Rather than just a week, this time I am going to look at the whole season so far (since the Angels are exactly halfway through, now). To see how these results compare to my Angels Season Preview, just click that link. Also, Rob has his midseason report up, with more of those newfangled stats than I will ever use.

Overall Record: 50-31 Games Ahead 7.5 Week Record: 5-2 Pace: 100-62
Record after 81 games:
2002: 47-34 2003: 41-40 2004: 42-39

Opponents: at Texas (2-2), at Kansas City (3-0)

Hitting: The Angels offense was terrible through May. I even declared that there offense had hit Worst Case Scenario on May 21st after Vlad was sent to the DL. Through May, the team was hitting .252, which is terrible for a team that counts on hits (rather than walks and home runs) to get runner on base and score. Fortunately, this was around the time the team picked up. They hit .308 in June, tops in the league, and have moved their BA to .275, good for 3rd in the AL. They have also moved up to 5th in runs scored, with 393 (4.85 per game). The Angels have even move up to 6th in team OPS, at .744. In addition, they have struck out just 424 times, second fewest to Oakland’s 381 strikeouts. At the individual level, Vlad has been spectacular, especially since his injury, hitting .350 (.443 in June) with 14 home runs. GA has come back fairly strong from his arthritis, but is still nowhere near his 2000-2003 production levels. GA also passed Tim Salmon on the All-Time Angel RBI leader list and has since become the first Angel with 1000 RBI. AK finishes the lineup with a flourish. He is batting .347, helped out by a .435 June and basically has not lost a step since coming off of his knee injury. Figgins has 25 steals and has been caught only 6 times. On the flip side of things, Finley and OC have not performed as desired or even expected. Also, DaVanon and Rivera were struggling with lack of playing time but seem to both be finding a groove. Dallas, meanwhile, has had moments of brilliance and moments of shame, but things are looking up for him.

Pitching: The Angels pitching has been phenomenal. Thy have given up the second fewest runs and have the second best ERA in the majors (both to the White Sox). They are first in the AL in strikeouts (577), second in complete games (6) and first in shut outs (9). Their starters have the league’s best ERA at 3.64 and their relievers are 6th at 3.34. Colon and Washburn are 4th and 5th in the league in ERA (at 3.06 each), while Byrd is 13th at 3.55 and Lackey is 20th at 3.84. They are the only team with four qualified starting pitchers below 4.00 ERA. Their fifth pitcher has been comprised of Kevin Gregg (terrible), Kelvim Escobar (great) and Ervin Santana (at times terrible and others great). Their relief pitching started out as excellent as it has been for the last few years, but then it began tanking after Frankie K went on the DL. They continue to have three of the most dominant relievers in the game with Frankie, Shields, and Donnelly, but it seems like over work may have finally caught up to them in lat May and early June. Woods and Peralta have been pleasant surprises and Yan has been ok in limited use.

Fielding: The Angels defense is definitely improved over last year’s team, but not nearly as good as the 2002 team. The outfield is the worst section on the team. GA is better in LF than he was in CF last year, while Finley has been anecdotally referred to by some as the worst CF in the game, and Vlad has been typical Vlad. The reserves have played above average for the most part, with Rivera, DaVanon, and Figgins filling in ably when needed (although Figgins is scary in RF). The infield has been pretty phenomenal with Erstad at first, AK (making web gem type plays every game) at 2nd, OC (his major redeeming quality) at SS, and a raw but solid Dallas at 3rd. Figgins has filled in extremely well at 2nd, 3rd, and SS, his defense way improved over last season. Ztu has come back from injury strong and is making OC less missed during his injury. Meanwhile, the Flying Molina Brothers have split time behind the plate, with Jose being a fantastic defender and Bengie being a really good hitter.

Record: The Angels have their best record halfway into the season ever. In addition, they are tied with the Nationals for the 3rd best record in the majors (the White Sox are 54-26 and the Cardinals are 51-30). Also, they are second in ESPN.com's RPI rankings at .543 (the White Sox are at .547). The same page also lists the Angels as having the toughest schedule at .519 (the Braves are second at .517) and the second best expected W-L based on runs scored and allowed at .619 (50-31), with only the Cardinals higher at .623 (also 50-31).

Coming up: The Angels finish the pre-All Star Break part of the season with 7 games at home against the Twins and Mariners. The Twins have won 6 of their last 7 (against Tampa Bay, Kansas City and Milwaukee) after having a bad stretch against Milwaukee, Detroit, San Francisco, San Diego and the Dodgers where they could not win a series. Scott Baker will be making his first start, and it will come against Angels rookie Ervin Santana (who misses a Santana-Santana duel by one day). The Mariners, meanwhile, have been getting pounded by Oakland, Texas, and San Diego and are in pretty bad shape right now. Then comes the All Star Game, and congratulations to Vlad, GA, and Colon for making the team. The person I think that should have made it, but didn’t is AK, who missed a month, but has totally changed the team’s lineup and defense since he returned.

Opponents coming up: vs. Minnesota (45-34) July 4-6, vs. Seattle (34-46) July 7-10

Probable Starters: Lackey vs. Silva, Santana vs. Baker, Byrd vs. Santana, Colon vs. Piniero, Washburn vs. Moyer, Lackey vs. Franklin, Santana vs. Meche