The Jays had a tough weekend against the beasts of the East in Boston. But their homestand might be even tougher, as the Jays tangle with two of the best in the ultra-tough West.
How are the Angels, featuring (a) five key players out with long-term injuries, (b) not much of a batting eye and (c) a mediocre starting rotation, sitting pretty with baseball's best record? By applying the same formula that they followed en route to their 2002 world championship: fine defence, a rock-solid bullpen and a very, very high collective batting average to accompany their speed and power. You could look it up: The Angels are 27th in walks as a club -- but first in runs scored. In large part, the Angels owe their offensive success to timely hitting, as they lead both leagues by far in RISP hitting. Some say they're "clutch"; others, no doubt, view their performance thus far as lucky and unsustainable. We'll see.
Even allowing for very high hopes when the Angels dipped into the free-agent pool, Jose Guillen and the amazing Vladimir Guerrero have nevertheless surpassed expectations. The Jays would be wise to tread carefully with these two free-swinging outfielders, because there are holes in the Anaheim lineup. The problem is, the Halos don't strike out -- and a ball-in-play offence may well give the Jays defence fits, especially on turf. If the Jays can get to the Anaheim starters early, though, they just might make this homestand a successful one.
On to the Advance Scout!
* As many pundits predicted, and despite their significant financial investment this offseason, starting pitching continues to be a problem for Anaheim. Moreover, age and injuries have caught up to the club ... Nevertheless, the Halos are chugging along with baseball's best record at 29-15 ... They've been "clutch" with a consistency that defies sabermetricians: They're hitting .345/.409/.593 as a team with runners in scoring position, two outs ... Can they sustain it? They kinda did in 2002 ...
* Tonight's starter, John Lackey, might be the tonic to the Jays' home run blues ... The righty gave up four home runs over his last two starts, both coming against the Yankees ... Lackey's 4.83 ERA is deflated by two brilliant starts against the D-Rays and Twins. He's been mediocre to poor in his other six starts ... In Lackey's last start on Wednesday night, he walked a career-high six batters ...
* Vladimir Guerrero promises to be worth the price of admission this week ... The perpetually upbeat native of the Dominican Republic has hit in 12 of his last 14 games (.400), with 16 runs and 13 RBI over that span ... He's no slouch against righties (.331), but he's clobbering lefties at a .380/.426/.720 clip ... Guerrero hit a 453-foot bomb on Friday night, over both bullpens at Angels Stadium ... Scot Shields was trying to keep a straight face when he was interviewed about a Vlady at-bat, one locker over from Guerrero. Shields: "Runners on first and second? You've got to bunt. Bunt that ball." Guerrero interjected in broken English, to howls of laughter: "No pay for bunt!" ...
* The Angels' lower-profile free-agent outfield signing, Jose Guillen, has also been terrific ... He's hit in five of his last six (.333) ... Six of his eight home runs came in an eight-game span (May 4-13) ... He's having an outstanding May at .360/.415/.653 ... Guillen gunned Melvin Mora down at the plate on Friday night -- a key play, as the Angels would come from behind to win 5-3. Then, on Saturday, he nailed B.J. Surhoff at the plate to prevent the tying run from crossing the plate in Anaheim's 3-2 win ... A grateful Jarrod Washburn on his teammate: "I have no idea why he didn't get a chance to play every day before this. The guy's a special talent" ... Washburn went on to label Guillen a "clutch hitter" -- and Guillen's been just that this season. He's a robust .436/.511/.795 in 43 plate appearances with runners in scoring position ... Accordingly, he's second in the league with 35 RBI -- just one behind David Ortiz, and one ahead of Vladdy ...
* I'm sure you've heard by now, but Francisco "K-Rod" Rodriguez is decidedly back on track ... I'll let the numbers do the talking for the 22-year-old: 0.38 ERA, with five walks, 35 Ks and one earned run in 23 2/3 innings. Opponents are hitting .167 off him ... A bewildered Jay Gibbons: "He throws 96 mph -- and with that ridiculous curveball, it's tough" ...
* The highly-touted 21-year-old, Casey Kotchman, has been filling in for Darin Erstad at first ... He's seeing the ball well in his big league debut, hitting .286 with zero strikeouts in 42 at-bats ... Although he's not working very deep into counts with pitchers, it's still kind of cool that he gone the longest into his major league career without a K since Bob Bailor (!) went 52 plate appearances without a stiikeout during the historic 1977 season ... But he's flashed no power, slugging just .310. Of his twelve hits, eleven are singles and one a double ... Scioscia compares him to Mark Grace for his ability to hit singles to all fields ... Kotchman's father, Tom, is a scout with the club ...
* He still doesn't walk, but most clubs would take Bengie Molina's .284/.309/.466, 19 RBI production for a catcher -- particularly since he's continued to play Gold Glove-style defence ... The other of the Flying Molina Brothers, Jose, has also pleasantly surprised at the plate. He's hit .307/.325/.467, and his unexpected ability to contribute offensively has enabled the Halos to rest Bengie much more during the season ... Jose's thrown out an outstanding 9 of 17 would-be basestealers ... For some reason, the Angels are carrying Josh Paul as a third catcher on their 25-man roster. He seldom plays ...
* Who needs lefties in the pen? ... 25-year-old righty Kevin Gregg is holding lefties to a puny .123 average ... On the season, Gregg's ERA is a tidy 1.21, with eight walks and 29 Ks in 29 2/3 IP ...
* Shane Halter's been lousy offensively -- but not as lousy as I implied in my preview ... Even though his 3/18 BB/K ratio and .271 OBP are appalling, eight of his twenty hits are, admittedly, for extra bases ... Halter was picked off second by Jorge Posada on Wednesday ...
* After a terrible slump in early May, David Eckstein is suddenly on a nine-game hitting streak (.429) ... 36 of his 41 hits on the season have been singles, as he's slugging a paltry .307 ... He's 0-for-2 on the basepaths over his last twenty games ...
* Wednesday's starter, Bartolo Colon, has been leaving his fastball up in the zone lately ... He was shelled by the Orioles and Yankees in his last two starts. His composite line: 10 IP, 14 H, 11 R, 4 HR, 5 BB, 9 K ... Colon suffered from a stiff back against Baltimore, but took full responsibility for his poor pitching against New York: "My location has been bad and I've been high in the strike zone" ... Colon has not been satisfied with his work as an Angel: "I haven't been able to put it all together and do what I want for this team" ...
* Thought to be light-hitting, the versatile Chone Figgins is adding value on offence with a .306 average ... He's only walked eight times, but he's racked up 12 multi-hit games, including a three-single, one-triple, one-homer performance at Camden Yards on May 14. On that day, Figgins went 5-for-6 with 6 RBI and paced the Halos to a 10-9 win ... The speedy utilityman is 9-for-10 on the basepaths, but has gone 12 consecutive games without a steal ... Watch for his Reed Johnson-style push bunt ...
* The man once dubbed "Little Pedro," Ramon Ortiz, pitched his way right out of the fifth-starter spot ... As a starter, he put up a nifty 9.28 ERA with a .408 opponents' batting average in five starts ... He's been much more solid out of the pen. On Thursday night, he worked four brilliant innings of shutout relief ...
* Thursday's starter, Jarrod Washburn, has gotten some serious run support, as his 7-1, 4.61 line would suggest ... But no, really -- he's had some serious run support. In his nine starts, the Angels have scored five runs once; six runs twice; seven runs once; eight runs once; ten runs once; eleven runs once; and twelve runs twice ... Washburn: "I don't think anyone could expect that kind of run support to continue, and we as a staff...know that we have to start pitching better" ... Washburn has jettisoned his curveball and worked hard on developing his slider: "I figured, why bother having two terrible breaking pitches? I might as well work on one and try to make it mediocre" ... Mark Langston has the Angels record for most wins before a second loss to start the season. He went 11-1 to start 1995 ...
* After some friction with Mike Scioscia last season, Adam Kennedy is again playing every day ... He comes to Toronto on a five-game hitting streak (.429) ... The man who hit three home runs in one playoff game in 2002 has but three longballs on the season thus far ...
* Usually automatic, Troy Percival blew back-to-back save opportunities on May 11 and 14 ... He's rebounded to convert his last three ... He's not still bringing the gas, though. His 10/9 BB/K ratio in 16 1/3 innings has to be disconcerting ... Percival insists that his arm is fine -- but he admitted he's been "struggling mechanically" ... A rare one-team guy, it'll be a long time before an Angel matches Percival's 295 career saves for the franchise ...
* Figuring to be a backup heading into this season, Jeff DaVanon has filled in admirably at .288/.396/.425 ... Scioscia religiously shields the switch-hitter from lefthanded pitching. DaVanon is 0-for-6 with 5 Ks against lefties on the season ... DaVanon has been moved from third in the order to fifth, after Mike Scioscia noticed that pitchers were beginning to pitch around Jose Guillen ...
* Reliever Scot Shields hasn't allowed a run in any of his last seven outings, each of which was a full inning or longer ... Lefties are hitting .186 off the swingman, and he's struck out 16 righties against only one walk ...
* The Angels' bullpen isn't invincible, though -- Ben Weber is struggling terribly ... The hyper-intense 20th-round pick of the Jays has yielded hits in 14 of his 15 outings -- and runs in 10 of those appearances ... He's not striking anybody out, and both lefties and righties are hitting better than .340 off him ...
* Now, the Updated Angels Long-Term Injury Bonanza! ... The classy Garret Anderson has been diagnosed with early undifferentiated inflammatory arthritis, and will take medication and rehab with swimming-pool exercises. No specific timetable has been set, but he could return in July ... Doctors have still not ascertained whether Anderson's injury was brought on by a virus, or by the onset of chronic arthritis ... Clubhouse leader Tim Salmon is suffering from soreness and inflammation in his left knee, and he aggravated the problem while recently rehabbing. He should start a minor-league rehab campaign soon, and should be back before the All-Star Break ... Hard-nosed (but oft-injured) Darin Erstad suffered his second major hamstring strain, and has only recently begun to hit off a batting tee. He'll travel with the team for this road trip, but could still be weeks away ... Brendan Donnelly, the stellar short man, continues to battle elbow tendinitis. He started playing catch only this weekend after being shut down completely for two weeks ... And finally, All-Star power source Troy Glaus recently underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder after partially tearing his rotator cuff and suffering a frayed labrum. He won't be back until September, at the earliest ... He's questionable for any return at all this year ...
* Some have speculated that if Glaus can't come back this season, he's played his last game as an Angel; his four-year deal expires after this season ... One possibility: The Angels may sign Aaron Boone to play third in 2005, and then ask him to give way to the highly-regarded Dallas McPherson for 2006 ...
* In the "What Are They Thinking?" department, the Angels have been inquiring into the "services" of the suddenly-willing-to-play-ball-again Raul Mondesi ... Scioscia: "A healthy, motivated, focused Raul Mondesi is a heck of a player" ... According to Mondesi, the Angels, Cardinals, Red Sox and Mariners have all expressed interest ... With Anderson, Salmon and Erstad all expected back around the All-Star Break, it's hard to see where Raul would fit then ...
Probable Batting Orders
*Note: The Jays will not be starting a lefthander this series.
vs. RH
6 Eckstein
8/5 Figgins
9 Guerrero
7 Guillen
8/DH DaVanon
2 B Molina/J Molina
3 Kotchman
5 Halter/DH Quinlan/DH Riggs
4 Kennedy
Pitching Probables
Monday: RH Lackey vs. Miller
Wednesday: RH Colon vs. Hentgen
Thursday: LH Washburn vs. Halladay
Bullpen Usage
Long: Ortiz R
Short: Gregg R, Weber R
Setup: Shields R, Rodriguez R
Closer: Percival R
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