The Halos lost the first series of their second half, splitting the final two games in New York after blowing a late lead on Friday night. The bullpen has struggled to allow the Angels’ modest offense to succeed as of late, and the pen has been the story of the second half thus far.
After a tough start to the season, the bullpen had stabilized and the numbers started reflect what it really was–league-average. Over the past three games the relief core has twice allowed three runs or more and started to create panic among the fanbase.
On Sunday, the Halos entered the bottom of the 9th with a 10-5 lead and Ernesto Frieri on the bump. Frieri had not pitched in quite some time, so Mike Scioscia wanted to give him some work. The Halos’ closer struggled, walking the leadoff man, promptly allowing a two-run blast, then walking another to end his night.
Frieri left the game with a runner on first and Scott Downs. The lefthander worked the first pair of outs, but ultimately ended up walking in a run with the bases loaded before leaving with the bags juiced. Kevin “You’ve Got to be Kidding” Jepsen entered the game (really) for the final out, which came against *Alex Rodriguez.
*SABR President Vince Gennaro conducted a study evaluating player performance against elite pitching (as a way to predict playoff performance) and found that A-Rod is well below league averages against the top pitchers, but absolutely crushes weak competition. I’d lump Kevin Jepsen in the “weak competition” category.
The Halos got the out and won the game, but nobody was particularly happy about how the win came.
Last night Ervin Santana left the game after six decent innings with a 5-4 lead. In the 7th, Hisanori Takahashi and LaTroy Hawkins blew the lead, then David Carpenter allowed the Tigers an insurance run in the 8th.
The Halos failed to make a late-inning comeback and dropped their opening game against Detroit. Much has been said of the Angels’ difficult second-half schedule, and the next couple weeks will not only tell us how significant the team’s weaknesses are, but also if Jerry Dipoto and company recognize the weaknesses enough to solve them by bringing in outside talent.
Tonight, the Angels send Garrett Richards to the mound to take on Detroit youngster Jacob Turner.
Hudson Belinsky can be followed on Twitter at @hudsonbelinsky.
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When you say “identify weaknesses and bring in outside talent”, I guess were talking about something in addition to the third of a BILLION dollars we already spent in the free agency this past offseason?
It wasn’t much of a mystery in the off-season that what this team needed more than anything else was relief pitching. Instead, LAA fans somehow thought we won the lottery with the Pujols signing.
Good teams build a team from the farm system, pick up a few key agents to compliment home-grown players, then are able to reach into their farm system to make a few key mid-season additions. There is a reason you’re not hearing a lot of chatter in regards to LAA being in the mix with some of the key free agents…..(1) we’ve kind of blown our wad and (2) teams want young talent in return for good pitching and hitting, and LAA is kind of lacking in that area…
Yes, I am talking about something in addition to the players brought in this offseason. No team is perfect. Even the Rangers and Yankees are actively looking to get better.
Having an awesome farm system doesn’t necessarily mean having guys that can come up mid-season and contribute. Several young players have come up and contributed this year – Trout, Carpenter, Richards – and Alexi Amarista’s value turned into half of Ernesto Frieri, who’s been spectacular.
This team includes many players that came from the farm system. And there is a significant pool of talent in the Halos’ system. Not much elite talent, but there’s enough there to swing a trade for a top player in this year’s crop.
You basically described the Angels.
Solid foundation of home grown talent, key free agent acquisitions, shrewd trades to fill the gaps etc. Nobody has a perfect team but angels are in a better position than all but 2 AL teams. Like their chances in a crap shoot playoffs.
Paris:
You’re joking right? I’m not really looking to drop $320+ million in the offseason to snag the 2nd wilcard spot so I can have a “crap shoot” of a chance. key acquisitions? shrewd moves? huh…..what team are you following? We just fired our GM not 6 months ago…..by any objective analysis, our farm system is in the lower half of MLB, and we just wrapped up our 2012 draft by not having a pick in the top 100.
“You’re joking right?”
There’s a bit of Poe’s Law at work with Paris. His homerisms are so blind and extreme that I have to believe it’s a parody. But his rabid sincerity convinces you otherwise.