Couple of things to cover tonight, on what would normally be a happy occasion (and I guess still is, to some extent):
1) Let's stop the nonsense with Escobar. DL him, cut him open, fix it, and let him heal correctly. This two starts on, three starts off thing is getting ridiculous. It's pretty clear that the guy simply isn't right. He obviously did something in the fourth inning. You could tell when threw about 12 straight pitches under 90 mph. He finally realized that he couldn't get by on the splitter alone any longer and had to throw something hard. They have two guys capable of stepping into the rotation in Santana and Bootcheck. Give one of them the job for now and protect the investment before Escobar really shreds something in his elbow.
2) It's time to get rid of the illusion that Bengie Molina is a good defensive catcher. The guy can't catch the ball, which is a pretty important skill for a catcher to possess. I've never seen a gold glove catcher NOT catch so many pitches. It's not about his lack of speed. It's like he caught lackadasickitis from Garret Anderson. I'm not saying they should take him out of the lineup, because he's hitting right now. But let's just quit with the good defense thing.
3) Can anyone on this team play solid defense in right field? Or rather, can anyone who has a chance of being put in right field actually play solid defense in right field? Figgins? Nope. Davanon? I've followed his nose, and it says no (then again, he looks shaky in every outfield position, but usually makes the catch). Rivera? Not sold. Seriously, I love Vlad, but when he is the best defensive option you have in right field, well, let's just be happy that he's also the best offensive option in right field, too.
Great effort by the bullpen again, and Donnelly almost got himself a knock, and just may have if they weren't playing him up the middle. Something scares me about Frankie when he gets three fly ball outs. Oh well, it will pass.
Dallas is starting to hit, and it's at just the right time. It's coinciding with GA's resurgence, and Kennedy as well. Let's not forget that two of those guys are about a month behind everyone else. The offense is back to the point where I no longer consider the game a lost cause as soon as the Angels get behind. Or maybe I'm just in a better mood lately.
Kotchman actually hit a couple out of the infield, but foul. Baby steps, Casey. Baby steps.
Good win. Now let's go to New York and get back to .500 on the trip. Then Vlad comes back, things start to click, and the Angels will re-establish themselves in their rightful place atop the division stay (I hope).
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I agree with you about Bengie not being the defensive catcher he was - my preference, especially now that the offense is on the upswing, is to DH him and let Jose catch full-time. To be fair, though, I think that a fair bit of his problem was that Escobar was falling apart on him, missing spots by a wide, wide margin. Let's hope Esky gets surgery quickly and comes back strong.
I think I still have a visceral aversion to seeing "Molina - DH" on the scorecard.
And I agree that it was Escobar who was wild, but I'm not just talking about this game. I've noticed it a lot more over the last two seasons.
Post a Comment