ST Offense

by sothball on Mar 30, 2009 8:19 PM PDT

Mrs Sothball and I have traveled to Phoenix once each year over the past 8 years to check out the Angels in spring training. Perhaps my memory fails me, but I do not recall the Angels scoring runs in ST like they are this year. Now I know;

1) ST is not a reliable indicator of regular season success.

2) The competition in the Cactus League is generally weak.

3) The wind seems to have been blowing out for more ST games this year than usual.

With the above noted, the Halos have been flat-out raking this Spring. Is this my bad memory, or are they truly hitting far better than Spring's past? What are the odds that at least some of this potent offense carries into the regular season?

If a significant part of this continues into the regular season, This will be their best offense since 2005, and potentially since 2002. Comments? (And no, we aren't going to jinx anything by commenting/speculating).

This Fan-Post is authored by an independent fan. Tell us what you think and how you feel.

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Comments

No, it is not your imagination.

ESPN.com has runs scored for every spring training dating back to 2003. The Angels have scored 235 runs in 30 spring training games this year. Our best mark in the previous six seasons was 213 runs in 33 games, which happened in 2004. The previous best mark by ANYBODY in the past six years was 226 runs in 32 games by Arizona in 2006.

More cool stuff? The Angels currently have a run differential of 86. The previous best mark (again, 2003-2008) in that department was the 2003 Royals with 77.

The take-away? Arizona was an average offensive club in 2006, and the Royals were a .500 team in 2003 (though they did carry over their spring success into April, starting out red hot at 11-1). Spring training still doesn’t mean anything, though the fact that our team is hitting the cover off the ball can really only be taken as a good sign.

~Till the Halo burns out...

by Zu Long on Mar 30, 2009 8:45 PM PDT reply actions

with the new emphasis on OBP and working counts

our offense seems to be doing just that — working counts.

with that comes better pitches, and more opportunities to score runs. taking a pitch has never been a bad thing, and now that the young guys (Howie, Wood, Aybar, Morales, etc) seem to be catching on, we’re seeing the great results.

Kotch would've had that.

by howiestheman on Mar 30, 2009 9:23 PM PDT reply actions

I watched the tv broadcast today

and I am so psyched for the season to start! Let’s just hope when we’re scoring 10 runs a game, the competition isn’t scoring 11 off of our AAA starting pitching.

I can see October from Arizona!

by Rally Manatee on Mar 30, 2009 9:26 PM PDT reply actions

Aybar has three HR's this ST...

either there is a new secret HGH out there that Aybar is eating like candy or the hitting has gotten better.

Or its spring training and hes facing shitty pitching…..eh….7 more days boys and we’ll see….

by BryanHarvey'sMoustache on Mar 30, 2009 10:08 PM PDT reply actions

Nah, he had 3 homers last spring too.

It’s a testament to a number of things, IMO: first, Aybar’s raw hitting ability—he’s got quite a bit. Second, the nature of the Cactus League. Third, the nature of Angels Stadium and its Marine Layer’s ability to suppress power numbers.

~Till the Halo burns out...

by Zu Long on Mar 31, 2009 6:50 AM PDT up reply actions