Albert Pujols slump

May 4 2012

AL West Report: The Angels Lack Baserunners

Dan Flaherty Uncategorized AL West race, Albert Pujols slump, Los Angeles Angels offense, Oakland A's schedule, Seattle Mariners schedule, Texas Rangers schedule

The home run drought of Albert Pujols is getting the media attention, but as we noted in our AL West report last week it isn’t the reason the Los Angeles Angels are buried in the basement , even after Jered Weaver’s no-hitter against Minnesota Wednesday night. Last week we took the bullpen to task. This week TheSportsNotebook goes after another inexcusable Angel failing and it’s their inability to put runners on base.

For those who haven’t fully embraced the whole Moneyball idea and gotten on-base percentages (OBP) drilled into them like its second nature, .350 is a good benchmark to use for a player being a solid contributor. If you’re below .300 you are terrible, with the shades of gray going in between the two. Here’s a look at the season-long OBPs for all the LAA regulars…

Albert Pujols: .245—You didn’t think we were letting him off the hook entirely did you? Just his lack of power. But the fact Albert has drawn only six walks this year is almost incomprehensible. The old Albert could’ve done that in one series. A reasonable conclusion is that he’s chasing bad pitches rather than let the game come to him. If he lets the walks and OBP go up, the home runs will follow.

Vernon Wells: .237—As long as we’re on the subject of high-priced free agents who can’t do the basic thing in hitting, which is get to first base…

Alberto Callaspo: .204
Erick Aybar: .240
Howie Kendrick: .309
Chris Iannetta: .324
Peter Borjos: .327
Kendry Morales: .342
Maicer Itzuris: .367
Torii Hunter: .369

So of the 10 players who get regular playing time for Mike Scoscia, only two of them are productive OBP players, and of them—Itzuris—is a utility infielder. Four of the ten are complete liabilities. If Borjos could lift his up closer to the .350 benchmark it would help lot because of his ability to steal bases. Kendrick had a strong week and may be starting to come around, so there are some potential positives.

The Angels can win games without Pujols going deep. They won’t win a championship or even beat out Texas in the AL West without the big man coming through, but they can certainly make significant improvements on their current 10-16 record and get right back in the playoff chase by getting on base and improving their bullpen work. Because the starting pitching is there. Not just Weaver’s no-hitter, but Jerome Williams tossed a complete game, and Dan Haren went eight strong in a win at Cleveland and pitched well last night against Toronto (7 IP/3 ER). But the offense was shut out in that game. And if they don’t get base runners, even a Pujols power surge won’t mean all that much.

Here’s a look at the recent form of the three teams above the Angels in the AL West standings…

Texas (17-8): The Rangers are starting to cool down losing consecutive series to Tampa and at Toronto. They continue a road trip tonight with a visit to Cleveland then go to surprising Baltimore early next week. Pitching has failed Texas in the last two series, most notably Matt Harrison, who’s been bombed his last two times out. Derek Holland and Neftali Feliz have also been hit hard. So while the offense slowed a bit, it was primarily starting pitching that caused the Rangers to hiccup.

Oakland (13-12): Outfielder Seth Smith has started to hit, and had some big blows in Fenway Park this week where the A’s won two of three. They’re hanging in on this East Coast trip, having split six games in Boston and Baltimore, but now Tampa Bay looms. A series loss wouldn’t be the end of world, but the A’s do need to pick up one win at the Trop and a 4-5 swing through the AL East wouldn’t be bad.

Seattle (11-16): The Mariners are starting to wobble. Other than a three-game sweep in Detroit last week, they’ve lost four of their last five series and were nailed four straight by red-hot Tampa. They’ve got the LAA problem of not producing baserunners, in spite of a good year from Ichiro Suzuki, hot young prospect Jesus Montero and 24-year-old third baseman Kyle Seager. But it’s not enough to make up for the disaster that is Chone Figgins, and the disappointments that are the young 1B-2B combo of Justin Smoak and Dustin Ackley, all of whom have been very poor at the plate. Seattle has Minnesota at home, so if they don’t get better here, last place will be awaiting them very soon.

April 23 2012

AL West Report: Texas Comes Blasting Out Of The Gate

Dan Flaherty Uncategorized AL West race, Albert Pujols slump, Los angeles Angeles 2012, Oakland A's 2012, Rangers hot streak, Seattle Mariners 2012, Texas Rangers 2012

The Texas Rangers have come blazing out of the gate in the AL West and sit on a 13-3 record and a 5 ½ game lead as we enter the final week in April. Even better for the Rangers is that it’s Oakland, not the Los Angeles Angels, who is in second place. If you believe, along with the rest of the free world, that only the Angels can beat the Rangers in this division, then Texas’ actual working margin is seven games. Not bad for less than three weeks work.

Perhaps the easiest way to explain Texas’ success is this—they are doing everything on a baseball diamond extremely well. Josh Hamilton has hit seven home runs, and he and Michael Young are both hitting over .400. Ian Kinsler is hot out of the gate and catcher Mike Napoli has already gone deep six times. All the starting pitchers are doing well, but I think the one that deserves the most attention is Matt Harrison. Not just because his ERA of 1.66 in three starts is the best on the staff. But because he’s the one who was on the losing end of Game 7 in St. Louis a year ago. Texas was earned deserved praise from commentators for putting last year’s World Series behind them and nothing captures that better than how well Harrison has pitched right out of the gate.

There’s a long way to go of course, and the Rangers are going to have navigate stretches where things don’t go well. But they have answered one key question right away and that’s whether there’d be a hangover effect after their devastating Series loss. Whatever the rest of the season holds, Texas has won that mental battle and we have to give tremendous credit to Ron Washington, the manger who doesn’t really get his due in spite of two straight American League pennants. Texas will be in the national spotlight this week, hosting series against the Yankees starting tonight and the Rays over the weekend. Tonight’s game will be on ESPN, and the finale against Tampa will be the Sunday night game.

A look at the rest of the AL West, in order of the current standings…

Oakland (8-9): It’s all about pitching in Oakland, just as it’s been the past few years. Offensively, Yoenis Cespedes looks like a good signing, with a .364 on-base percentage and .509 slugging percentage, keyed by four early home runs. But the A’s need to get more from the other two new outfielders, Seth Smith and Josh Reddick if they aren’t going to condemn the thousand fans who flock to Oakland-Alameda each night to a slew of 2-1 losses all summer. Bartolo Colon is pitching great, although a hamstring injury or some other fatigue-based health problem is an inevitable part of his future. Billy Beane has to be happy with the work he’s getting from young starters like Tommy Milone, and relievers Grant Balfour and Tyson Ross, but there is nothing that suggests the A’s can maintain a .500 pace. This weekend starts a nine-game Eastern swing through Boston, Tampa and Baltimore.

Seattle (7-10): They won five of seven from Oakland, including on that silly two-game opening swing in Japan back in March, but have lost series’ to everyone else, including a three-game sweep at the hands of the White Sox, highlighted (or lowlighted from the Mariner perspective) by Philip Humber’s perfect game on Saturday. Like Oakland, they’ve got the pitching, but lack the bats. Felix Hernandez is his usual self, Jason Vargas has a 2.84 ERA in four starts and Brandon League has five saves and a 2.09 ERA. Now if we could just get a hitter to talk about and the M’s might have something.

LA Angels (6-10): I’m going to guess you have at some point, heard the news reports that Albert Pujols has yet to homer. Fair enough point to report and it is part of Pujols’ overall struggles at the plate. But the Angels have blown four saves already, and you have to wonder how long it will be before Mike Scoscia makes veteran Jason Isringhausen the closer. Isringhausen, along with fellow vet LaTroy Hawkins each have sub-2.00 ERAs. Pujols is going to come around. Jered Weaver and C. J. Wilson are pitching well, and it’s only a matter of time before Dan Haren gets settled in and brings his 4.07 ERA down. But it means nothing if the bullpen stays a mess. Mike Scoscia figured out his pen a year ago, and I have every confidence he’ll do it again, but the process off sorting everyone out is a lot scarier when you have Texas threatening to run away and hide.