He's a good kid, just can't hit the breaking ball for the life of him. The list of Angel prospects in the last five years or so that were supposed to be Allstar caliber is beyond depressing:
Trumbo has been the stud there and When Kendrys Morales might start season as DH? or recover some more... 1B is Trumbo's. How's his d game btw?
Does someone still have faith on Brandon Wood?
Abreu is looking good there.
Bourjos', Wilson's and Mathis' AVG are good.
It's just Spring Training but what are your thoughts atm?
Trumbo has been doing quite well so far. The only thing that scares me is his 1 walk to 12 strikeouts. I've rarely seen young players with that high of a strikeout rate do well in the majors.
His defense is slightly below average, from what I hear, and he's working on the outfield. No way can he play 3B (so sad).
I think Trumbo will stick with the major club as part of the 1B/DH/OF rotation because he's done more than enough in AAA and Spring Training. Mark's timing is actually really nice because now the Angels have a potential power-hitting 1B that can take over while Morales continues to heal.
To be honest, I don't really have much faith in Brandon Wood. Sure he's had some pretty nice games back to back to back in Spring Training along with top-notch defense. But the strikeouts and the low average are just too much. When I look at every Wood at-bat, I can predict exactly what he does: first pitch - take; second pitch - swing; third pitch - take; fourth pitch -swing; etc.
I really want Wood to be the 3B that we always wanted him to be, but the offensive consistency just isn't there. At least the Angels have options in Izturis and Callaspo.
Not too worried about Abreu. The more he DHs, the better. You don't want him on the field. But I can see a 20 HR, 90 RBI, 20 SB, .280 AVG, .370 OBP season for him, especially if his legs stay fresh.
Bourjos definitely looks promising. I like the 7 walks to 9 strikeouts and 4 stolen bases out of 4 attempts. This is definitely the best ST he's had so far in his career and it looks like he's cutting back power and going for contact/average which is really really nice. If Bourjos can just hit at a .250 avg, .340 OBP clip, he'll stick in the majors because of the amazing defense he's got. Anything more than those numbers can put Bourjos in stud category.
BoWilson had looked okay. The dropping of weight looked like it helped, but aside from his 5-hit game vs Arizona, he hasn't had a good spring training offensively. I'd temper expectations a bit.
Now regarding Jeff Mathis, I have zero faith in his ability. Yes, he's hit in every spring training game except one. Yes, his athletic ability really shows off his defensive ability. But I have two major knocks on him:
1) He can't hit consistently. Look at any season he's played. He's never hit for more than .220. That's awful.
2) He can't throw baserunners out. I believe his career CS% is something like 22.7% which is absolutely atrocious (I believe average caught stealing % is somewhere in the 25~30 range).
For some reason the Angels love him. Mike Scioscia loves him. Reagins gave him more money after last season. Reagins traded away Mike Napoli who is far and away a better offensive catcher and based on defensive statistics was Jeff Mathis' equal. The only explanation I can think of is that Jeff Mathis is a great pitcher's catcher. That he communicates well with the pitchers and makes them pitch better (but CERA does not show this to be true).
I personally think that Hank Conger can't come up fast enough. Sure he hasn't shown much in Spring Training or in the Majors but he has plate discipline, which is something that is hard to teach. Give him the reps and he will be a stud.
Like, I said, Bourjos can put up Drew Stubbs-type offense. Maybe a little less power, but more speed and more defensive ability. Drew Stubbs will hit something like .250 with 20 HRs and 30 SBs, while Bourjos can do .250 with 15 HRs and 40 SBs.
I wouldn't worry about the veteran players in ST. They're likely not playing all out because they don't have to "win" a spot and they want to keep their bodies fresh. If you look at any of the past three ST statistics for Torii or Wells, they are all average numbers.
Yes, it's a great idea to let Walden throw five pitches, strike out his one batter, then bring in another right hander. Who promptly allows a HR and two more base runners. Genius.
Common Sense is the one thing you don't need to be in a managerial position in the MLB.
Baseball's problem is that the games are too long, that's why I record the games from ESPN America that I want to watch and with forward button I make the games shorter.
What a shock. Weaver is almost unhittable through 6 innings and ofcourse the Bullpen comes in and all hell almost breaks loose.
Scioscia is going to have to let the starters go longer. This bullpen is going to age me this summer.
Still think this season comes down to Santana and Pineiro being effective middle rotation guys. I have no doubts that Weaver and Haren will be excellent and no doubts that Kazmir will be terrible.
- Not much. It was against the Kansas City Royals who have a scotch taped pitching staff. Their best pitcher, Joakim Soria, didn't make an appearance.
- The weather was damp-ish, so the ball should've carried a bit farther than it actually did, which just makes Torii Hunter's homerun that much more impressive.
- Everyone was able to contribute somewhat (except Mark Trumbo). I liked what I saw from Bourjos especially. The kid looks a lot more comfortable at the plate than last season and you can see how his speed can cause the opponent to make a lot of mistakes: bunt single turns into 2 errors and a man on third.
Defensively
- Not much here either. No one made any major mistakes. Torii made a nice grab off of Mike Aviles and Mathis was able to throw someone out (for once), while allowing a passed ball as well.
Pitching
- Jered Weaver continues to prove that he is an ace
- The blowpen was a bit poor, but it could've been a lot worse. I expect better days from Takahashi. Putting Jepsen in in the 8th inning showed that Mike Scioscia can be very stubborn when it comes to reliever roles. Rodney is going to continue giving ugly saves and hopefully will not be closing by the time it hits June.
- Walden and Kohn are awesome. They are the future Closer and Setup Man respectively. Walden's stuff is just flat out overwhelming and his slider has become a solid #2 pitch. I fully expect him to be the closer soon, unless Scioscia stays stubborn and/or Rodney pitches well.
Kohn still has some kinks to work out with his control, but he's been showing consistency, coming from a solid season in '10. I'd like to see Takahashi and Jepsen and Rodney to share long relief/6th inning duty while Thompson/Downs/Kohn/Walden pitch in the 7th/8th/9th. Unfortunately, once Morales/Downs comes back, we're likely to see Kohn go back to the minors (if not, we can celebrate as Bulger gets DFA'd).
Let's see how the Angels follow up tomorrow. It's exciting having two starting pitchers like Weaver and Haren go back to back.
DL Replacement Predictions:
- Pineiro comes back, Conger gets sent back to the minors
- Downs comes back, Bulger gets DFA'd, doesn't clear waivers
- Morales comes back, Wood gets DFA'd, doesn't clear waivers
- Willits comes back, Pettit gets sent down (unless he doesn't have any options, then get gets DFA'd).
