Baseball Chick

25Sep 2014 by Jessica DeLine

Angels Game #159: See you soon A’s?

A's, Angels

The Angels bounced back this week and took two out of three from the Oakland Athletics. Considering the A's are likely headed toward a 1 game playoff with Kansas City, there is a chance we could see the A's again next Thursday in Anaheim. So what about last night's game? The Good: I'm still not fooled into thinking Hector Santiago is a great starter but he did pitch a pretty solid (and scoreless) 5.1 innings yesterday while giving up only 2 walks and 3 hits. Howie Kendrick went two for 2 for 4 with 3 RBIs and a double. If Scioscia brings back Hamilton to the #4 spot in the playoffs I will personally kick his ass. Mike Trout! He hit, he scored - he even stole a base! Hey,…

24Sep 2014 by Jessica DeLine

Angels Game #158 – LeBlank

Angels, Baseball, pitching

LeBlanc has been pitching so well lately I'm going to stop calling him Joey from Friends (I guess his first name is Wade, not Matt. In fact, Wade LeBlanc has pitched a string of 16 scoreless innings, including the last 10 2/3 as a starter. This guy has been tossed around more times in the past few years than a female an elevator with Ray Rice (too soon?). Sometimes it doesn't take an ace, but a pitcher pitching well at the right time. And right now that pitcher is Wade LeBlanc. LeBlanc did what Wilson could not one night earlier - throw strikes - and throw them somewhere they weren't too hitable. He only walked one and only struck out one but he pitched his heart our and did it…

23Sep 2014 by Jessica DeLine

Wilson!

Angels, pitching

So, I'm pretty sure this volleyball could have pitched a better game last night than CJ Wilson. 2014 has seen a mostly medicore (at best) year from CJ with a couple of flashes of brilliance (notably 5/17 & 9/17) and a whole lot of stinker starts (6 starts not even making it to the 5th inning). If only we could just have CJ start on dates with "17" in them? Let's look at CJ's 35 pitch, 12 strike outing from last night by batter number. First pitch fastball, called strike - low. Second pitch fastball, single on pitch right over the middle of the plate. Pitch 1, fastball, strike. Pitch 2, sinker, ball. Pitch 3, strike, groundout. One out. (so far so good right?) Pitch one, ball. Pitch two, strike (but…

22Sep 2014 by Jessica DeLine

Pace of Play Committee – Where are the Players?

Baseball

He's not done yet! Bud Selig may be on his way out, but he has established a "Pace of Play" committee comprised of not one single current manager or player. There are perhaps some things that could be done to help control the pace of play, but it's debatable if they are needed. The committee members are: Atlanta Braves President John Schuerholz New York Mets General Manager Sandy Alderson MLB Players Association Executive Director Tony Clark Boston Red Sox partner Michael Gordon MLB Chief Operating Officer Rob Manfred MLB Executive Vice President, Baseball Operations Joe Torre Red Sox Chairman Tom Werner Their Baseball pedigrees: John Schuerholz, 73 - 22 years as a general manager, 5 years as president. Never played. Never coached. Sandy Alderson, 66 - Lawyer, been a general…

22Sep 2014 by Jessica DeLine

9/25 Angels Rankings – Pitchers

Angels, pitching, Rankings

My rankings include the entire 40 man roster - not just the active 25 man. These rankings were compiled with the help of MLB stats, FanGraphs, misc. data, personal opinion, and some fairy dust I found hidden in Shoemaker's beard. An asterisk* means the player was not on the active roster at the time of this posting. Updates to List: Drew Rucinski was added Rank Player Last Week Change High Low Comments 1 Jered Weaver 1 - 1 5 Weaver was an ace again last week only walking 1 and notching another win with 7 innings pitched. 2 Joe Smith 2 - 2 4 This guy rocks. 3 Matt Shoemaker 4 +1 1 13 Amazing sauce. Fear the bear and all that jazz. Let's hope he's healthy again soon! 4…

22Sep 2014 by Jessica DeLine

9/25 Angels Rankings – Position Players

Angels, Rankings

My rankings include the entire 40 man roster . These rankings were compiled with the help of MLB stats, FanGraphs, misc. data, personal opinion, and some fairy dust I found hidden in Shoemaker's beard. Updates to List: None Rank Player Last Week Change High Low Comments 1 Mike Trout 1 - 1 6 Another stolen base, .313Avg took a homer and gave a homer. Good Trout week 2 Albert Pujols 2 - 2 3 Still playing well and drove in 7 last week 3 Howie Kendrick 3 - 3 6 .350 OBP. The #4 spot is still working for Howie! 4 David Freese 6 +2 2 8 Mr. September! Freese seems to like the pressure and hit 2 big ones last week. 5 Kole Calhoun 4 -1 2 6 Rough…

19Sep 2014 by Jessica DeLine

Mariners 3, Salt Lake Bees 1

Angels

After clinching the division, Scioscia gave the regular season starters a much needed day off (though Conger did get screwed with that). In their place he put a lineup of players who spent most of their season in AAA playing for the Bees. Many were worried about throwing in the "rookies" against Felix Hernandez but he has owned the veterans this year anyway going 3-0 his previous three starts against the Angels and allowing a total of only 6 runs in those 3 games. Wade LeBlanc was another concern, given his outing the last time he made an Angels start. Howver, LeBlanc held his own against Hernandez and pitched a pretty stellar 5.1 innings giving up only 3 hits, no walks and throwing 72 pitches. LeBlanc, Mike Morin, Joe Thatcher,…

18Sep 2014 by Jessica DeLine

AL Central Race + AL Wildcard

Baseball

The Angels and Orioles have locked in their division championships, but there are still a lot of unknowns in the American League. Most notably - who is going to win the AL Central? With a half game spread, this is the closet race in baseball, and after the Tigers and Royals meet in Kansas City this weekend for a three game series, will the AL Central race be decided? Let's look at three factors to see who may take the AL Central crown. Head to Head in 2014 so far Recent performance of both teams Series match-up for this weekend Strength of remaining schedules ---------------------------- The Tigers are 11-5 against the Royals this year and won their last series 2-1. ADVANTAGE: TIGERS The Royals at 9-7 in September with 3…

18Sep 2014 by Jessica DeLine

Angels Clinch AL West!

Angels

CJ was amazing on the mound last night throwing 7 innings of one hit ball. The other CJ him a 3 run moon shot in the Angels 5-run fifth inning. Post game we all waited (I was at the stadium) while we got by with a little help from our "friends" as the Rangers beat the A's in another Oakland meltdown. Sadly I missed the champagne dousing and Angels victory lap since I took the train and had to get back to San Diego. Of all days I wish I had driven... The Angels season so far has been nothing short of Amazing. Josh Hamilton and Kole Calhoun were missing much of the first part of the season, our bullpen was among the worst in April and May and we…

17Sep 2014 by Jessica DeLine

Bullpen Meltdown

Angels, pitching

As if the Angels Bullpen wanted to say "see - we aren't quite perfect all the time", they proceeded to blow things in a big way Tuesday night at the Big A. Rasmus started out the game with a masterful 4 inning appearance in which he amassed a mere 43 pitches over just 13 batters. Then came Jason Grilled Cheese and his meltdown. Grilli walked his first batter (Kendrys Morales) then hit the next (Logan Morrison). He ended up lasting .1 innings with 2 hits, 1 walk, 1 HPB and 4 earned runs. Ouch. But no big deal right? The Angels were down 2-4 at this point which just takes one Halo magic inning to put them back in it. So Mike Morin came in and finished off the inning with…