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Blog*Spot ArchivesContactRichard Ceccarelli Josh Mandir |
Wednesday, April 28, 2004Don't worry, be happyRob has some worries about the Angels current hot streak. He claims, among other things, that the offence hasn't been hitting against top-quality opponents and that the bullpen is really missing Brendan Donnelly. I agree that the A's were in a fair amount of upheaval during our recent three-game sweep, and I certainly agree that beating the Tigers (even the new-look Tigers) isn't much to hang your hat on, but I don't see how that could be used as a condemnation of the Angels. He asks; "Are the Angels' bats coming alive? Well, not against Mulder and Hudson they aren't, and not consistently against Zito, either." What's wrong with beating the crap out of lesser teams and lesser pitchers to get your offence back on track? There aren't a lot of Mulders and Hudsons out there, but there are quite a few Redmans and Cornejos. They're the ones you need to hit hard; or else you'll never have a chance against the Mulders and Hudsons of the world. I can't bring myself to worry about the overall state of our offence. I know it's going to hit, and I know there will be slumps. I know there will be injuries, and I know there will be returns from injury. It's just not a big deal to me. The starting pitching is the question on this team. As for the bullpen missing Donnelly: how so? The bullpen has been great over the past week and a half. Percival seems to be heating-up, K-Rod has been untouchable, and Shields has stepped into a middle-relief role nicely. Sure, it will be nice to have Donnelly back (if only to lessen the work load on Frankie), but even without him I think this is one of the top bullpens in the game. It sounds a bit like Rob thinks Donnelly would have been the best option to replace Lackey last night (instead Shields gave up a grand-slam). But with a five-run lead that is Shield's territory. I would assume that when Donnelly returns he will reclaim his spot as a set-up man, and it's wasteful to use a set-up man in that situation. |
