So the Jays are nine games out of the wild card. But, liberated from the pressure that accompanies being in serious playoff contention, they still have an opportunity to cause mischief in the AL West race. The Angels' lead over Seattle is down to two games.
Toronto will see an Angels team that has received an infusion of youth since last week. A rejuvenated Ervin Santana, a healthy Howie Kendrick and the much-hyped Brandon Wood are all in the house.
Tonight's starter is hard-throwing 24-year-old righty Ervin "Magic" Santana. Anyone with a higher homer rate than Shaun Marcum is in trouble, and Santana is such a pitcher. After getting bombed by the Devil Rays on July 17, Santana was sent to Salt Lake for a vision quest. He managed a 5.01 ERA in five AAA starts. So naturally when the Angels needed an emergency starter to feed to Josh Beckett in Friday's Fenway doubleheader, they knew where to look. And Santana delivered 6.1 stellar innings, allowing 1 run, 5 strikeouts, 0 walks and a 2-1 lead. After numerous blown saves on both sides, the Angels came away with the win, and Santana was given his spot in the rotation back. He's aware of the mental side of the game and knows he has to be confident: "I know everybody wants me here -- to pull myself together and pitch the way I can pitch is important now."
His catchers were impressed. Jeff Mathis sat the game out, but he noticed Santana doing a good job of pitching inside, and liked his conviction on the mound: "For Ervin, getting him to commit to a pitch, to throw the ball to a location, is important." And backup Ryan Budde, who'd caught Santana often throughout his minor-league career and picked up his own first career hit in that game, said, "He threw with a good, quick pace, put the fastball where he wanted it and the slider where he wanted it. He has good chemistry with Santana and may catch tonight. He likes being on the pitcher's wavelength: "I feel like I'm just as much a part of it as the pitcher ... He only shook me off a few times. I tell him to, but he doesn't want to."
Matt Stairs is 3-7 with two homers against Santana.
Here is an article by Larry Santana in which Mike Scioscia describes Ervin Santana as "a sensitive kid." Larry alludes to Ervin's strong dislike for media types that has "cooled considerably" since he first came up.
Jered Weaver goes tomorrow night against Roy Halladay. Last September in Anaheim, they faced each other, and Doc only lasted 0.2 innings before being relieved by losing picher Charlie Wholestaff. Weaver went 5.2 innings, allowing 3 runs, striking out 8 and walking 3, which is reasonably close to what one can expect whenever he takes the mound. Weaver throws a fastball, slider, change and maybe an occasional curveball. His big asset is that he's one of the best pitchers in the league at hiding the ball. Jeff Conine faced Weaver in his big-league debut last year and came away impressed: "When you face a guy who hides the ball like he does, it takes a couple of at-bats to try to find his release point," he said, on his way to going 0-3 with a strikeout. That quote's from a Rich Lederer article at Baseball Analysts which contains pictures of Weaver's delivery.
If hitters are inclined to go deep into the count against Weaver early in the ballgame, as Conine says, it's reflected in Weaver's substandard 5.7 innings per start. The Jays' predominantly righthanded lineup might be in tough against Weaver, who has 3.47 K/BB against righties and 1.39 against lefties, but their patience should mitigate the platoon disadvantage somewhat.
Weaver has one other potential weakness: the running game. Prospective basestealers are 13/14 this year and 24/28 all-time. It's a small sample, but if the Jays are feeling down after the Oakland sweep and want to try something a little different now that they're basically out of it, tomorrow is the time to go for it.
The Jays will see Joe Saunders and Kelvim Escobar again in games three and four of the series, and they may encounter well-rested swingman Dustin Moseley out of the bullpen.
Howie Kendrick is back! The future batting champ (once he strikes out just a bit less) suffered a fractured index finger early in July and spent a month on the DL. In three games since returning, all against the Yankees, Kendrick has gone 8-12 with two doubles, a walk and no strikeouts. He's already been elevated to the 5-hole in Anaheim's lineup.
K-Rod is a darkhorse contender for the AL's prestigious Best Closer Entrance Music award. He emerges to Tego Calderon's remarkably sinister "Sandungueoso," which, if nothing else, is the most obscure entry in the competition. It's never appeared on any of Calderon's albums.
And the Angels called up 22-year-old infielder Richard Brandon Wood for the second time this year. The standard disclaimers about power-hitting prospects in the Angels' system apply, but Wood can mash. 20 homers to date at Salt Lake, 25 last year in Arkansas, 43 a couple of years ago at Rancho Cucamonga. He has also had awful strikeout rates throughout his minor-league career - 21.5%, 28.5%, 24.5% in 2005, '06 and '07 to go with 8.1.%, 10.3% and 9.7% walk rates respectively. However, he has been young for his league at every stop.
Here is John Sickels on Wood's skill set, from an April Prospect Smackdown: An excellent athlete, he's developed plus power due to an uppercut swing and excellent bat speed. He has power to all fields and despite his high strikeout rates, he is not a pure pull hitter. He'll attempt to work the count, but he'll also go through phases where he is overaggressive against breaking balls and changeups. He isn't likely to hit for a high batting average, but he should produce more than enough power to compensate. Wood has decent speed and while he won't be a huge stealer, he can't be ignored, either. Defensively, he has the range, hands, and arm strength to handle shortstop without trouble, but has been moved to third base this year due to the needs of the organization. With some experience, he should be a very good, perhaps excellent, defender at the hot corner. Indeed, Wood has seen time at both third and short in his second Anaheim stint.
The Credit Section: All offensive stats, pitches per PA for pitchers and league average stats are from the Hardball Times. Pitchers' stats and leverage indices are from Fangraphs. Minor-league stats are from Minor League Splits and First Inning. K% and BB% are strikeouts and walks as a percentage of plate appearances; GB% + LD% + FB% = 100.
Toronto will see an Angels team that has received an infusion of youth since last week. A rejuvenated Ervin Santana, a healthy Howie Kendrick and the much-hyped Brandon Wood are all in the house.
Tonight's starter is hard-throwing 24-year-old righty Ervin "Magic" Santana. Anyone with a higher homer rate than Shaun Marcum is in trouble, and Santana is such a pitcher. After getting bombed by the Devil Rays on July 17, Santana was sent to Salt Lake for a vision quest. He managed a 5.01 ERA in five AAA starts. So naturally when the Angels needed an emergency starter to feed to Josh Beckett in Friday's Fenway doubleheader, they knew where to look. And Santana delivered 6.1 stellar innings, allowing 1 run, 5 strikeouts, 0 walks and a 2-1 lead. After numerous blown saves on both sides, the Angels came away with the win, and Santana was given his spot in the rotation back. He's aware of the mental side of the game and knows he has to be confident: "I know everybody wants me here -- to pull myself together and pitch the way I can pitch is important now."
His catchers were impressed. Jeff Mathis sat the game out, but he noticed Santana doing a good job of pitching inside, and liked his conviction on the mound: "For Ervin, getting him to commit to a pitch, to throw the ball to a location, is important." And backup Ryan Budde, who'd caught Santana often throughout his minor-league career and picked up his own first career hit in that game, said, "He threw with a good, quick pace, put the fastball where he wanted it and the slider where he wanted it. He has good chemistry with Santana and may catch tonight. He likes being on the pitcher's wavelength: "I feel like I'm just as much a part of it as the pitcher ... He only shook me off a few times. I tell him to, but he doesn't want to."
Matt Stairs is 3-7 with two homers against Santana.
Here is an article by Larry Santana in which Mike Scioscia describes Ervin Santana as "a sensitive kid." Larry alludes to Ervin's strong dislike for media types that has "cooled considerably" since he first came up.
Jered Weaver goes tomorrow night against Roy Halladay. Last September in Anaheim, they faced each other, and Doc only lasted 0.2 innings before being relieved by losing picher Charlie Wholestaff. Weaver went 5.2 innings, allowing 3 runs, striking out 8 and walking 3, which is reasonably close to what one can expect whenever he takes the mound. Weaver throws a fastball, slider, change and maybe an occasional curveball. His big asset is that he's one of the best pitchers in the league at hiding the ball. Jeff Conine faced Weaver in his big-league debut last year and came away impressed: "When you face a guy who hides the ball like he does, it takes a couple of at-bats to try to find his release point," he said, on his way to going 0-3 with a strikeout. That quote's from a Rich Lederer article at Baseball Analysts which contains pictures of Weaver's delivery.
If hitters are inclined to go deep into the count against Weaver early in the ballgame, as Conine says, it's reflected in Weaver's substandard 5.7 innings per start. The Jays' predominantly righthanded lineup might be in tough against Weaver, who has 3.47 K/BB against righties and 1.39 against lefties, but their patience should mitigate the platoon disadvantage somewhat.
Weaver has one other potential weakness: the running game. Prospective basestealers are 13/14 this year and 24/28 all-time. It's a small sample, but if the Jays are feeling down after the Oakland sweep and want to try something a little different now that they're basically out of it, tomorrow is the time to go for it.
The Jays will see Joe Saunders and Kelvim Escobar again in games three and four of the series, and they may encounter well-rested swingman Dustin Moseley out of the bullpen.
Howie Kendrick is back! The future batting champ (once he strikes out just a bit less) suffered a fractured index finger early in July and spent a month on the DL. In three games since returning, all against the Yankees, Kendrick has gone 8-12 with two doubles, a walk and no strikeouts. He's already been elevated to the 5-hole in Anaheim's lineup.K-Rod is a darkhorse contender for the AL's prestigious Best Closer Entrance Music award. He emerges to Tego Calderon's remarkably sinister "Sandungueoso," which, if nothing else, is the most obscure entry in the competition. It's never appeared on any of Calderon's albums.
And the Angels called up 22-year-old infielder Richard Brandon Wood for the second time this year. The standard disclaimers about power-hitting prospects in the Angels' system apply, but Wood can mash. 20 homers to date at Salt Lake, 25 last year in Arkansas, 43 a couple of years ago at Rancho Cucamonga. He has also had awful strikeout rates throughout his minor-league career - 21.5%, 28.5%, 24.5% in 2005, '06 and '07 to go with 8.1.%, 10.3% and 9.7% walk rates respectively. However, he has been young for his league at every stop.
Here is John Sickels on Wood's skill set, from an April Prospect Smackdown: An excellent athlete, he's developed plus power due to an uppercut swing and excellent bat speed. He has power to all fields and despite his high strikeout rates, he is not a pure pull hitter. He'll attempt to work the count, but he'll also go through phases where he is overaggressive against breaking balls and changeups. He isn't likely to hit for a high batting average, but he should produce more than enough power to compensate. Wood has decent speed and while he won't be a huge stealer, he can't be ignored, either. Defensively, he has the range, hands, and arm strength to handle shortstop without trouble, but has been moved to third base this year due to the needs of the organization. With some experience, he should be a very good, perhaps excellent, defender at the hot corner. Indeed, Wood has seen time at both third and short in his second Anaheim stint.
The Credit Section: All offensive stats, pitches per PA for pitchers and league average stats are from the Hardball Times. Pitchers' stats and leverage indices are from Fangraphs. Minor-league stats are from Minor League Splits and First Inning. K% and BB% are strikeouts and walks as a percentage of plate appearances; GB% + LD% + FB% = 100.
