A little while ago, I pointed out John Lackey's falling swinging strike rate and suggested that he may be in the midst of a career decline. Since then, all he's done is throw 323 pitches and miss 36 bats. His swinging strike rate is up to 8.7%, and at this point, all of his meaningful peripherals match up pretty well with his numbers from 2007. Lackey may be approaching a decline phase, but with his repertoire intact and his important results as good as they were a few years ago, it looks like I jumped the gun.

With Escobar done and Santana nowhere close to where they'd like him to be, the Angels are still in trouble. But Lackey no longer looks like much of a concern. That's good for them and bad for the rest of us.