Will Smith Gets Jiggy With the Halos (47/81)

Sorry for the late post. I missed the game the other night as it was date night, and things have been really hectic on the job front right now. I'll usually try to get the posts out the day of or the day after at the latest, but you know how it is. Without further ado, let's get jiggy with it.

Kansas City Royals rookie and former Angels farmhand, Will Smith, faced former teammate Garret Richards and shut down the Angels with two-hit ball over 7 innings, the longest start of his career, to beat the Angels 4-1.

Smith, drafted in 2007 by the Angels, was sent over to Kansas City along with pitcher Sean O'Sullivan in a trade that brought over third baseman Alberto Callaspo in 2010. Smith only has 5 major league starts and is sporting a 2-3 win/loss record, a 6.26 ERA and 18 strikeouts after Tuesday's game. His start versus the Angels was easily the best major league start of his short career so far.

It's too early to say who this trade will benefit more in the long run, but Callaspo has really been turning his season around recently and has been productive in the month of July with 17 hits, 2 home runs and a .329 OBP.

Angels Steal One in Their Return Home (39/81)

In what could end up being the AL Wild Card playoff matchup in October, the Angels erased a 4-run deficit to beat the Baltimore Orioles 9-7 in their return home to the Big A.

The Angels showed their resiliency last night after coming home from a roller coaster road trip, and the offense and bullpen refused to let poor starting pitching be the factor in this one.

There's a lot going on with the Angels right now, so I'll try to catch you up on the Hometown front:

Banged-Up Starters:

When the Angel's offense was struggling mightily in April and May, the starting rotation picked the team up with their powerful throwing arms and carried them until All Star outfielder, Mike Trout showed up to give the offense a swift kick in the rear.

Now that the Angels have found their bats, it puts less pressure on the starters to throw perfect games every time, but the end of the June and beginning of July have not been so kind to the rotation.

Dan Haren is on the DL with a sore back for the first time in his career. Jerome Williams is struggling in his rehab assignment and won't be back until after the All Star break. Ervin Santana is regressing after what looked like bounce-back starts, including a 1-hitter. And finally, despite the Angels bailing him out, Garrett Richards was optioned back to Triple A this morning after two terrible outings in a row.

Remember when Angels had 6 elite-level starters a little over two weeks ago? Yeah, me neither.

Brilliant Bullpen:

If you asked me before the season started if I would have ever written this headline about the Angels bullpen, I would have given you a resounding "NO!" Not only would I have been wrong, but lately the Angels bullpen has proved that they're just as good as any in the majors. For 5 innings they shut down the Orioles lineup that managed to smash 7 runs off Richards in the first 4 innings.

Mike Trout, The Modern Era Rickey Henderson:

All I need to do is show you ESPN's graphic comparing Mike Trout vs Rickey Henderson as the only two players to hit at least .343, slug .551, with 10 home runs and 23 stolen bases in their first 60 games before the All Star break. Reminds you of how good The Man of Steal was and how good Trout is going to be.

All Star Trumbo:

In case you didn't already know, Angel's All Star LF/RF/1B/3B/DH Mark Trumbo will be participating in the home run derby and he's not worried about his swing. The young slugger spoke with Garrett Anderson, who won the derby in 2007 as well as the All Star Game MVP, and was reaffirmed that he needs to approach the contest just like batting practice and not try to pull the ball too much. While he has a good a shot as any to win, I doubt Trumbo takes home the crown. I do, however, think he'll hit the farthest ball in the park (and probably outside the park too).

Angels Conquer the NL, Ready For Next Challenge (38/81)

Over the past 5 seasons the Angels have the best record in major league baseball in interleague play and put their stamp on their National League dominance with a 5-3 win over the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers Sunday afternoon.

Peter Bourjos hit his second home run of the year after a blown foul ball call by the first base umpire, Albert Pujols knocked in Mike Trout from second base, and Howie Kendrick and Mark Trumbo each broke 0-3 games with RBI singles in the 7th inning that gave the Angels the win. Garrett Richards tossed his worst game of the season and still picked up a quality start.

The Angels are having a blast right now, and why shouldn't they? With a 14-7 record in June and a 34-19 record since April 28 (rookie Mike Trout's 2012 season debut), the Angels have the best record in baseball in that time behind only one team: the Yankees (let's not forget the Angels won their last series versus the Yankees as well). Nobody can knock the Angels anymore because of their terrible start. As a matter of fact, if the season started on April 28, the Angels would be first place in the AL West, 4 games over the Texas Rangers (30-23 during the same period).

I will forever be confused and amazed with Mike Scioscia's coaching decisions. At the beginning of the season, I would yell at the TV or, while attending games, yell at the dugout for Scioscia's questionable decisions. I'm not sure if it was something Angel's GM Jerry Dipoto said, or the fact that Scioscia now has a lot more weapons at his disposal since the arrivals of Trout and reliever, Ernesto Frieri, but the Angels rotund skipper seems to make one right move after another.

Scioscia's bullpen-by-committee has been surprisingly successful and has turned around what was once the mockery of the American League to solid group of dependable relievers. Now knowing they're his team's biggest strength, Scioscia lets pitchers go the distance more often rather than pulling them early. He has gone back to what works with the Angel's small ball approach from guys like Erick Aybar, Maicer Izturis and Peter Bourjos, while at the same time allowing his power hitters like Pujols and Trumbo swing for the fences, and it works magically with Trout being able to do it all.

As we approach the middle of the year, we start to thing that this may very well be the Angels season to pull it off, or they may fizzle into oblivion in the second half. Only time will tell. However, no one can argue that this season has not been exciting.

Santana Throws Gem, Angels Stop and Stare (37/81)

Angels starter, Ervin Santana, struck out 10 and walked none but managed to take the loss thanks to some mental errors by the guys behind him and a lack of offensive production as the Angels lost to the Dodgers 3-1 on Saturday night.

Santana is in the process of turning his season around, throwing great in back-to-back games. The Angels just couldn't find ways to score yesterday, going 1-10 with runners in scoring position. The Angels also seemed to be making bad decisions and mental errors out on the field. It was a poor followup to the 8-5 win from the previous day.

If Santana keeps this up, he may very well solidify his spot back in the rotation before Jerome Williams, who's on the mend, comes back. Garrett Richards, who's pitching today for the Angels, is also fighting for a spot in the rotation and is throwing very well.

Williams Has Shortness of Breath, Health Scare (33/81)

Angels fell to the San Francisco Giants in the Giants first return to Angel Stadium last night, but that wasn't the real story. Angels starter, Jerome Williams was rush to the hospital during the game after he had passed out in the Angels clubhouse.

Williams was admitted to UCI Medical Center after experiencing a shortness of breath following an uncharacteristically bad start in which he gave up 4 runs in only 3 1/3 innings. The start was only his second poor outing at Angels Stadium.
 
I could tell after the first inning that something wasn't right with Williams. He was wild and not staying on top of his pitches.

Last night his wife tweeted from the hospital that he was doing better, but she asked fans to keep him in their prayers. I sincerely hope Williams is okay and comes back strong. Even though he's one of the best baseball stories in recent years, Williams has to focus on his health above all else, and if that means taking an extended leave from the team, then so be it.

With Williams out, youngster Garrett Richards momentarily avoids being sent back to Triple A although I'm sure he wishes it wasn't under these circumstances.

Let's hope Williams can battle back and keep him in our thoughts and prayers.

Angels Blank D-Backs for 2nd Straight Day (32/81)

Garrett Richards continued to pitch like a major league starter Sunday as the Angels shut out the Arizona Diamondbacks 2-0 for the second time in as many days.

Richards delivered a worthy follow up to Ervin Santana's 1-hitter, pitching 8 innings and giving up only 4 hits. Ernesto Frieri came in to shut the door in the 9th and picked up his 7th save as an Angel.

With Angels starting pitchers throwing as well as they have been lately, one has to wonder what's going to happen once Jered Weaver (back) comes back to the rotation next week.

The Angels have 6 guys who deserve to be on any rotation in the majors. Obviously Richards is the youngest, least experienced, and would be the first option to go. However, the guy has been lights out since his first start and has found the comfort level that he sorely lacked last season. Taking a starter out of the rotation who is throwing so well and sending him back to Triple A could backfire on the Angels future plans for Richards. The move may stump his development or it could have no effect at all.

The next and only other possibility to get sent down would be Santana, but he earned himself a couple more starters, at least, after his 1-hitter against the D-Backs last night. They're not sending Santana down unless he gives them no choice by falling flat on his face in his next few starts, and I don't see that happening.

Another unpopular, unconventional option would be to go to a 6-man rotation (something the Washington Nationals are considering to do to limit their ace, Stephen Strasburg's inning limit). I'm not a fan of the inning limit because it gives starters too long a rest between starts, which could be detrimental to a pitcher's rhythm.

The last thing would be to move Santana or Richards to the bullpen (something I strongly disagree with) and send a guy like Bobby Cassevah down.

If you were the Angels, what would you do to Garrett Richards when Jered Weaver returns?

The Home Streak is Over, Williams Loses First Game in Anaheim (29/81)

Since he got picked up by the Angels until last night, starter, Jerome Williams had never lost a game at Angels Stadium, a total of 8 starts. The Angels lost to the Seattle Mariners 8-6 in the final game of this series.

Jerome Williams has arguably been the most underrated 5th starter in Major League Baseball. Nobody really talks about him as he does his job well, but doesn't really do anything spectacular. Let's face it, ESPN is jumping up and down mentioning a guy who throws quality starts (6 innings pitched, 3 earned runs or less), but Williams has been consistently putting up good numbers. Of his 10 starts, 8 of them have been quality starts, and 6 of them resulting in Wins for Williams.

Going into this season, the anchor to the Angels rotation was considered a big question mark. Was last year's late season pickup, Williams, a fluke? Would Garrett Richards be able to bounce back after getting trounced in his major league debut? We didn't know. Based on his early season consistency though, I would consider Williams one of the top 4 Angels MVPs behind Mark Trumbo, Mike Trout, and tied with CJ Wilson.

Besides last night's uncharacteristic outing, Williams is outperforming expectations and giving the Angels stability in a season that desperately lacks it.

Trumbombs Galore (28/81)

Mark Trumbo had his first multi-home run game, Garrett Richards got his first career win, and the Angels spanked the Seattle Mariners 6-1 in the second game of the series.

I usually use an image from the game, but I found this website today that specializes in custom Angels t-shirts and couldn't pass up the opportunity to plug the site, Harness the Halo. I would prefer the shirts to be about $5 cheaper, but they're pretty good. If you're an Angel's fan, you should check them out.

Back to the real story: Mark Trumbo

Before Spring Training had even began, the "experts" were already writing off Trumbo's Rookie of the Year runner up as a fluke. They said that his OBP was too low to be valuable on a team that specialized in small ball, and he wouldn't be able to match his home run total again thanks to his strikeout rate.

As the season went on, Trumbo began getting more consistent at-bats and becoming more comfortable in the batter's box. His average and home runs began reflecting this confidence and now Trumbo is one of the hottest hitters in baseball (and he's a THIRD STRING FIRST BASEMAN).

"Experts" will be quick to point out that Trumbo's pace is unsustainable for a player of his skill level and that he'll come back down soon. They might be right, but I'm not so sure. One thing that hasn't been accounted for is Trumbo's determination. He has shown this season that he is one of the hardest workers on the Angels team when he tried to learn a new position once Albert Pujols came to town. He has also focused his approach at the plate and is striking out less and walking more. He knows what kind of reputation he earned last season and is doing everything in his power to change that. Pitcher's are noticing it too and are being more selective of their pitches to the former Villa Park High School standout.

However, they're not succeeding all the time as Trumbo turned Trumbombs into Trumbo Jacks Tuesday night.