs in the top of the 10th. At this point, you have to wonder, do they have the Rally Monkey in Salt Lake? It looks that way.

Here's how the bottom of the 10th went for Salt Lake: Tommy Murphy singles, Mike Eylward singles, Terry Evans singles (Murphy Scores), Nick Gorneault singles loading the bases, Brandon Wood singles in two for the victory. Now that's efficiency, 5 batters, 5 singles and 3 runs.

Nick Gorneault had a team high three hits for the Bees. Brandon Wood, Matt Brown and Greg Porter each had two rbi in the win.

The second game in the best-of-5 series is Thursday night in Salt Lake City.

Wally World Returns again in Anderson

So ok we lost today. GA continued his RBI streak and until Joe Saunders threw a 2 and 2 fastball to Mark Ellis, things were going good. Ellis cranked one over the left-field wall for a game-changing, three-run home run in the fourth inning. Ellis' 17th homer, which set a franchise single-season record for an Oakland second baseman, turned a two-run deficit into a one-run lead, and the Athletics went on to a 6-2 victory at Angel Stadium.

Saunders (7-3) retired nine of 10 batters through three innings but walked Marco Scutaro to lead off the fourth and gave up a one-out single to Jack Cust. Ellis followed with his home run, giving Oakland a 3-2 lead.

Reggie Willits and Orlando Cabrera opened the Angels' first inning with singles, and Garret Anderson lined an RBI single to right, giving the left fielder RBIs in 10 consecutive games, tying a franchise record set by Wally Joyner (1986) and Fred Lynn (1984).

Anderson has 27 RBIs in his last 15 games and a major league-leading 53 RBIs in 50 games since the All-Star break.

2nd Half RBI Leaders

52 Garret Anderson (LAA)
50 Bobby Abreu (NYY)
50 Magglio Ordonez (Det)
46 Carlos Pena (TB)
46 Ryan Howard (Phi)
45 Alex Rodriguez (NYY)
43 Pat Burrell (Phi)
42 David Oritz (Bos)
42 Garret Atkins (Col)