Bats are afraid? Gloves jinxed (especially Mark Trumbo's!)? Need magic? Call Jobu, but be sure to use a live chicken! Another frighteningly bad night. These guys are about to lose their fourth series in a row and third in a row within the division. I'm calling this series against the Mariners because the Angels don't look like they are even competitive in most games. And as depressed as we must feel, the guy I feel worst for is Mike Scioscia. Just think, he has to run these guys out there every day knowing, no matter what his rah-rah BS within the clubhouse is, that he does not have the personnel to stand in there on a regular basis. Especially when things are going like this.
He also knows no help is on the way unless it's in the form of Wells and Hunter regaining their career averages. They have no one in the minors to use for trades or on the verge of being ready to bring up. Oh, sure, some team might take a couple of second rate minor leaguers (of which we have plenty) at the trade deadline in a salary dump. But the kind of player you typically find there is Yuniesky Betancourt, players with ghastly contracts and sub-par performances. Nope, we have what we have and Mike has to live with it going forward. Poor guy.
Let me beat on this dead horse again since the Angels won't be in it in a real sense in July. They must cut Bobby Abreu loose at that time. I don't care if he had two hits list night, that was his best performance in a while (.212 and 4 walks in the last 10 games.) and it very closely resembled a good Reggie Willits night. A worm burner and a blooper that the outfielder couldn't quite get to. Throw in that strike out and the brilliant game-ending GIDP and it was a great night for Reggie, ERRR!, Bobby. Without speed, power or bat speed, this guy is reduced to hoping that opposing pitchers can't hit the strike zone. That's something, like the woman I watch's Alzheimer's, that will only get worse, never better. We absolutely can NOT have the albatross of his vesting option hanging around the team next season.
Oh, and is there anybody out there who still advocates for the Angels scooping money into Weaver's bank account for an extension? Velocity down, opponent's BA up, strikeouts in the Shawn Estes range. Anybody? Bueller? I didn't think so. Pitchers are just way too volatile to throw big money at. *COUGH, John Lackey* That April was completely unsustainable. We had our time to revel in his good luck but we must now face reality.
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