Like us on Facebook here
Follow @mlbreportsWednesday, June.26th, 2013
Clik here to view.
J.B. Shuck and Peter Bourjos have done their job, Howie Kendrick is Batting .321, Mark Trumbo is on pace for a 35 HR – 100+ RBI campaign, Errick Aybar is solid, and Callaspo is okay for a Third Baseman. The team has suffered from the #3 and #4 hitters, and inadequate Starting Pitching – other than C.J. Wilson and Jason Vargas. The Bullpen has also been abysmal with the exception of Sean Burnett. The club has gone 9 -14 since their big 8 game winning streak last month.
By Josh Jones (Angels Correspondent): Follow @joshjones4
Gut-check time
The 2013 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are at a crossroads. Seventy-six games into the season and the team has not had the ability to find prolonged success in order to climb back into the AL West standings.
The club is currently 34 – 43 after being swept over the weekend by the Pittsburgh Pirates before trouncing the Tigers for the 4th straight time this , yet they still find themselves considering the unthinkable: being sellers at the deadline. They are 10 Games behind both of the Oakland Athletics and Texas Rangers – while they are 8.5 Games out of the last playoff spot holder.
LA Angels Preview – They haven’t lived up to the Hype yet:
Clik here to view.
Josh Hamilton resembles the struggling version of himself during the 2012 season. He is not patient enough at the plate – and is suffering from swinging at poor pitches. I think the Angels can take off and make a run with the likes of Albert Pujols and Mike Trout still in your lineup, however they must start playing well now. You have got to start making ground on the Oakland A’s and Texas Rangers immediately. If the struggling OF can hit to 80% of his 3 Slash of his career – .296/.355/.889 the club would be happy.
The $138 million team fails to be consistent with their game, with the bullpen and defense being the biggest problems so far in 2013. It does not help that they have been dealt quite a few injuries throughout the whole season, ranging from the potentially lost season of Ryan Madson to the injuries of key cogs Sean Burnett and Jason Vargas.
Potential players that could be available might be tough to find though, since no one is going to take the albatross contracts of players such as Albert Pujols or Josh Hamilton.
My guess is that reliever Scott Downs, starting-pitcher Joe Blanton (if there is even a market for a pitcher who is 1-10 with a 5.26 ERA) and third-baseman Alberto Callaspo would be the type of players that could potentially be dealt away at the deadline if the team continues to fade into obscurity.
These three are not very high-quality players, but it might not hurt to save a few dollars and grab a few fringe minor-leaguers to see if they can find success in the future.
Being the always-optimist type of fan that I am, I still believe the team has the potential to turn this thing around. Jered Weaver is back, Jerome Williams should be able to carry Vargas’ load until Jason deals with the blood-clot in his left arm, and Albert Pujols is beginning to produce decently enough for a middle-of-the-order type hitter (.259/.330/.778).
Pujols is still capable of ripping it up in the second half like last year, so the team has a punchers chance to come back in the fold, if he and Hamilton can get rolling. 2012 Second half numbers in 69 GP: .305/.354/.935 – with 16 HRs, 29 Doubles and 54 RBI. Although this year he is fighting his foot injury.
Josh Hamilton is having a pathetic 2013 campaign thus far, so you can only believe that his numbers should at least round into some-kind of form by the end of the season.
Josh was hitting .207 with 10 home-runs and 25 RBI heading into last night before he smacked 3 base hits and collected his 26th RBI. He has also struck out 78 times in only 73 games - and has a measly slugging-percentage of .382 with a .269 on-base percentage – to go with his .216 Batting Average.
Mike Trout and Mark Trumbo can continue to carry this offense but the team needs to flip the switch quick. Being 11 games back of the division and 9 back from the wild-card isn’t insurmountable but it’s definitely going to be extremely difficult.
Our Pythagorean record is 38 – 39, so we can always hope that luck will even out for the rest of this year. Here’s to a turnaround. Us Angels fans need it.
Clik here to view.
The Angels are not winning because Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton are not hitting to the back of their bubblegum cards, and Jered Weaver has spent half the year hurt, You throw in the brutal Free Agent Signings of Joe Blanton and Ryan Madson and you start seeing the point. How much of this is to blame at the feet of team owner Arte Moreno and new GM Jerry DiPoto? Another thing is the team needs to decide whether the 5 YR/$25 MIL deal left on the Managers deal (of Mike Scioscia) is worth even considering for replacing? The long tenured skipper took matters into his own hands last night – hitting Josh Hamilton in 6th and moving Howie Kendrick up to 5th.
*** The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of mlbreports.com or their partners.***
A big thank-you goes out to our ‘Angels Correspondent’ Josh Jones for preparing today’s featured article. Josh Jones claims to be the biggest Angels fan there is. He has been religiously following the team since 2005 and have watched every game since.
His girlfriend and him attend about 40 games a year and love every minute of attendance. Josh is currently a senior at California State University, Fullerton working towards his Bachelor’s degree in Business Marketing. Josh wishes to thank all of the readers for viewing his posts. Follow Josh on twitter Follow @joshjones4
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Please e-mail me at: mlbreports@gmail.com with any questions and feedback. To subscribe to our website and have the Daily Reports sent directly to your inbox, click here and follow the link at the top of our homepage.
Follow @mlbreportsLike us on Facebook here
Tagged: @joshjones4 on twitter, AL West, albert pujols, alberto callaspo, arte moreno, c.j. wilson, houston astros, Jason Vargas, jb shuck, jered weaver, jerome williams, jerry dipoto, josh hamilton, josh jones, joshua jones, mark trumbo, mike scioscia, Mike Trout, oakland athletics, peter bourjos, scott downs, sean burnett, seattle mariners, texas rangers Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
