Proceeds from the ads below will be donated to the
Bob Wuesthoff scholarship fund.
Wednesday, April 20, 2005 |
The Knife's Edge: Coasting At .500
I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.And so it was that I looked up today to see the Giants were 6-7, one game under .500. Considering they're missing their two big sluggers, Bonds and Alou, that's a pretty good place to be, actually. The Dodgers, four and a half games ahead of the Padres and Diamondbacks, also have the best record in baseball, for now, and little to worry about except the eventual fall to earth.-- Ecclesiastes 9:11
The Angels, on the other hand, have managed only a .500 7-7 record, tying them for first place with the M's and A's. Part of the reason they're at breakeven was Lackey's loss yesterday, which was cause for a Mike Scioscia closed-door meeting.
"John has the ability to make pitches in tough situations, but when he hits a bump in the road, his frustration level elevates," Scioscia said. "He has to realize that everything he does is not going to turn to gold….Well, sure, and there's a line as long as your arm, John, in case you can't hack it:"We talk about mound presence. At times, John has been swallowed up by the circumstances of a situation. Instead of trying to throw the ball harder or make the break [of his curve] bigger, he just needs to make pitches. We're talking about consistency. This is not a guy who's never done it."
"John is searching for consistency," Scioscia said. "His career at times has been spectacular; at times he needs to clean some stuff up. Right now, he's on a plateau. We need to get him back to how he was throwing the ball at the end of last year. He needs to put together a string of good starts."They've been saying that for two years now. I remember vividly being at Angel Stadium (nee Edison Field) for opening day in 2003, and Lackey getting shellacked 6-3.
If not, would the Angels consider a change? Right-hander Dustin Moseley is 2-0 and has given up no runs and five hits in 12 innings of his first two triple-A starts, and current Angel relievers Chris Bootcheck, who threw 3 1/3 scoreless innings Tuesday, and Jake Woods can start.Well, "start" is a relative term. Sure, they can occupy the mound for 18 outs or so, but how many runs in that time?
Starting pitching continues to be a worry for the Angels. It will be so long as their minor league system fails to produce quality starters.
Comments:
i don't know anything about him, or if he's any good, but i've seen jake woods a couple of times this season and i really like watching his delivery. it's so smooth! that means very little, but it's nice to watch.
-vishal
-vishal
# posted by 
: 4/20/2005 02:50:00 PM
: 4/20/2005 02:50:00 PM
I'm inclined to agree that the team's minor league system isn't churning out enough pitching talent.
And the whole problem gets exacerbated by the fact that Stoneman in recent times has appeared unwilling to make the kind of bold (and perhaps risky) trade that could land the team another much-needed quality starter.
- Chris
And the whole problem gets exacerbated by the fact that Stoneman in recent times has appeared unwilling to make the kind of bold (and perhaps risky) trade that could land the team another much-needed quality starter.
- Chris
# posted by : 4/20/2005 03:35:00 PM
: 4/20/2005 03:35:00 PM
How ever you look at it, Lackey isn't long for this rotation what with Santana nearly ready for a shot. I'm all for expediting his exit by giving Mosely a look, but I doubt he'll be any more productive.
Does anyone else get the feeling that Lackey could be damn effective as a late-inning reliever?
Does anyone else get the feeling that Lackey could be damn effective as a late-inning reliever?
Chris -- we may get to see such a trade now that SS has been blocked.
Richard -- Santana bothers me in that he starts off tainted by the "injury risk" label. He needs a solid season of 25+ starts before he escapes it, not to mention a better ERA than 3.30 in the Texas League. His H/9 jumped up too much for my liking; he needs to prove himself in AAA first.
Also, agreed on Moseley. Interesting but nothing more until he proves himself at AAA. Moseley's second turn through AAA in the International League in Cincy's system wasn't nearly as successful as his first time through; early returns from Salt Lake are even worse, with a WHIP near unity (ouch) and a K/9 of 3 (double ouch). I'm sure he'll recover some from this; PCL is hell on pitchers, but if he somehow survives, he'll be a man, my son.
Chris, this is why I'm mildly optimistic about Stoneman doing something on pitching; Moseley was actually a pretty good deal for the Angels, and injury aside, Ortiz has done well for the Reds thus far. Maybe what the Angels need is to think about a trade of Lackey to some NL team that's a bit shorthanded... Atlanta?
Richard -- Santana bothers me in that he starts off tainted by the "injury risk" label. He needs a solid season of 25+ starts before he escapes it, not to mention a better ERA than 3.30 in the Texas League. His H/9 jumped up too much for my liking; he needs to prove himself in AAA first.
Also, agreed on Moseley. Interesting but nothing more until he proves himself at AAA. Moseley's second turn through AAA in the International League in Cincy's system wasn't nearly as successful as his first time through; early returns from Salt Lake are even worse, with a WHIP near unity (ouch) and a K/9 of 3 (double ouch). I'm sure he'll recover some from this; PCL is hell on pitchers, but if he somehow survives, he'll be a man, my son.
Chris, this is why I'm mildly optimistic about Stoneman doing something on pitching; Moseley was actually a pretty good deal for the Angels, and injury aside, Ortiz has done well for the Reds thus far. Maybe what the Angels need is to think about a trade of Lackey to some NL team that's a bit shorthanded... Atlanta?
Yeah, maybe they could use Lackey in the bullpen. If he does ok there then they could use him as trade bait along with some minor league prospects at positions like SS where they are backed up, as you have pointed out.
All I know for sure is I'm getting real tired of watching Lackey and Gregg screw the pooch every time they're on the mound.
- Chris
All I know for sure is I'm getting real tired of watching Lackey and Gregg screw the pooch every time they're on the mound.
- Chris
# posted by : 4/20/2005 05:30:00 PM
: 4/20/2005 05:30:00 PMNewer› ‹Older
 |
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.