Richards and Skaggs Show Major Potential in First Starts.

Last year, this time of the season, I was already blasting the Angels' acquisition of Joe Blanton.  Garrett Richards would be relegated to the bullpen, though he was trained to be a starter throughout our minor league system.  I feared this move would seriously ruin his potential and his worth to the team, and with that we'd lose his talents somehow.

I'm really glad that wasn't ultimately the case, though I still don't quite understand the move to this day. In the first game of the series vs. Houston, Richards showed once again why he deserved to be in the rotation all of last year - but then again, a 2-14 season sets the bar pretty low.

He did about as well as one could hope against a team coming off a couple wins - and pitching for a team coming off a sweep.  Richards' location wasn't quite as sharp as it looked to be all spring, walking five over five innings of work. However, he only gave up a single run on three hits, while also wracking up seven strike outs in those five innings, stopping the bleeding and giving the Angels their first win of the season.

Nothing like a momentum builder:

Such a filthy pitch - absolutely beautiful. I love his attitude on the field, and I definitely look forward to him having a break-out year this year. I really think it's going to happen.

It also helps that he was backed by a stellar offensive effort all around. Mike Trout had another Mike Trout kind of night, starting the game off with a home run, being intentionally walked with the bases loaded (securing an RBI in the process), and making a fantastic throw to the plate to take out Krauss for an outfield assist. Hamilton is smashed the ball as well, and Howie Kendrick finally got in on the action, combining for an overall 11 runs on 15 hits - more runs in one game than in the entire opening series at home.

I'm sure we all sat wondering if it was just a fluke after such a dreadful start - knowing the team's history in April, we're probably all justified in some healthy skepticism.  Fortunately, Tyler Skaggs came out and pitched an absolutely beautiful debut. Easily the best showing by a starter this season, Skaggs pitched incredibly efficiently, only needing 95 pitches over eight innings - the longest any Angels starter had pitched into a game this season - to get the win, giving up only an unearned run (on McDonald's error at third - though that ball was definitely smoked) on four hits, and impressively, only a single walk over those eight innings. It's a definite shame he wasn't sent back out for the ninth inning to get the team's first complete game as well - he didn't look like he was cooling off in the eighth by any means, and so this decision perplexes me (as the pitching decisions have this season, on several occasions, already). I get that Joe Smith was slated to get some work tonight, but why break up a thing of beauty?

It was great to see David Freese finally get in on the offensive action, giving the Angels a 2-4 night with a walk, two runs, and RBI as the team's DH for the night - better than he's produced while playing third.  Hamilton also continues to hit the ball hard, with his now-.500 batting average.

The question is - can it keep going? Today, Weaver will take the hill against Houston's Scott Feldman, a pitcher the Angels have seen a time or two in a Rangers uniform - good news for a team that tends to play significantly better - and hit better - against an opposing pitcher they know.  It's always a strange thing: the Angels just cannot hit a pitcher they've never seen, even if he's straight up from AA and has never had success before - the Angels can be that team to build some confidence against.  However, the Angels tend to do very well against those veteran players, even ones that are Cy Young-caliber pitchers, that most teams fail to succeed against. It's always been a strange situation to observe.

Looking forward to today's day game, and (hopefully) the Angels' securing of a first series victory.