Navigation: Jump to content areas:


Pro Quality. Fan Perspective.
Login-facebook
Around SBN: Trent Richardson Interviews Fellow Brown Brandon Weeden

19-22, Quick Game Notes

The Angels rack up 11 hits off of Felix and win with Matt Palmer, then rack up two hits off of Jakubauskas and lose with Ervin Santana. Never bet on a baseball game. Ever. Don't ever do it.

  • The Angels put 27 balls in play today, and didn't smack a single line drive. The hardest hit they might've had was an Erick Aybar fly out to Franklin Gutierrez in the eighth. This was one of those Ryan Franklin sorts of games where we say Jakubauskas was good, but not sustainably so. He did a very good job of avoiding solid contact, and as such is deserving of credit. He will be hard-pressed to repeat this the next time out, though, and that's where his hitability will be more of a concern. All those foul balls the Angels were hitting - those weren't just bad luck. That was evidence that Jakubauskas is lacking an out pitch. For that reason he'll go back and forth between games like this and games like his start in Minnesota.

  • During his breakthrough 2008, Ervin Santana threw his average fastball at 94.8mph. Through his first two starts so far in 2009, he's been down at 91, topping out tonight at 93.1. I imagine he's still trying to get himself all stretched out, since he hasn't thrown many innings yet this year, but the Santana we saw tonight was not the Santana who was one of the best pitchers in baseball a season ago. He still has some work to do. Just because the Angels are getting healthier doesn't mean they're healthy.

  • Adrian Beltre took a break from his recent pattern of sucking royally and reverted to his 2008 pattern of getting unlucky. Though his first at bat was nothing special, he hit two balls really hard at Torii Hunter and had Chone Figgins knock down and scoop up a hotshot aimed at the SS-3B hole in the sixth. As a result, Beltre thrice made pretty good contact and wound up 0-4. My only complaint concerns his at bat in the first - Santana gave him a first-pitch fastball at mid-thigh over the inner half, and Beltre inside-outed it and skied a foul flyball down the right field line. If you're going up there looking to swing early, you're looking to swing at a first-pitch fastball over the plate. Beltre got one and looked defensive instead of pulling it into left. That's bad.

  • Immediately after Beltre's hot grounder found Figgins' glove in the sixth, Griffey came up and singled on an end-of-the-bat blooper into right. Zduriencik needs to trade Beltre before he kills himself.

  • Some people will tell you that Miguel Batista has been a pleasant surprise this year. And in many ways, he has. But let's not get carried away. While a return to the bullpen has improved his health and ability to induce groundballs, he still doesn't throw many strikes and he still doesn't miss many bats. All he is is a half-decent reliever, and one who becomes redundant when the bullpen's at full strength. I imagine he'll have a new home before too long, and hopefully he's just able to land somewhere where someone has the balls to tell him his haircut sucks.

  • It's a good thing Maicer Izturis looked so silly striking out in the eighth, because before that I was thinking that Mark Lowe might have the most hittable 98mph heater in the league.

  • David Aardsma has five saves and a 1.37 ERA. Sometimes I hate that baseball has gotten so much smarter. I hate it. Come back, John Hart.

Comment 41 comments  |  0 recs  | 

Do you like this story?

Comments

Display:

Why is it that baseball is getting smarter but the players seem to be getting dumber?

I can’t imagine a pitcher pumping in fastball after fastball 20 years ago without thinking, “Hey, maybe they’re sitting fastball and I should throw something else”.

Maybe Felix is as inscrutable as his change.

While the win was nice, I’m unreasonably happy that we didn’t get swept. I fully expect a 8-1 beatdown tomorrow for a series loss but we can ride our one game win streak until then.

by PDXTai on May 21, 2009 12:37 AM PDT reply actions  

Who is the dumbest player on our ballclub?

Felix?
Yuni?
Silva?
Lopez?
Player BB?

I was at Shea for the Felix-Slam!
Personal M's record: 5-4.

by EnglishMariner on May 21, 2009 3:33 AM PDT reply actions  

Yuni.

Then Felix, Then Silva, Then Lopez, then BB. I’m not convinced Lopez is “dumb” so much as “bad.”

...and now I'm here

by CapSea on May 21, 2009 4:05 AM PDT up reply actions  

Lopez

I can buy him not being dumb, I probably shouldn’t have included him in the hall of retards.

I was at Shea for the Felix-Slam!
Personal M's record: 5-4.

by EnglishMariner on May 21, 2009 4:23 AM PDT up reply actions  

Only if you are limiting the term "retard" strictly to intelligence.

If you expand it to include “Stunted” or “Slow in Growth or Development” I’d say he gets in first ballot.

...and now I'm here

by CapSea on May 21, 2009 4:33 AM PDT up reply actions  

That whole "good defense" thing

doesn’t work too well when you’re this bad up the middle. SS/2ndB are kind of crucial to the plan. Beltre has made some errors but he also makes a large number of brilliant plays. Have we seen any brilliant plays from Lopez or Yuni?

For me, this year may be worse than last year, in that for one thing I’m losing faith in the greatness of Felix.

Last year the biggest fuck-ups — Richie Sexson, Jeff Weaver, Batista, Silva, Vidro — had at least some kind of COMIC element. And in Weaver’s case he entertained in several different ways, including pitching a few excitingly great games.

And J.J. pitched well, here and there. He wasn’t just hopeless. We had also the hope that Jeff Clement would get it together. Sean Green was mostly good until they wore out his arm. Brandon Morrow was maybe the most exciting single player on the team.

This year? It feels like we’re just waiting until the present team is demolished. Russell Branyan, Franklin Gutierrez, Ichiro as always, here and there something good from the bullpen, but no real budding stars… if I miss a game I don’t feel like I missed anything.

And yet my most optimistic preseason prediction had them slightly under .500. That’s where they are. It’s just HOW they’re doing it, I guess. It feels like they could lose ten straight at any time. Last year if they did at least the manager would lose his mind.

ignacio

by ignacio on May 21, 2009 5:38 AM PDT reply actions  

I think the message on positioning seems to have gotten through

Yuni actually had to go to his right on a fairly simple play last night. I can’t remember seeing that.
It also helped him get to a ball near the 2nd base bag.

by marc w on May 21, 2009 9:18 AM PDT up reply actions  

As Matthew pointed out in the series preview,

Lopez’s range has been just fine. It’s his utter inability to focus on making routine plays that’s killing his UZR

by seattlebruin on May 21, 2009 8:07 AM PDT up reply actions  

What do you think Beltre is worth?

Do you think he’s willing to play first base for the Mets?

"I got my pregnant wife (the Yankee fan) with me. Hoping my kid learns to kick her everytime the Mets score." -Schifftis-

by future on May 21, 2009 8:58 AM PDT reply actions  

They're two different questions.

1) What you guys think Beltre is worth on the trade market
2) If Beltre’s temperament suggests he would be willing to be a team player and play first.

"I got my pregnant wife (the Yankee fan) with me. Hoping my kid learns to kick her everytime the Mets score." -Schifftis-

by future on May 21, 2009 12:13 PM PDT up reply actions  

Um

Why would you move a player with an averageish bat and great defence at third to first base? He loses most of his value there

by Graham MacAree on May 21, 2009 9:00 AM PDT up reply actions  

What were the results on Jak's change?

He’s starting to throw it more, and he’s getting it in the zone finally, but I’m not seeing any swinging strikes or anything. Just curious if they’re getting hits, or fouling it off (like the curve).

As limited as Jakubauskas is, we now have a fifth starter whose FIP puts him above Jon Lester/Joe Saunders/Joba Chamberlain, and just back of Volstad/Perkins/Pettitte (yeah, yeah – and Livan Hernandez). His tRA+ is 114 or so.
This is not to suggest that he’s a special talent. Rather, the point is that you can find guys who throw strikes, get a decent but not amazing number of grounders and limit HRs fairly easily. Utilizing guys like this instead of getting a ‘cheap’ FA for the back of the rotation (let alone a Carlos Silva) frees up a lot of money.

by marc w on May 21, 2009 9:24 AM PDT reply actions  

Jak threw 9 changeups yesterday

2 in play (GB, FB), 3 foul, 1 called strike, 3 balls.

by Jeff Sullivan on May 21, 2009 5:40 PM PDT up reply actions  

Comments For This Post Are Closed


User Tools

By reading a game thread of your own volition you agree to accept all liability for any and all damage done to your delicate sensibilities.

FanPosts

Community blog posts and discussion.

Recent FanPosts

Small
Starlin Castro's fit with Seattle
Kawasaki80_small
Lists! So many lists!
M_s_hat_copy_small
OT -- May 22nd In Memoriam
Ichiro_small
Why do managers and media members hate walks?
Wbc_029_small
Friday Morning Music Thread
Small
Dustin Ackley BP swing vs game swing
Beastquakerwallpaper_small
More on the Struggles of Smoak
Randy2_for_sbn_small
Albert Pujols 2012: Three Retrospectives
Small
On Batting Orders
Niehaus_small
More on Dustin Ackley and the strikezone

+ New FanPost All FanPosts >

Yahoo_full_count

Sexy People

Wbc_029_small Jeff Sullivan

Small Matthew

Claw_small JY