Week 4 Halo recap - The Good, the bad, and the Meh

How about that? The Angels' sweep of the Royals last week gave them TWO sweeps in the month of April, yet we continue to cling to 4th place in the AL West - thanks largely because the Astros suck worse.  The Angels were mostly winners last week, putting up a 4-2 record, and outscoring their opponents 32-24.  Not a bad week, right?

THE GOOD

Sweep baby sweep!  In 2014, the Royals dashed the hopes and dreams of Angels' fans everywhere when they swept the Angels out of the ALDS, and the last time those bad guys in blue rolled into Anaheim in 2015, we were swept as well.  This time?  Not so fast Royals!

C.J. Cron only struck out twice in 15 AB, led the team with a .588 OBP, and even hit a triple.  Not sure what he did to find his mojo, but let's hope it's here to stay.

He only had 9 AB, but Geovany Soto made the most of them with 2 HR and a .444 average.

Yunel Escobar continues to be a huge upgrade at our leadoff spot, with a .462 OBP last week (.360 OBP on the season).

Rafael Ortega continues to show he should stay on the 25-man roster, and Johnny Giavotella finally had a good week.  Both batter well over .300 and Johnny G even hit a dinger.

The *entire bullpen (*aside from Joe Smith) had a great week with an amazing 19 scoreless innings.

THE BAD

Matt Shoemaker was sent to the Cobbler for repair (AKA Salt Lake City) after a disastrous start giving up 7 runs and 9 hits in 2.1 innings of work.  It's been rough season for the Beard so far and we'll see if  he can get it together in non-pitching friendly Salt Lake.

Carlos Perez continues to throw out baserunners at much higher rate that Soto, however his hitting has been sub par.  Perez had the worst average last week and didn't even get above the Mendoza line.

The disabled list is growing larger.  Huston Street was placed on the 15-day DL, as was Craig Gentry.  C.J. Wilson was moved to the 60-day DL.  Will we even see him pitch before All-Star break?

THE MEH

Mike Trout hit 2HR, but he struck out 8 times and only hit .250.  He also made his first error since 2014 on a bad throw.

For some reason, Joe Smith, our temporary closer, came in to pitch the 9th in a 9-4 game.  Didn't inspire a lot of confidence when he gave up 2 runs, which is not something you want out a closer.  But hey, everyone has a bad day.

All our starting pitchers, aside from Richards, had a BAA of higher than .348, and all of them had a WHIP over 1.40. Only 2 of the 4 wins last week were credited to the starting pitchers, though Tropeano could of had the win if the Angels didn't wait until so late in the game to take the lead.