The Angels are a listless bunch when it comes to combining good offense and good pitching. Jon Garland gave us a quality start tonight and the bats were flat. It was a familiar refrain in these past 10 games.
The absence of Chone Figgins and Howie Kendrick is exacerbating the problems of a batting average-dependent offense that considers Vlad's 109 OP+ would get kudos if he were a AAA player auditioning but he cannot satisfy the lofty expectations we have of him. Torii Hunter is flailing in a slump and I I have said my peace about G.A, GMJ and Just(Un)in-Speier.
Mike Scioscia is not going to wait around for the bullpen to adjust itself and, alå 2002, he is rebuilding the pen by audition - that time it was Donnelly this time it is Arredondo, but expect the roster of arms to change until a recipe that works is arrived at.
Treading water while the hamstrings heal, hoping veterans who do not produce will ride the pine to open up time to some other elusive combination of things, hopefully the pieces all fit in Mike's grand scheme of things. When the Angels came back tonight to tie the score, it reminded me of a glimmer of the 2002 squad. While it is a slicker presentation at the stadium all around, the product on the field may match the heart and talent of that team while the expectations of the fan base could be the most unrealistic cog in this otherwise well-oiled machine.