6-4-2 — an Angels/Dodgers double play blog

The blithe details of the game belie the kind of team I believe the Angels now are, one directly reflected in the current standings. Only a half game ahead of the hapless Astros, they would be in last place in the 2012 AL West. As then, once more they find ways to lose. While the prior losses that mostly got us to this state were close, this one wasn't, embarrassingly handed to the team by last year's division winning A's. I haven't paid much attention to spring training, owing to an extended vacation in New Zealand virtually all of February that quenched any desire I had to leave home for any reason whatsoever, but what I did see of the Angels in Arizona was disheartening, the bullpen especially.

C.J. Wilson's annoying habit of exploding one inning of every single start continued, and right away with the first, in which he surrendered three runs in a horrid mess of walks and singles, as a drunk man might keep retching long after disgorging the contents of his stomach. But then — and only after surrendering a solo homer to Coco Crisp to start the second — he settled down, and actually managed to outpitch the A's starter, Jarrod Parker, the latter only lasting 3.1 innings.

Usually when you can chase the other team's starter, it's a pretty good sign you've got a shot at a win. But by this point, the Halos were still down 4-2. They eventually turned that around in the sixth to make it 5-4 in an inning that saw the dubiously hired Josh Hamilton make his lone contribution, a sac fly to tie the game.

So the end of hope. The Angels held the A's at bay through two outs of the seventh, with Scott Downs — who has been dreadful this year, mostly — posting a very respectable inning, to give way to Kevin Jepson, who had been doing fairly well. As it happened, that was a horrible mistake, for as the Register's Jeff Fletcher tweeted, pinch hitter John Jaso hits righties better over his career by about .250 points of OBP (.789 vs. .539). While it wasn't exactly predictable that Jaso would homer, he did, and so, later, did Brandon Moss, who uncharacteristically hit 21 last year. A lesson, perhaps made starker by the enthusiastic boos that accompanied Jepson when he slunk back into the dugout after finally retiring DH Nate Freiman, four batters after his entrance into the game.

The game featured a mess in the offense, too, as the Angels stranded thirteen base runners, and headliner Josh Hamilton went 0-for-4 with a sac fly as duly noted before. Not a propitious start for the homestand, or the season. It is the sort of thing that makes you wonder whether the owner can be fired.

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Various observations:

• The sudden Dodger Stadium-length concession lines at the park that I expected were a Freeway Series, early season anomaly continued unabated. People I know at certain concession stands who were competent and fast (the bartender Chet at the tequila stand in my section, 530 or thereabouts) are gone, replaced by someone I do not know who is vastly his inferior. And everywhere, long, long, slow lines.
• Verizon data is finally slow and awful during the game. My 4G LTE WiFi card is next to useless during the game, constantly downshifting to 3G, though AT&T is scarcely better.
• I haven't done a thorough look-see at the concessions, but the Chronic Taco in the Pavilion section is woefully understaffed and painfully (and to my eye, unnecessarily) slow. That's too bad, because it's probably the best food in the house at the moment. I recommend their same-branded stand in the third base entryway.
• In case you missed it: Jered Weaver will be out 4-6 weeks thanks to a comebacker in his last start that nailed his elbow. I wonder, given how badly he pitched Sunday in Texas, whether it wasn't a stress fracture worsened by impact. Update 4/11: Duh, injury was to his non-pitching elbow.

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Labels: angels, athletics, recaps

So much has gone on, but it seems like even management doesn't give a damn anymore; extending a 2-run deficit to a 4-run hole with the team blanked for inning after inning, because they sent Jason Isringhausen out there, would be inexcusable if it weren't for the ransacking of the bullpen from the night before. Really, the only reason to show up for 2013 season tickets is the prospect of seeing Mike Trout every day, but he's only one player. The rest are aging or dubious. Weaver is a mess lately, and his injury is scary. Kendrick at second is a disappointment, Kendrys at first a cipher who may recover, or not, but in any case will be a juggling act with Pujols for playing time. Aybar isn't really a top tier shortstop, third base is an open question, and while I love individual aspects of the outfield (Trout), the corners are far less certain. Torii Hunter almost certainly won't be back, and even if he was, would he be good? Vernon Wells will return (and will suck), and that means Bourjos and his weak bat in center.

The non-Weaver parts of the rotation are almost certain to be a shambles again. Wilson and Haren will be albatrosses. Santana will have gone to free agency and a slot with the Royals or whatever other cellar dweller wants him, or if he gets lucky and parlays his second half into a better contract, maybe some middling club like the Braves. Ugh. Can't think about paying that kind of money for the junkpile team the 2013 Angels are about to become. And the sad thing is they won't likely even get a protected draft pick for their efforts in 2014.

ESPN Box • Angels recap

Labels: angels, athletics, recaps

Mike DiGiovanna tweeted that the A's have claimed Rich Thompson as he passed through waivers following his DFA off the 40-man roster.

Update: Distantly related: the Mariners have signed ex-Angels OF Chris Pettit to a minor league deal, per Jerry Crasnick. He was released by the Dodgers at the end of spring training.

Labels: angels, athletics, transactions

Another game, another series lost. Wake me when they've won one.

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Labels: angels, athletics, recaps

I watched this game through my fingers, the ex-Angel Bartolo Colon mowing down men who mostly weren't teammates from his former stint with the team. It is April 18, and the Halos have yet to win a single series, 12 games into the year. This is beyond pathetic.

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Labels: angels, athletics, ex-angels, recaps

This game was a microcosm of what's been wrong with the Angels pitching, and to some degree, reflected by Mike Scioscia's call to pull Dan Haren in the seventh. With the rotation scuffling, the call to the bullpen might have been justified had the bullpen been doing better of late. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case, and Kevin Jepsen did what he has been so infamous for, blowing the game wide open in the eighth. You can't DFA the whole Angels bullpen, yet it seems like it's a good idea if something better comes along.

Pleasant surprise: Vernon Wells homering in the ninth, a solo shot that didn't affect the game thanks to the Jepsen crater. Aybar and Kendrick in the 1-2 holes were both 0-fers, while Kendry Morales proved he can hit (yay) but can't run (boo), trying to leg out a double from a single. His feet are still quite slow (Ken Arneson on Twitter wrote that he's "as slow as a Molina"). Ouch.

ESPN Box • Angels recap

Labels: angels, athletics, recaps

Having missed Saturday's clobbering of the Yankees, it seems like I'm only catching the Angels whenever they collapse in front of the opposition. Last night's full-on storming offense — started with Kendrys Morales' three-run homer in the first — felt like a kind of homecoming for a team that has been both literally and figuratively out for a while. Jered Weaver wasn't dominating as you might expect him to be facing a team not expected to be in the top half of offense, but he held them scoreless on five hits while only walking one; and none of them got past second base while he was on the mound.

In fact, the closest the A's got to scoring was in the ninth, when twice Angels infielders botched what should have been game-ending plays; Howie Kendrick and Erick Aybar made successive errors on grounders by Cliff Pennington and Kila Ka'aihue. LaTroy Hawkins bumbled through one more batter, walking Eric Sogard, but finally got Jemile Weeks to strike out on a high fastball.

Outside of his first, Brandon McCarthy actually pitched fairly well, save for plunking Peter Bourjos in the second. You do have to wonder why Bob Melvin stuck with McCarthy in the eighth after giving up a leadoff double to Albert Pujols with Morales, who had homered earlier, up next; but I don't question gifts. The Halos got a couple more runs off Andrew Carignan, someone I had not heard of but who looked like a linebacker converted to the mound, and pitched about as well, too. A fine game for the Angels, who needed one after their really bad start.

ESPN box • Angels recap

Labels: angels, athletics, recaps

I just fell in love with this piece on ESPN The Magazine when I got it in the mail (I'm a subscriber to the print edition via Insider) because of the cover alone and the included text:

After he discovered analytics, Brandon McCarthy changed his motion, saved his career, signed the big money deal, and married this model. Score one for the nerds!

As Helen observed, his wife (who makes her money in front of the camera, but in a different way) is clearly more relaxed than McCarthy (who is all about the "meh, you're looking at her, but it's all good). Fun piece.

Labels: athletics, sabermetrics

Kind of a crazy story, given Manny's multiple brushes with banned substances, but it looks like the A's get to find out what's left in the tank at one year and $500,000. He'll still have to sit out 50 games due to his prior suspension.

Labels: athletics, ex-dodgers, transactions

• We know more about the district court's stay of the Dodgers TV rights auction:

  Stark said lawyers for Fox have demonstrated a substantial likelihood they will succeed in January's hearing. That's because the bankruptcy judge who freed the Dodgers from the current contract arrangement with Fox improperly relied on a single case in making his decision, Stark said. In addition, Stark wrote that U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross likely made two factual mistakes: finding that the sale of the broadcasting rights was necessary to ensure creditors were paid and finding that the broadcasting rights needed to be sold to maximize the team's value.

• Here's a fascinating New York Times article on the post-Moneyball A's, and how the period documented in that book actually represented a high-water mark for the franchise. Beane, apparently, has started to look beyond baseball for his intellectual and career challenges; it seems that with the team stalled in Oakland, he's not especially interested in it. After his deal ends in 2014, I expect he will resign.
• The Angels signed Ryan Langerhans to a one-year minor league contract. Of course, the real reason to read this is that the Register's Sam Miller wrote it.

Labels: angels, athletics, dodgers, hot stove, mccourts, transactions

I have written almost nothing about the Angels for a long time, and felt little urge to do so for quite a while. Much of that is because of the overall mediocrity of the season, but it seems to me now that things have really, truly spiraled out of control. Losing 3-1 at home to the A's on Friday with Jered Weaver on the mound — a game that bitterly, appropriately, ended with Vernon Wells making the last out — was in many ways the apotheosis of this miserable, frustrating season.

At least, it was until today, when Mike Scioscia watched as his closer steadily gave up the lead and the win. It was obvious Jordan Walden was operating on a thread, and while I don't have much in the way of confidence in any other relievers in the 2011 Angels bullpen, Scioscia owed it to his paying audience to at least make the effort to try and seem like he planned on playing for something — say, the alleged AL Wild Card that is still in play. This of course included a pathetic yet somehow suitably appropriate error by Walden, who threw a routine and would-be inning-ending double play ball into center field.

Scioscia's fingerprints were all over the Vernon Wells trade; no ex-catcher with as much influence on the organization as he has could possibly have allowed Mike Napoli to be shipped out without his stamp of approval. That Napoli is stinging the ball down in Texas is an even bitterer blow, because it highlights how thoroughly incompetent the organization is from the general manager on down at correctly identifying and deploying playing talent. I have been reluctant in general to throw the field manager under the bus, but given Scioscia's inane reliance on a provably false offensive strategy, and his considerable power within the organization to make catastrophic personnel decisions, it's time the Angels started cutting some heads. There has to be some accountability, and it needs to start with the people making the bad decisions.

Fire Tony Reagins, and I might consider re-upping my season tickets. If, as seems likely, the organization makes it through September without any structural changes, I'll be happy to watch from the sidelines in 2012.

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Labels: angels, athletics, recaps, stupid ideas

I Will Not Mention Tuesday's Loss (Much)

Deja vu, all over again? 4-1 on Monday, an execrable 6-1 loss on Tuesday that included a rare meltdown by ex-Athletic starter Danny Haren. But today? Another 4-1 win, partly fueled by back-to-back jacks by Torii Hunter and Alberto Callaspo (of all people!). Ervin Santana got a win, something of a pleasant surprise.

Dodgers Call Up Rubby De La Rosa, But Have Little Else To Crow About

The callup of top prospect Rubby De La Rosa was by far the best news for the Dodgers this week. The actual news of the series has been all but uniformly bad for the Blue; not only did they lose the first and last games of the series, but enemy of the people Frank McCourt thinks he can make payroll this month after all. I hope his loans come with a blood oath.

Update 5/26: Apparently Frank was never worried about this upcoming payroll, but the first one in June, and that because there's a big bonus due to the still-not-playing-in-major-league-baseball Manny Ramirez. We'll see, but either way, I do wish he would depart.

Labels: angels, astros, athletics, dodgers, mccourts, recaps

Jordan Walden coughed up the tying run in the bottom of the ninth — no, that 98 MPH heater isn't enough by itself in the show, as Daric Barton showed in spades.

I left after that, to walk the dogs, knowing the next man in line would be Fernando Rodney, and that he would take the loss. Mike Scioscia is nothing if not predictable.

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Labels: angels, athletics, recaps

My Dinger With Andre Redux: Dodgers 5, Marlins 4 (10 Innings)

The noteworthy part of this game was mainly its ending, Andre Ethier picking up his second hit to cap the 24th straight game in which he recorded a hit. He's now in a three-way tie for the fourth-longest hitting streak in franchise history (he would be alone in that rank in Los Angeles Dodger history), along with Zack Wheat and John Shelby, thus proving streaks aren't exclusively the province of the gods.

Rod Barajas did what he does, landing a three-run jack in the fourth to get the game within reach after Chad Billingsley put it nearly out of reach with a stuttering second inning that kept leaking singles and runs. Baseball in the morning is very pleasant, and I sometimes regret that the Dodgers moved away from Vero Beach.

ESPN Box • Dodgers recap

Angels Can't Quite Manage The Sweep, Even With Fuentes' Help: A's 2, Angels 1 (10 Innings)

I can't remember when the last time was the Angels had so many extra-inning games this early, but it sure seems like a record. The best part was the Angels rallying in the ninth off ex-Angel Brian Fuentes to tie it, a reminder of the post-traumatic save disorder from years past. The worst part was Vernon Wells striking out with the winning run in scoring position, and then making a fielding mistake in the tenth that cost the Angels the game, gifting Cliff Pennington with a leadoff triple. If the Wells deal doesn't kill Tony Reagins' career, I don't know what will.

ESPN Box • Angels recap

Angels Make Moves To Recover Piniero, Downs

The Angels called up Scott Downs and Joel Piniero from the disabled list, optioning Matt Palmer back to AAA and designating perpetual AAAA reliever Jason Bulger for assignment. I expect he'll clear waivers, but if not — good luck on your new team.

Labels: angels, athletics, dodgers, injuries, marlins, recaps, transactions

Lead By Rookie Amarista, Angels Offense Back In High Gear: Angels 8, A's 3

Alexi Amarista continued the torrid hitting from AAA with an RBI double in his first major league at-bat, and also collected a sac fly in the eighth to drive in three runs, pacing the club on his maiden game. The sad part, of course, is that his father couldn't be around to see it, having been killed last November in a home invasion robbery.

Tyler Chatwood wasn't sharp, immediately giving up the 2-0 lead his offense gave him in the bottom of the second. After walking leadoff man Ryan Sweeney to start the fourth, it appeared as though another see-saw game was in the offing; but he settled down and retired the rest of the batters he faced in order (and nearly got a double play on the next one).

Unconventional as it was to see Howie Kendrick at first, he went 3-for-4 in the sixth slot, and Torii Hunter came out of his slow start to go 3-for-5. In all, a great effort by the team's offense — save for Vernon Wells, whose horrible April has been well-documented.

ESPN Box • Angels recap

No Horns For Broxton As Kershaw Takes The Loss: Marlins 4, Dodgers 2

Really, not a fun game to listen to, as the Dodgers blew this one fairly early, so Jonathan Broxton didn't have a chance to be a loser again. The Dodgers enjoyed short-lived leads of 1-0 and 2-1, but Kershaw ultimately gave up an RBI single to Mike Stanton, one of the most storied prospects in the game. No shame in that, but it doesn't mean the loss counts for any less.

ESPN Box • Dodgers recap

Bullety Stuff

• The Dodgers aren't the only ones to have trouble with their relief pitching; the Yanks are getting hammered by their problems with Rafael Soriano, to whom they owe $35M over three years. Whatever issues Broxton has, he will not be a Dodger in 2012, and for that we may be grateful.
• Speaking of the Yanks, any time they lose it's a good day, and especially, if they lose in dramatic fashion at home. If you haven't seen Jeff Sullivan's animated GIF of Brent Lillibridge's back-to-back game saving catches in the Bronx, you're missing a real treat.
• Don't forget that today's Dodger game has a 9:05 PDT start time.
• Dylan Hernandez tweets that Casey Blake is likely headed for the DL with an elbow infection, reporting fever and swelling.

Labels: angels, athletics, dodgers, injuries, marlins, recaps, transactions, wow

Weaver Undefeated In April, Turns In CG Gem: Angels 5, A's 0

It's nice to have a stopper; I got home late to see the last three innings of this one, and man, what an impressive stretch the Weav is having. He's now the first pitcher to go 6-0 in April this early, though the early schedule start had a lot to do with that.

Good news: Howie Kendrick 2-for-4, and the bottom of the order doing well. Vernon Wells reached base twice.

Bad news: another 0-fer night for Torii Hunter that brings his season average below the Mendoza line.

A sad story played out in the stands: terminal cancer patient and ex-Strike Force girl Heather Beyer watched the shutout as a sort of last wish. If that's your last Angels game to see in person on this earth, the Angels carried her home on a doozy. Peace to her family.

ESPN Box • Angels recap

Broxton Gags Again: Marlins 5, Dodgers 4

I was reading MSTI's review of this game yesterday, and Mike is right to laud the good performances by Jerry Sands, Jamey Carroll, and Jon Garland; but the bigger worry is that Broxton, who blew the save and took the loss (deservedly, even though he wasn't helped by a misplay at short by Carroll) will get more chances to blow games. He's not good right now, and I wonder if he'll ever get better.

ESPN Box • Dodgers recap

Labels: angels, athletics, dodgers, marlins, recaps

Peter Bourjos steals second base in the third inning of yesterday's game at Phoenix Muni. Our spring training jaunt is over, but the regular season fun begins shortly.

Labels: angels, athletics

The A's are a mess, a good rotation with a weak offense in a catastrophically bad park. Today was a nice reminder that the Angels have a shot at second place in the division, and maybe even first if things break well for the Halos. The offense was shockingly good — any time you see Jeff Mathis go 2-for-3 including a three-run jack, someone has been eating their Wheaties. Howie Kendrick went 3-for-4.

The Angels ran out people surnamed Calhoun, Armstrong, Witherspoon, Segura, Heid, Navarro, Melillo, and Bass. Mark Trumbo went 1-for-4, a two-out double in the second that went unrewarded.

It's the regular season, soon enough.

Angels recap

Labels: angels, athletics, recaps

Stuck with the fourth-worst offense in the league, Oakland last year had little reason to think they were going to markedly improve this offseason. Signings of an increasingly decrepit Hideki Matsui, and trades for Josh Willingham and David DeJesus, while not awe-inspiring, made for enough of an improvement at DH, left field, and right, respectively. Of that trio, we only got to see Matsui and Willingham, but neither one was overly impressive against Carlos Silva.

Silva himself had something to prove, as he has been largely a cipher for the Cubs this spring training. Even after yesterday's favorable results, Silva ended the day with a 10.90 ERA in five appearances and 17.1 IP. The Cubs faithful had been looking to eject Silva and let him land where he may, $12M (minus $5.5M paid for by his former team, Seattle) remaining on his deal or no. Left to my own devices, I would leave him in the rotation for now and see how long he lasts before throwing him out; it's not as though the Cubs have a lot of rotational depth this year.

The A's got a single run in the first on a leadoff single by Coco Crisp and a followup double by Willingham, but Oakland failed to get a runner into scoring position thereafter, and only even had a single baserunner past that, Cliff Pennington's one-out single in the eighth. Pinch runner Andy LaRoche erased himself on a badly timed steal attempt that ended the frame; if that was an indication of the sort of baserunning the A's have going for them, they're not going to get any better offensively.

One surprise was seeing Brad Ziegler struggle as much as he did in his half of the eighth. He gave up an infield single to lead off the inning, and that seemed to unhinge him a bit. Even though the next two batters mde outs, he gave up an intentional pass to Scott Moore, and an unintentional one to Welington Castillo; he then plunked Alfonso Soriano to drive in an insurance run for the Cubs. Probably just early season jitters for the A's submariner, but it's worth keeping an eye on.

Cubs recap

Labels: athletics, cubs, spring training

Bill Plunkett informs us that the Angels play a doubleheader on Saturday, July 16, the first such to be scheduled since 2001. Originally scheduled for the Thursday after the All-Star Game break, that date was turned into another day off by the league, and the Angels and A's had to move their game accordingly.

Labels: angels, athletics, weird