This off-season has marked one of the largest turnovers in Angel’s history. Lackey to the Red Sox, Figgins to the Mariners, and Vlad and Oliver to the Rangers. In response, the Angels quietly brought in three so-called “band-aid” free agents in Hideki Matsui, Fernando Rodney, and Joel Pinero. We have heard all off-season about how there are really no clear-cut “stars” on any part of this team. Torii Hunter is the favorite in the line-up, but even with his spectacular defense he usually struggles to hit .280. Weaver is the guy in the starting rotation, but he has yet to win more than 16 games in a season. And finally the bullpen, well, we’ll let Alex Rodriguez tell you who the star is there. Baseball Prospectus has the Angels finishing in last place in the AL West which is pretty difficult to swallow for Angels fans. So how will the Angels win without an ace, a dominant closer, or a big bat?

I seem to recall a World Championship caliber starting rotation that consisted of Jared Washburn, Ramon Ortiz, Kevin Appier, Aaron Sele, and young John Lackey. This mediocre rotation managed to sneak into the playoffs and take down the prize of the National League, the San Francisco Giants, who just so happened to be lead by dominant starting pitcher Jason Schmidt. Ok ok, I hear you. That was a magical year, but was it repeatable? Take a look at some other recently successful starting rotations.

2008 Tampa Bay Rays – Scott Kazmir, James Shields, Matt Garza, Andy Sonnanstine
2007 Colorado Rockies – Jeff Francis, young Ubaldo Jimenez, Josh Fogg, Aaron Cook
2004 St. Louis Cardinals – Woody Williams, Matt Morris, Jeff Suppan, Jason Marquis
2003 Florida Marlins – Brad Penny, Mark Redman, young Josh Beckett, Carl Pavano
2002 – Angels – See above

A couple of things to note: most of these teams lost in the World Series, and many of these pitchers would later become aces, but the point in all of this is that you have to give them a chance. Did anyone expect young Josh Beckett to destroy the Cubs’ hopes of a World Series title with his 100 mph fastball, or Justin Verlander to shut down the rest of the AL Central in his first full season? The Angels are filled with young, live arms who can do some major damage in this division. This is also an Angels lineup who is mostly still intact, and who were second to only the New York Yankees last year in runs scored. Scot Shields is back and healthy, and Fernando Rodney comes in after only blowing one save last year. Also, don’t forget guys like Kevin Jepsen, Brandon Wood, Kendry Morales (future MVP), or Howie Kendrick. In my view, there is not a team in the league with this kind of depth. (Sorry Red Sox fans)

Now as many of you know, I was pretty upset this off-season. I felt Figgins should have been brought back, that there were better, cheaper relievers available other than Fernando Rodney, and that the disposal of Rex Hudler was wrong. But no off-season is perfect in the free-agent era, and all-in-all, the Angels are a better team. This team of two’s will soon be remembered as great.

Rotation: Jered Weaver, Joe Saunders, Ervin Santana, Joel Pinero, Scott Kazmir
Bullpen: Brian Fuentes, Fernando Rodney, Scot Shields, Kevin Jepsen, Jason Bulger, Matt Palmer
Line-up: Erick Aybar, Bobby Abreu, Torii Hunter, Hideki Matsui, Kendry Morales, Juan Rivera, Howie Kendrick, Brandon Wood, Mike Napoli

- Tony C

We’ve found ourselves in a 3-1 hole, but if anyone can pull us out of it, it’ll be our ace John Lackey, who has posted a 1.38 ERA in 13 postseason innings of work. Lackey has already thrown against the Yankees in this series, and while he gave up 9 hits in 5.2 innings and gave up 4 runs, only two of those were earned. He didn’t get a lot of run support, mainly because he was paired against C.C. Sabathia, who quite frankly, embarrassed us last game. But this time, he’ll be pitching against A.J. Burnett, who gave up two earned runs in six innings. One of the reasons we are struggling offensively is because we are swinging too early in the count. We’re giving pitchers innings where they throw less than 10 pitches, and the longer they stay in the game, the less we’ll see of the bullpen, and we have shown we can hit the bullpen (Mariano Rivera may be the exception). Sabathia lasted 8 innings in both outings, and the Yankees won those games easily. But the Yankees bullpen has struggled to control the Angels in late innings, and manager Joe Girardi has had to basically use his entire relief staff to finish the game. Aside from last game, the Yankees were averaging 4 runs a game. If we can keep them under five runs, get Burnett out of the game early and play with confidence, we can take this game and keep the series alive. Go Halos!

Yankees

Pitching – A.J. Burnett
Postseason – 12.1 in, 6H 3ER 10K, 2.19 ERA
Last Start Against Angels – 6.1 in, 3H 2ER, 2.84 ERA

Angels

Pitching – John Lackey
Postseason – 13 in, 13H 2ER 7K, 1.38 ERA
Last STart Against Yankees – 5.2 in, 9H 2ER 3K, 3.18 ERA

Things to look for:

Brian Fuentes: Scioscia just had a closed door talk with Brian about his mechanics, so look for a short leash in save situations.

Kendry Morales/Juan Rivera: Both have been sluggish lately, so we’ll see if they get back to their hot hitting ways.

Monday: @New York
Jered Weaver v. Joba Chamberlain

Tuesday: @Boston
John Lackey v. Diasuke Matsuzaka

Wednesday: @Boston
Joe Saunders v. (TBA)

Thursday: @Boston
Ervin Santana v. Josh Beckett

September is here and in the next couple weeks, Mike Scioscia will look to adjust the rotation for the playoffs. This will obviously be done with caution as Texas is still breathing down our necks. So the question is: What will the Angels playoff rotation look like?

Typically in a five game series, a team will go with a three man rotation, but Mike Scioscia, because of our depth, will have the option of going with four. I understand that many of you believe that John Lackey has lost his playoff magic, but he will be our number one. There is still no one I would rather have in a big game than Big John. I understand his Josh Beckett match-ups have been ugly, but he will always keep you in the game.

The number two slot is where the question lies. Because of the year he is having Jered Weaver will be in the playoff rotation but I’m not sure if he will be in the two slot. Scioscia may want to mix it up with a lefty which leaves us two options, Joe Saunders and Scott Kazmir. I think it will come down to last minute decision. If the Angels lose game one, Scioscia may want to go with Weaver. Also, if the Angels play the Red Sox, game three will be at Fenway where Kazmir has had a lot of success.

So where does that leave Saunders and Ervin Santana? It looks like they will come out of the bullpen. The great thing about the Angels rotation though is that this could change. It’s a good problem to have.

Rotation Projections for the Division Series.

Angels vs. Red Sox

Game 1 @LA – John Lackey
Game 2 @LA – Jered Weaver
Game 3 @BOS – Scott Kazmir

Angels vs. Tigers

Game 1 @LA – John Lackey
Game 2 @LA – Scott Kazmir
Game 3 @DET – Jered Weaver

It’s been a rough end of the month for the Angels. Halo fans witnessed a rarity in 2009: 3 consecutive losses. It’s only happened 3 other times this year. Los Angeles Dodgers/Colorado Rockies in June, Texas Rangers in May, and Minnesota Twins in April. The Angels have only been swept in 2 series, and have never lost more than 3 in a row. Some might be concerned about the recent increase in the loss column after LAA dropped 5 of its last 7 games. It’s easy to get swept up in the recent downturn, but GoHalos is here to right the ship of despair.

Yes, this has been a rough couple of series, but up until this past week of games, the Angels were 12-5 in August, averaging just over 6 runs a game. Despite our struggles, we had created so much space between us and the Texas Rangers that we still have a 5 game cushion and are tied for the second most wins in baseball. Don’t forget, Torii Hunter is back and starting to look like his old self, recording a hit in every game he’s played in since his return on August 16. His current hit streak is punctuated by 3 consecutive multi-hit games, improving his batting average to a team-high .318. Chone Figgins seems to be taking after Hunter, also having 3 consecutive multi-hit games which included 2 steals to bring his 2009 total to 39. Juan Rivera has quietly tallied 72 RBIs and hit 20 homeruns, only trailing possibly AL MVP candidate Kendry Morales in that category (27). And then there’s Howie Kendrick. Angel fans not only had to suffer through Howard’s commercials, but also had to endure his poor performance on the field. Since getting the call up on July 4th, he’s totalled 8 doubles, 4 homeruns and 26RBIs, raising his batting average nearly 40 points. Manager Mike Scioscia has seemed to figure out how to rotate the three-headed monster that consists of Kendrick, Maicer Izturis, and Erick Aybar.

Pitching woes? We’ve had to deal with that all year. But don’t be too concerned. Despite Ervin Santana having an enormous 6.13 ERA, he has won 4 straight games. Worried about John Lackey and his 11 innings, 11 earned runs in his 2 past starts? Don’t be. Before those recent outings, he had only allowed 11 runs in 52.1 innings with a 5-1 record in 7 starts. To top it off, Lackey, Santana and Jered Weaver have all pitched complete game shutouts in a little over a month. How many teams can send out a core of pitchers that can do that? Plus, Joe Saunders returns off the DL yesterday to pitch his best quality start since June 24, surrendering 2 earned runs in 5 innings while striking out 6. Welcome back, Joe.

The Angels will begin a 4-games series against the Oakland Athletics, who are 4th in the AL West with a 55-71 record. They are 6-3 against the A’s this year, and will face 3 rookies and a 36-year-old journeyman whose combine records totals 20-32 with a 4.55 ERA.

There’s really no reason to worry. The Angels have put themselves in a great position on top of the AL West, and will look to close out the season with their sights set on another Championship.

-Kevin H.

John Lackey failed to get his 100th win again last night and the pitching problems for the Angels continue. Yahoo sports reported today that the Angels tried to get Billy Wagner but the Red Sox had the better waiver position. That would have been consider the Angels only have two relievers who have actually finished out a major league season. In addition to John Lackey’s woes Jered Weaver seems to have lost his early season magic. What will the Angels do?

Well, before we get two worried there is a positive outlook. For the Playoffs your only really need three starters due to the distance between games. Ervin Santana has learned great lately and Joe Saunders returns on Wednesday and say he feels better than he has all year. Our big four are Lackey, Weaver, Saunders, and Santana. We really only need three of them to get their act together, and the fourth we can send to the bullpen for the playoffs.

Also, September call-ups are just around the corner. This should allow our young arms to take some pressure off our pitchers for the final month of the season. So I know at this point, a matchup against Josh Beckett and the Red Sox is dreadful, but remember we only need three.

- Tony C

As you all know, Roy Halladay is on the market. Roy Halladay! The best pitcher in baseball! It is no secret that the Angels have had their share of problems in the playoffs the last few years. In addition, this year our pitching staff can not seem to stay healthy. With Roy Halladay we would have a rotation that consists of him, John Lackey, Jered Weaver, Joe Saunders, and Ervin Santana. You tell me who is going to beat that in the playoffs.

You may be thinking that I’m crazy right about now, but I believe this is possible. The Blue Jays are said to be looking for a couple of major league ready players including pitchers, infielders, and some high level prospects. In the Sabathia deal Cleveland got five minor leaguers. I believe we can do better and keep our team intact. The Angels would give up Matt Palmer, Sean O’Sullivan, Brandon Wood, and two decent minor league prospects and in return we get the best pitcher in baseball. Yes we would be losing our best prospect, but there is no room for him on the major league roster anyway. Plus we still have Sean Rodriguez.

I’m tired of having a regular season team. We are ready for another world championship, and I believe Roy Halladay can give that to us.

-Tony C

Overcoming adversity

For the Angels, the beginning of the season was a roller coaster to say the least. It began with a plague of injuries to some of our key stars, especially, the pitching staff. This included John Lackey, Ervin Santana, and Kelvim Escobar (who is still out). The problem, however, was alleviated due to the depth of the Angels pitching. This was topped by outstanding performances from Jered Weaver and Joe Saunders, and completed by a solid back end lead by top prospect Nick Adenhart.

Our heart was then broken by the passing of this outstanding young pitching prospect. The death of Nick Adenhart is something the team, and Angels fans will always remember. Most of us didn’t even know who he was, but it didn’t matter because he was one of our Angels. The young men that all of us at this end of the 5 freeway cheer for year after year. But, as many tragedies do, it made this team stronger both on and off the field. Lead by Torii Hunter, the Angels became a new team. One to be reckoned with.

Highlights

With all of the issues the Angels have had, some leaders have emerged. This begins with our Gold Glove and All-Star center fielder Torii Hunter. Most of us were pretty upset with the problems that arose with Gary Matthews Jr., but Torii has made us forget. His 17 home runs, 65 RBI’s, and amazing defensive play have been the Angels rock during the first half of the season.

Also, both Juan Rivera (.312 avg., 14HR, 50RBI) and Kendry Morales (.285avg., 14HR, 45RBI) have emerged as elite players in this league. With Mark Teixeira turning his back on us, most of us thought we would have a huge hole offensively. This has proven not to be the case, especially with the addition of Bobby Abreu.

With all the injuries to our rotation who can forget the 30-year-old rookie. With a 7-0 start, Matt Palmer locked down a much needed rotation spot and gave consistent starts when we needed them the most.

Finally, Chone Figgins has been has returned to the Figgins we all know and love, and plants a solid bat at the beginning of the lineup.

Outlook

With everything the Angels have gone through, and with the exception of Kelvim Escobar and Scott Shields, our team is healthy and performing. Mike Scioscia should win coach of the year and the Angels should win the division. Hopefully, the adversity the Angels have overcome has given them a toughness they have lacked in the past. And maybe, just maybe, they can take down the Red Sox this year.

-Tony C