Monday, August 13, 2007 |
Pickoff Moves, Lunchtime Edition
The Urgency (Or Lack Thereof) Of Mike Napoli's Return
I recall a couple days ago that the Angels broadcasters relayed Mike Scioscia's equivocation on Mike Napoli as the team's starting catcher upon his return. I've spent the last couple days with this thought in the back of my head, and it's hard to square this with the fact that he'll be coming back without a rehab stint first. Possible scenarios:- Scioscia likes Jeff Mathis better as a game-caller and/or defensively.
- He's uncertain about Napoli's ability to adjust to major league pitching having been out so long, but then, why not leave him at Rancho for a game or three while that's going on?
- Jeff Mathis needs a day off, Ryan Budde isn't up to the task, and he dares not say so in public. (Of course, he gets today off, so that doesn't get a lot of play.)
Roster Notes
- Those who think Bartolo Colon can still have a positive impact on the Angels' fortunes will be cheered to read that he threw a 30-pitch bullpen sesson Sunday and felt good afterwards. He'll throw a 45-pitch session Wednesday and could start a rehab assignment on the weekend.
- There's still no word about Matt Harvey, one of the Angels' top picks in the 2007 draft.
- Tony Abreu's agent, Scott Boras, is steaming that Abreu was sent to AAA rather than placed on the DL with an injury. A similar incident between Anibal Sanchez and the Marlins ended up with the players' union filing a grievance and Sanchez being reinstated.
How Chone Figgins Got His Swing Back
I saw this piece about Chone Figgins and how he got his swing back after a miserable April and May in the Sunday Times and forgot to link to it:Nothing worked.His fingers felt strange. His swing felt funky.
He groped, lurched and looked lost. He swung hard and just knew that this would be the hit that broke his slump. Then he watched, horrified, as another baseball smacked off his bat and curved into an infielder's glove.
Since 2002, Chone Figgins has been an Angel in Anaheim. He was doing well, and he was ready. This would be his breakout season. Instead, what he got was a nightmare.
First, he hurt his right hand. Then, all at once, he could no longer get a hit. Fans started calling for his head. There were rumors that the Angels would get rid of him. A trade.
His numbers told the story. On May 1, his batting average stood at .125. Twenty-eight days later, it had climbed -- by .008.
One hit for roughly 10 times at bat. Great odds for the lottery, awful for a baseball player.
Worst of all, Figgins, who pronounces his first name like Shawn, simply had no clue.
What was wrong?
We've all been there: nothing going right, no end in sight. Maybe there was something here all of us could learn.
Some baseball players don't like to talk about things like this, good or bad. If they're cursed, then talking about it might make things worse. On the other hand, if they're charmed, then talking about it might make the magic disappear.
Figgins isn't like that.
We sat in the empty stands at Anaheim last week, just before batting practice. Figgins is 5 inches less than 6 feet tall, unimposing enough that you could easily mistake him for a dentist. But his brow was furrowed, his voice anxious. He sounded like a skier talking about a chain-reaction collision at Mammoth. "Man," he said, "it just snowballed.
"I'd have a good at-bat, and then I'd tinker. I'd think, 'Oh, if I get out in front of the ball a little. . . ,' or, 'Oh, if I stay back a little.' It was like I was sort of lost."
Eric Gagne: Game Over, Over?
Eric Gagne isn't getting it done in Boston, having failed at his appointed middle-relief task in his last two appearances. There were suggestions in the BTF thread on this article that his WHIP rate is up from his glory days with the Dodgers. In fact, it's a perfect 3.00 with the Red Sox, and a 1.259 overall, a figure he hasn't approached since 2001 when he was still thought of as a starter. That the O's, hardly a big-hitting team, knocked him around made the failure even more painful.OT: You Oughta Write A Book
Matt Welch did, this one about John McCain, the man who would be President. You can pre-order the thing on Amazon (link above); Welch engages in some self-promotion at his blog.Labels: angels, dodgers, ex-dodgers, injuries, offtopic
Whatever Mike does with his two youngin's is fine by me - that's the last thing i'd second guess Scios about.
btw, there was "news" about Harvey, but you are correct - the news was "there was no news", and i'm sure that's what you meant.
i'm glad the McCain book is done - hopefully this will give Matt more time to write about baseball.
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