Tonight's game, absolutely ridiculous. If you missed it, I'm so so SO sorry.
Now I REALLY don't think Kendrick has a place on this team. Izturis has been the go-to guy for the last couple weeks, making the game winning hits or differences in 3 important games- with Oakland, Boston, and now Minnesota. Today's grand-slam was his first, his fourth home-run of the year, and tears were flowing out of my eyes I was laughing so hard. I seriously couldn't believe it. But then again, I'm not surprised. This guy has just been completely on fire. He has the best average with men in scoring position right now, .383 (before today's game) and over .400 when the bases are loaded. Compete with that now, Kendrick.
And it really seems like Willits is coming back now too. After his little one-on-one meeting with the wall, he hasn't been quite the same. But with two walks and 2-2 with an RBI single, he's getting his timing back. It still kills me to hear "REGGIE REGGIE REGGIE" in the background. I want to just join in!
And I still think Matthews Jr. was the best decision of the season. Having him on the team has been seriously amazing. He makes plays that I can't even believe. He was even on the top 5 of Espn's greatest catches of all time. Even though his hitting stats aren't as good as last year, he's still one of the greatest assets on the team, defensively. And he hits when it counts.
The batting averages are going through the roof tonight! Six guys in the starting lineup over .300! Can't ask for much better, I have to say.
In Other News:
Bond's hit another, 758, but I'm not really concerned anymore. He's not thinking about breaking the record, so I'm sure they'll be flying off his bat with ease now.
A-Rod also hit another tonight, 501, 37 this season. But the whole thing with Toronto is everywhere. I'm not really clear on why A-Rod got fined for getting hit in the leg by a pitch. Doesn't make sense to me. Enlightenment on that issue would be greatly appreciated.
Seattle and Boston both lost tonight. So now the Angels are up by 3.5. I'd love to continue to extend that. And that puts the Yankees even more dangerously close. I can't believe their comeback. 20 of their last 27. And I totally counted them out this season.
In Response:
Got my first comment! Yay I have readers! Just want to say to whoever commented a big huge thank you for the insight and the very well-thought and tactfully made comment. You have no idea how excited I was to read it. I would LOVE to hear feedback like that about anything. The exchange really makes me feel like I'm learning something about the sport.
Also, I wouldn't argue against you in terms of it being nice to have a big bat. It's mostly the fact that the media and most baseball analysts this day so adamantly criticize the Angels for not getting one, and almost discount the Angels as contenders because of it. And it just seems like even our smallest guys, ie. Izturis, are getting it done for us.
I'm not against having a stable DH. Adam Dunn was my personal pick for acquisition, though I'm really not partial to anyone. Jermaine Dye would also be a good candidate, but I've not watched either player too strictly to know how well they'd fit the dynamic of the team. The only problem with having a stable DH at this point in the Angels very deep roster is that they seem to be using the spot as a way of rotating the outfield. With so many critical players and so few spots on the field, it seems to be the way to play all four (primarily Willits, Guerrero, Anderson, and Matthews) outfielders consistently in the batting lineup. If they had a stable DH, it would detract from this rotation of fielders, and would take away an important element in one way or another- Willits' on-base percentage, GA's veteran experience, Matthews' important plays, and Vlad's power position. Of course it's doable, and it would have its benefits as well, having someone to help pick the lineup up when it needs to be (though with a 10-1 win, and a lot of decent plays lately, I'd say right now that they seem to be doing it all on their own), but I'm extremely partial to the team's dynamics as is right now, if you couldn't tell through my biases... Ha!
10 August 2007
LIGHT UP THE HALO x 10
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I made a comment earlier about how I thought Adam Dunn would be perfect fit for the Angels and according to your post, you don't think Kendrick fits well with the team. If we combine our opinions together, then we agree that we should have traded Howie Kendrick for Adam Dunn. The Reds DID offer that trade to the Angels although it wasn't widely publicized. It was just Dunn for Kendrick straight up. At the time I didn't think it was a good idea but since the Angels are overflowing with middle infielders, maybe it wasn't such a bad idea. I just thought I would throw that little tidbit of info out there =)
ReplyDeleteI understand that the Angels have 4 regular outfielders and that adding a permanent DH would take away playing time from one of them. However, there is a very simple solution to that problem (this is assuming the Angels acquire a big bat regular DH). Just have Garrett Anderson "ride the pine for nine" as Rex Hudler would so cleverly say .YES, he has been a good hitter throughout his career and YES he is a fan favorite just like Tim Salmon since he has been with the Angels his entire career.
ReplyDeleteBut let's face it. He isn't getting any younger. He is past his prime. He is injury prone. All these signs indicate rapidly declining value. These are the reasons why I would ship him out of town in a heart beat in a package for a big bat.However, those are also the same exact reasons why no other team has any interest in him. I don't think that the Angels would be willing to ship him just for sentimental reasons (like Tim Salmon) but they also know that he is virtually un-tradable so they are stuck with him regardless.
The young guys are the future of this ballclub. The future does not include Garrett Anderson. Don't get me wrong, I love G.A. and it pains me to say all of this, but it is the truth. With the surplus of uprising stars in the Angels organization, Garrett Anderson does not have much of a place on this team anymore.