Results tagged ‘ Royals ’

7-15, & the numbers that come with it …

Hint: They’re not pretty.

The Angels (and their $155 million payroll) head into the opener of a seven-game homestand, the first of a three-game series against the Twins and the finale of an ugly April with the fourth-worst record in the Major Leagues and a nine-game deficit of the Rangers in the American League West, where they also trail the Mariners and Athletics each by 5 1/2 games — two teams whose combined payrolls are $137 million.

They went 1-5 in their recent road trip through St. Petersburg, Fla., and Cleveland, have dropped six of their last seven overall, have tied the worst record in franchise history to start a season (also in 1976) and will finish April having won back-to-back games only once. They haven’t done that in any single month since July 1998, and only three other times in their history, according to Stats LLC. They dropped six of their first seven series, with four of those losses coming against teams that finished no better than 15 games out of first place last season (the Royals, Twins, Athletics and Indians).

The rotation, at least, has begun to improve the way we would’ve all expected, posting a 2.62 ERA in the club’s last 13 games while going at least six innings in 12 of those. But the bullpen can’t hold any leads and the offense can’t score any numbers. Yeah, it’s still only April (barely), but the Angels have the look of a team that isn’t taking these early struggles lightly. They’ve released Bobby Abreu, called up Mike Trout, designated Rich Thompson for assignment, called up David Carpenter and replaced (at least temporarily) Jordan Walden with Scott Downs in the ninth inning.

The numbers (warning: some of this material may not be suitable for younger readers) …

  • 0: That, of course, is the amount of home runs Albert Pujols has hit through his first 88 at-bats of the season, by far his longest stretch to start any campaign. He averaged 14.2 at-bats per home runs through his 11 seasons in St. Louis, and his career-high at-bat streak in one season is 105, done April 24 to May 22 of last year.
  • 0: That’s the amount of multi-hit games Pujols has had since his three-double game of April 19. That’s a stretch of nine games, which saw him post a career-high streak of five consecutive starts without a hit and see his slash line drop from .296/.333/.426 to, now, .216/.266/.295.
  • 10: The combined number of walks and RBIs for Pujols through his first 22 games (four RBIs, six walks), which is three less than the amount of strikeouts (13).
  • 40.3: The percentage of pitches out of the strike zone that Pujols has swung at so far, which would easily represent a career high, according to FanGraphs.com. Prior to last year (31.8 percent), Pujols had never swung at more than 30 percent of pitches out of the zone in any given season. He’s batting .204 with two strikes and, perhaps more worrisome, 21 of his 94 plate appearances (or, 22.3 percent) have begun with an 0-2 count — perhaps a sign that he’s still feeling out all the new pitchers he’s facing, which brings us to …
  • 14: The amount of starting pitchers Pujols faced for the first time this season (out of 22). Not an excuse, but probably part of the reason for his struggles — and those of the offense in general.
  • 9: That’s the amount of runs the Angels scored in their just-completed road trip, which saw them average just over five hits per game and go a combined 4-for-30 with runners in scoring position.
  • 4: The amount of times the Angels have been shutout.
  • 1-12: The Angels’ record when scoring three runs or less.
  • 23: The exact number of teams that are ahead of the Angels in terms of: runs per game (3.45), OPS (.642), slugging percentage (.352) and stolen bases (10).
  • .230: The Angels’ batting average with runners in scoring position, good for 12th in the AL — ahead of only the division-rival A’s and Mariners.
  • 6: The amount of losses the relievers have compiled, which is tied with the last-place Royals for first in the Majors. (What? You thought the bullpen was safe from this?)
  • 1: The amount of save chances Walden had (within five appearances) before serving up the two-run, walk-off homer that stripped him of his job on Thursday — game No. 19.
  • 1.49: The bullpen’s WHIP, which ranks 23rd in the Majors.
  • 1.52: The bullpen’s strikeout-to-walk ratio, which is tied for second-to-last in the Majors (with a Marlins team of similar preseason hype).

Fun, right? …

– Alden

Can unfamiliarity be (at least part of) the problem? …

Many have tried to scrutinize, analyze and make some sense for why Albert Pujols is batting only .232, is homerless in his first 69 bats of a $240 million contract and is now hitless in four consecutive starts. Some have talked about the thick marine layer of Angel Stadium (guilty as charged), others have pointed to Pujols expanding his zone as part of his ever-diminishing walk rate (David Schoenfield did a nice job of that on ESPN.com), some have talked about frustrations and trying to do too much on a new team (hitting coach Mickey Hatcher indicated that to me yesterday) and many others (a lot of them residing in the Angels’ clubhouse) have simply pointed to the randomness of small sample sizes.

Most of that is fair — but none of it offers up a full explanation. Nothing can, really, because nobody — Pujols included — can really put their finger on exactly what is going on right now. All we can do is try to provide as much reasoning as possible.

In tune with that, here’s something else to consider: The inexperience Pujols has had against those he has faced.

Below is a list of the starters Pujols has gone up against through his first 17 games and the amount of plate appearances he had against each of them heading into the year (listed in no particular order) …

  • Brandon McCarthy: 0
  • David Price: 0
  • Jake Arrieta: 0
  • Nick Blackburn: 0
  • Wei-Yin Chen: 0
  • Bartolo Colon: 2
  • Luke Hochevar: 3
  • Hiroki Kuroda: 15
  • Francisco Liriano: 3
  • Brian Matusz: 0
  • Tommy Milone: 0
  • Ivan Nova: 0
  • Carl Pavano: 10
  • Tyson Ross: 0
  • Jonathan Sanchez: 11
  • Bruce Chen: 11
  • Phil Hughes: 0

So, 10 of the 17 starters he has faced so far have been first-time encounters, and only four — all former National Leaguers — were guys he came in with double-digit plate appearances against.

“I’m a guy that I don’t like to look for an excuse,” Pujols said of facing all the new blood on Tuesday night. “I don’t want to blame the league, that I’m new on the league, or that that I’m struggling. I don’t play like that, and I don’t put excuses. It’s the same game. You come here and do the same homework. Does it help if you’ve faced the guy before? Yeah, of course, but you still have to get the same preparation.

“Yes, it is a new league, but I don’t like to get caught up into that. I don’t like to look at that for an excuse the way I’m swinging or the way I feel at the plate, because to tell you the truth, I feel descent. I mean, I feel good. I’m just not that far away from breaking this thing off.”

OK, so Pujols doesn’t want to make excuses, and he shouldn’t. He’s getting paid a lot of money to produce, and he simply isn’t. That’s the bottom line. But iPad videos and scouting reports can only tell you so much about an opposing pitcher. It’s hard to duplicate the experience of actually seeing what a guy has.

And so far, Pujols hasn’t really had that in his back pocket.

“There’s a slight advantage a pitcher has when there’s no match-ups, just because a hitter hasn’t seen his release point, hasn’t seen maybe the action from a batter’s box,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “But a guy of Albert’s talent usually makes a quick study of these things, and we know he will. We know he will.”

– Alden

Game 6: Angels-Twins …

Angels (2-3)

Maicer Izturis, SS
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Albert Pujols, 1B
Torii Hunter, RF
Mark Trumbo, DH
Vernon Wells, LF
Alberto Callaspo, 3B
Bobby Wilson, C
Peter Bourjos, CF
SP: RH Dan Haren (0-1, 8.44 ERA)

Twins (1-4)

Denard Span, CF
Jamey Carroll, SS
Joe Mauer, C
Jusitn Morneau, DH
Josh Willingham, LF
Chris Parmelee, 1B
Danny Valencia, 3B
Ben Revere, RF
Alexi Casilla, 2B
SP: LH Francisco Liriano (0-1, 11.25 ERA)

Some notes from this morning …

  • This is a scheduled day off for Kendrys Morales. He’ll probably play all three games in New York.
  • Mike Scioscia, on giving some at-bats to Izturis, who’s finally making his first start on Thursday: “At the beginning, the balance that I think is going to be difficult is trying to get guys to play, but also giving guys that you know are going to be your core players time to get chemistry. We’re getting Erick [Aybar] off today, we’ll probably give Howie [Kendrick] a day off in New York. … Some guys obviously haven’t hit stride in the box. But you also can’t let your bench depth evaporate. And that’s why it’s important for Izzy to get in there and it’s important for a lot of guys to stay close to playing. … You’re not going to need the depth in your roster, but you still want to keep in touch with it to keep guys fresh.”
  • Scioscia on Pujols, who comes in batting .222 with no homers (more on him later): “He’s been on a lot of pitches. Right now it’s just trying to get comfortable with some new environments of hitting in our ballpark, and then just the stadium here in Minnesota, get used to the hitting backgrounds, get used to the pitchers in our league. But he will find it, that’s for sure.”
  • A couple of unsurprising developments: Jerome Williams was officially named the fifth starter, and the roster spot will be created by sending down a position player (his name is Alexi Amarista).

Some links from Wednesday …

Some AL West links …

Big game coming up against the Bulls. Heat won’t panic.

– Alden

Game 4: Angels – Twins …

Welcome to Minnesota, where the weather is a cool 43 degrees and both offenses are looking to heat up. The Twins, playing their home opener, are coming off a sweep in Baltimore in which they scored just five runs. The Angels, meanwhile, struggled to score early while dropping two of three to the young, exuberant Royals at home, and are coming off a game in which their 4-5-6 hitters went just 1-for-14.

C.J. Wilson — you know, that other free agent who signed on Dec. 8 — will make his Angels debut.

On to the lineups …

Angels (1-2)

Erick Aybar, SS
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Albert Pujols, 1B
Kendrys Morales, DH
Torii Hunter, RF
Bobby Abreu, LF
Alberto Callaspo, 3B
Chris Iannetta, C
Peter Bourjos, CF
SP: LH Wilson

Twins (0-3)

Denard Span, CF
Jamey Carroll, SS
Joe Mauer, 1B
Justin Morneau, DH
Josh Willingham, LF
Ryan Doumit, C
Danny Valencia, 3B
Trevor Plouffe, RF
Alexi Casilla, 2B
SP: RH Nick Blackburn

Some notes from this morning …

  • Torii Hunter and LaTroy Hawkins will take part in an on-field celebration in which they’ll honor the 2002 Twins team that reached the ALCS — and lost to the Angels team they now play for, ironically enough.
  • Morales, of you’ve noticed, has played in four straight days to start the season. He’ll get one game off in this series, and will get extra rest with Tuesday’s off days. But for now, he feels good. “I don’t if we had any real reservations about how much hRe can play,” Mike Scioscia said. “The fact he’s played in four straight is encouraging, and if we didn’t have a day off tomorrow, then we probably would’ve given him a day off one of these last couple of days.”
  • More specifically than the 4-5-6 hitters, Vernon Wells (who got a day off partly to rest mentally) is off to a slow start again, going 2-for-13 in the first three games — though he did homer late on Sunday. Scioscia believes he may be putting too much pressure on himself, saying: “There’s no doubt about his passion. He understands how much we need him. There could be some things players do from time to time that are going to overcompensate for some things they’re trying to correct. Vernon needs to get simple, and he understands that.”
  • Michael Kohn will be seeking a second opinion on his forearm strain. The right-handed reliever was shut down after a bullpen session, and when he tried to crank it up again and progress to long toss about 10 days ago, he had to shut it down once more. Not good.

Some intriguing numbers …

  • The Angels are taking part in the home openers at Target Field and Yankee Stadium.
  • Wilson led the AL last year with a 2.31 road ERA.
  • Scioscia and Ron Gardenhire are the two most tenured skippers in baseball.

Some links from Sunday …

Some AL West links …

  • Matt Harrison twirled a shutout and the Rangers went deep to beat the White Sox
  • The Mariners’ hitters get to face Yu Darvish today
  • A Yoenis Cespedes-led rally fell short for the A’s

Dwyane Wade sat out, but Mike Miller returned and the Heat cruised past the Pistons.

– Alden

Pujols & the ball that became his first Angels hit

Albert Pujols got his first hit as a member of the Angels in the fourth inning on Saturday afternoon, snapping an 0-for-4 skid to start the season by doubling on a line drive that landed just below the left-field fence.

That ball (pictured right) then went through a bit of an adventure. It was the same ball that Kendrys Morales singled to left field on, the same ball Alex Gordon used to throw Pujols out at the plate after he ran threw third-base coach Dino Ebel‘s stop sign, the same ball Torii Hunter then flew out to center field on for the third out of the inning, and the same ball Royals center fielder Lorenzo Cain flipped up to the stands on his way to the dugout.

In between innings, Angels vice president of communications Tim Mead phoned security to retrieve the ball from the fan. After some negotiating, the Angels got it back. The trade-off: A Pujols autograph, an Eric Hosmer autograph (they’re Royals fans) and four tickets to an upcoming game.

Not a bad tradeoff.

A ball, by the way, can’t be authenticated once it goes into the stands.

– Alden

Game 2: Royals-Angels …

Royals (0-1)

Alex Gordon, LF
Lorenzo Cain, CF
Eric Hosmer, 1B
Brett Butler, DH
Jeff Francoeur, RF
Yuniesky Betancourt, 2B
Mike Moustakas, 3B
Humberto Quintero, C
Alcides Escobar, SS
SP: RH Luke Hochevar (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

Angels (1-0)

Erick Aybar, SS
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Albert Pujols, 1B
Kendrys Morales, DH
Torii Hunter, RF
Bobby Abreu, LF
Vernon Wells, CF
Alberto Callaspo, 3B
Bobby Wilson, C
SP: RH Dan Haren (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

Some notes from this morning …

  • Abreu is in the lineup for the second game of the season, despite a very underwhelming spring. One thing in his favor, though: He’s a lifetime .467 hitter (7-for-15) against Hochevar.
  • Here’s what Mike Scioscia said about the lineup tweaks: “Especially early in the season, we definitely want to use some of the left-handed bats we have when we can and keep these guys going. And with the day-night, it’s a good day to get some of those guys in the lineup.”
  • On Abreu’s productivity as a part-time player, Scioscia said: “You have to define part time. If you’re talking once every 10 days, there aren’t isn’t many players who are going to be productive doing that, but that’s not our situation. I think Bobby still brings a part of our team that we need, an on-base percentage. His last 10 at-bats of the spring were very good. We have to give guys an opportunity to where they play enough and can contribute. Time’s going to tell. We’ll see.”
  • With his eight-inning gem on Friday, Jered Weaver became just the third pitcher since 1900 to throw at least eight scoreless innings with 10 or more strikeouts and no walks on Opening Day, according to Elias. The others: Bob Gibson (1967) and Chris Short (1968)

Some links from Opening Day …

Some AL West links …

And the Heat were pounded by the Grizzlies last night, ending their 17-game home winning streak.

– Alden

Weaver wanted the ball in the ninth

Seriously, would you expect anything less from an ace pitcher?

Jered Weaver rolled through his 2012 debut, hurling eight shutout innings, striking out 10, walking none and scattering four hits.If the Angels hadn’t scored five runs in what was a very long bottom of the eighth, Angels manager Mike Scioscia said he would’ve trotted Weaver — with 97 pitches under his belt — out for the ninth on a “short leash.” Then the Angels offense came to life. And then Scioscia turned to Scott Downs, who turned in a 1-2-3 ninth.

But make no mistake: Weaver wanted that complete-game shutout.

“I guess it’s just the competitive side of me,” Weaver said. “I don’t ever want to give the ball up. I want to go out there and pitch until the wheels fall off. But obviously, the guys put up five runs there and Scioscia put the kibosh on it. It’s all good. We got some guys down there in the bullpen that can do a great job. It’s just my competitive nature. I never want to come out of the game. But it was very understandable. Let’s see what happens next time.”

Weaver tied his career high with four complete games last season, which was tied for seventh in the Majors. But there was no reason for him to pitch the ninth on Friday. Not with a five-run cushion, and not with this being his first start of the season.

“He wanted to, but he understands what our feelings are and our thought process,” Scioscia said. “We want him to pitch deep enough into a game to give us a chance to win, and we need him to pitch deep into the game. And there was a point where there might have been some merit to giving him that extra 10, 12 pitches in a tied game because we would’ve needed it. But I think once we got to a certain point, it just didn’t make sense to have him get stretched just to go for a shutout.”

– Alden

Game 1: Royals-Angels …

Royals (0-0)

Alex Gordon, LF
Lorenzo Cain, CF
Eric Hosmer, 1B
Brett Butler, DH
Jeff Francoeur, RF
Yuniesky Betancourt, 2B
Mike Moustakas, 3B
Brayan Pena, C
Alcides Escobar, SS
SP: LH Bruce Chen

Angels (0-0)

Erick Aybar, SS
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Albert Pujols, 1B
Torii Hunter, RF
Vernon Wells, LF
Kendrys Morales, DH
Mark Trumbo, 3B
Chris Iannetta, C
Peter Bourjos, CF
SP: RH Jered Weaver

– Alden

Well hello, 2012 …

At long last, I can say this: Happy Opening Day, all. We’re about four hours away from first pitch at Angel Stadium, with Jered Weaver taking the ball against Bruce Chen, Albert Pujols debuting and Kendrys Morales (likely) being in a regular-season starting lineup for the first time since May 2010.

Some links to get you ready …

Some Opening Day factoids …

  • The Angels have won seven of their last eight Opening Day games.
  • Pujols is batting .415 (17-for-41) with four homers for his career on Opening Day. His .379 batting average against the Royalsis his highest vs. any club (minimum of 50 at-bats).
  • Weaver is making his third straight OD start and fourth overall. He’s one of five Angels pitchers to make four or more OD starts, joining Mike Witt (five), Chuck Finley (four), Mark Langston (four) and Frank Tanana (four).
  • Over the last 10 years, the Angels are 57-29 against the Royals, including a 26-14 mark at home.

Some memorable Opening Days in club history, courtesy of the Angels PR department …

  • April 6, 1973: Nolan Ryan makes his first Opening Day start with the Angels, beating the Royals, 3-2, by striking out 12 in a complete game.
  • April 6, 1977: Tanana hurls a complete-game shutout in the Angels’ 7-0 win over the Mariners.
  • April 8, 1986: Bobby Grich homers off the first pitch of the season in Seattle.

– Alden

Will CJ pitch in first series vs. Texas? …

OK, so Mike Scioscia made it official today with his rotation — Jered Weaver first, Dan Haren second, Ervin Santana third and C.J. Wilson fourth. No surprises there considering how they’ve lined up all spring, though the decision to put Santana in front of Wilson is interesting considering CJ’s track record and the money he’s making (more on that later).

But looking ahead just a little here, the order does bring up an interesting question: Will Wilson take the mound in Arlington from May 11-13, in the first series between the two division rivals?

That depends on what Scioscia does with his off days. We already know he’ll use the April 10 off day to skip the fifth starter, which would mean Jerome Williams or Garrett Richards won’t be needed until April 15 at Yankee Stadium. Scioscia will have two other off days before the Rangers series: April 23 and May 10.

If he keeps the fifth starter through both of those off days, Wilson would line up to take the mound at his old stomping grounds in the series opener on Friday, May 11.

But, if he uses the April 23 off day to skip the fourth starter, then CJ wouldn’t take the mound in that series at all. The key date to watch will be April 26. If the rotation comes back to the top and Weaver starts that game, C.J. won’t line up against Texas. If the 5th starter takes the ball that day, then he pitches on May 11.

Let’s see what happens.

Now, on to today’s lineups …

Angels (18-12-2)

Erick Aybar, SS
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Albert Pujols, 1B
Torii Hunter, RF
Vernon Wells, LF
Mark Trumbo, 3B
Chris Iannetta, C
Peter Bourjos, CF
C.J. Wilson, SP

Dodgers (15-14-4)

Tony Gwynn, LF
Justin Sellers, SS
Andre Ethier, RF
Juan Rivera, 1B
Adam Kennedy, 3B
Tim Federowicz, C
Luis Cruz, 2B
Matt Angle, CF
Nathan Eovaldi, SP

Some links from Wednesday …

Some AL West links …

  • Nelson Cruz and Mike Adams got dinged up in Mexico City
  • Mariners option Charlie Furbush and Carlos Peguero to set roster
  • Dallas Braden has injection, recovery pushed back

And the Heat came through against the 76ers last night, even without Dwyane Wade. Now if they could only do that on the road.

– Alden

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