Thor'sLinks: The Angels are running wild

Yesterday the Angels pulled off the double steal, with never-considered-to-be-any-sort-of-base-stealing-threat C.J. Cron scoring from third while Ben Revere was legitimately stealing second base.

If you have been paying attention to enough ST games, you have certainly noticed that the Halos are doing a lot of baserunning. Sure, it helps that they are doing a lot of hitting and scoring in the first place, so running a lot of bases just naturally follows. But I am talking about running  bases when no batted balls are forcing them to so do. The Halos lead all of MLB to date in Spring Training with 19 bases stolen successfully. In second place are three teams, the Astros, White Sox and Rockies, with 14 each. Only 5 teams other than LAA are even in double digits yet. And that is not all. The Angels are also tied in the lead with 10 times caught stealing. The Brewers are the other partner in this race to the bottom.

That means, overall, the Angels have attempted to steal a base 29 times already. At the other end of the spectrum, the Rays have only attempted 2. The Royals, only 3. The reigning World Champion Cubs, just 7.

Now, there is some good reasoning here. David Fletcher is 3 for 3. Eric Young, Jr. is 3 for 4. Ryan LaMarre is 2 for 2 and Ben Revere is 2 for 3. That is all fresh new blood and all speed.

But there is some questionable reasoning here, too. C.J. Cron is 2 for 2. That is merely an accident of circumstance. Nobody in their right mind would expect Cron to remain close to the top of anybody's SB leaderboard.

So let's keep an eye on this as we go through Spring Training and see who survives the cuts. Because we know that regardless of who ends up on the 25-man, if this keeps up Mike Scioscia will believe he can carry this intot he regular season with impunity.

Enjoy these Misappropriated Links:

______________________________

A Little Bit of Angels News

Tyler Skaggs won't be making his next scheduled start, this Friday, due to shoulder weakness............

But, on the other hand, Albert Pujols is expected to make his ST debut on Friday..........In more humorous news, Tim Brown over at Yahoo! Sports put up a piece showcasing Pujols - yeah, old guy another year older who has not been able to run at all for months - our sneaky good baserunning phenom..........

When, in actuality, the baserunning phenom who truly IS sneaky good, mostly because he is built like a linebacker and is capable of crushing innocent baseballs misplaced over the plate, is Mike Trout. Even when everybody already knows he is also blazingly fast, he still is capable of punishing outfielders..........

Oh, and on the subject of Mike, Trout, some serious Trout Porn. Serious. Trout. Porn. But it also speks insidiously to our superstitions as both players and fans.........

Greg Mahle trimmed down between seasons, and now thinks he is fit enough to be considered a real athlete. Good for him. I find the cutest part to be where a 23-year old guy discovers that the task of cooking meals to keep himself alive is some kind of insurmountable challenge..........

Ricky Nolasco. Dude. This would be a bonus............

Ben Revere might still be a decent ballplayer. That would be great. But if things don't right themselves for him, he can look back on last October as the first serious message that his future is in trouble. I'm hoping the motivation he should have gained will benefit us all..........

______________________________

Everywhere In Baseball

Daily WBC scores and news, as Israel marches on towards world domination..........

Ah, Tim Tebow. As I have written before, the gift that just keeps giving. Before he even took an at-bat he was a point of humor. Then, of course, he took his at-bats, which pretty much went about as well as I could have gotten done............And yet, Tebow still has his fans, who also don't seem to know much about baseball. Hey, Tebownistas, grounding into a double-play is considered a very bad thing in our sport..........

J.D. Martinez is rapidly becoming the Prophet of the Fly Ball...........

Minor League Players have won a round in court, getting their class-action status re-instated. This is pretty big news, as having that status stripped by an earlier court ruling rendered their chances for fair wages for their efforts absolutely nil...........

If Israel is not such a surprise in the WBC, somebody show me where this guy predicted their success before the tourney opened?..........

Here is a problem the Angels are avoiding. Having a talented MLB roster blocking all their talented minor league prospects, like the Cubs..........

______________________________

The Duffle Bag

Here you go: the future Andrelton Simmons...........Jake Arrieta is not a believer in Fun Baseball..........(h/t reddit) MLB phone wallpapers for all..........(h/t UniWatch) Beer City uni jerseys for the Asheville Tourists. Although, sadly, not yet available on their team store..........Bleacher Report is in a fast-moving death spiral..........

______________________________

Halo-Oppo-ly

Week 5 of our Chance/Community Chest cards!

______________________________