Category: Dailies
Adenhart shows right stuff
Nick Adenhart was in trouble right out of the chute. He walked Jamey Carroll on four pitches, then fell behind Mark De Rosa 2-0 before the Indians’ third baseman lined a single to left center, sending Carroll to third.
This is where the new and improved Adenhart surfaced. Taking his time, along with deep breaths, Adenhart gathered himself, made good pitches to the heart of the order, and escaped unscathed. Victor Martinez grounded to Chone Figgins at third for an out at home. Travis Hafner, the muscular cleanup man, went down swinging on an off-speed delivery. Shin-soo Choo, who starred for Korea n the World Baseball Classic, popped out.
This is exactly how you want to respond to adversity if you’re a young pitcher trying to carve out a rotation spot on a championship-caliber team.
Adenhart, settling into a groove, retired six of the next seven he faced, with Ben Francisco beating out an infield hit.
Fireworks continue: three straight bombs
Back-to-back-to-back. That’s what the Angels did on Thursday in their first look at Goodyear Ballpark, home of the Indians. Facing lefty Scott Lewis in the third inning after he’d already yielded two runs on four hits, Bobby Abreu, Vladimir Guerrero and Torii Hunter each went deep, using all fields — Abreu to center, Guerrero to right, Hunter to left.
Mike Scioscia once again had Chone Figgins, Howard Kendrick and Abreu at the top of the order, and through three innings they’d combined for a single and triple (by Figgins), a walk (by Kendrick, showing his plate discipline) and the blast by Abreu.
Showing he was fully recovered from the crash into the center field wall on Tuesday against the Rockies at home, Hunter lashed a double to left in his first at-bat. Even before his 400-foot shot to left, Hunter had lined a ball just foul into the left-field corner.
Jeff Mathis, catching Nick Adenhart, had two hits through two innings. Perhaps the best athlete among all catchers in the game, Mathis showed his speed when he stole second. This is a guy who could have been a defensive back at Florida State had he chosen football over baseball. How many catchers can say that?
Hunter bangs into wall, departs early
Angels center fielder Torii Hunter didn’t make it through the top of the first inning on Tuesday against the Rockies at Tempe Diablo Stadium.
Giving chase to a drive by Jeff Baker to dead center, Hunter banged hard into the wall and came crashing to the ground as the ball bounded off the wall, enabling Baker to race all the way around for a two-run, inside-the-park homer.
Hunter was taken for precautionary X-rays, the ball having struck him in the nose as it bounced off the wall.
Hunter appeared groggy. He walked off the field on his own power, a good sign that there was no structural damage. There was no immediate report on his condition.
Matthews wants to play every day — somewhere
Gary Matthews Jr. is determined to play every day, preferably in center field. The Angels — overstocked with quality outfielders – do not appear to have a place for him to do so on a regular basis.
“There comes a time if a decision is made . . . ” manager Mike Scioscia said, not finishing the thought. “We’ve got a lot of bats here. We’ll address things in time. We’re not going to make a decision today.”
Recovered from late October surgery on his left knee, Matthews has been more than impressive in Cactus League play. He has been spectacular.
Matthews’ two-run homer against the Padres in Tuesday’s 10-5 Angels victory was a tremendous drive to right field that, he later reported, “came within six inches of hitting my Bentley” in the parking lot.
He crushed this one almost as far, he believed, as the one against the White Sox in the new Camelback Ranch-Glendale park that teammates estimated at 450 feet.
Matthews, who doubled in front of Maicer Izturis’ three-run homer in his first at-bat, is hitting .412 with 16 total bases in 17 at-bats.
“My play’s kind of doing all the talking for me,” Matthews said. “My play speaks louder than what I can say to anyone. I wasn’t supposed to be back until mid-May, late-May. I’m fine. I’m ready to go back to playing every day.”
With Torii Hunter entrenched in center field and Vladimir Guerrero, Bobby Abreu and Juan Rivera ahead of him on the outfield depth chart, Matthews has a hard time seeing consistent playing time coming his way no matter what he does.
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He has gone to general manager Tony Reagins and Scioscia to express his desire to play regularly, and they have been candid with him, he said, about their point of view.
“You don’t play forever,” Matthews said. “I’m 34. Guys take such good care of themselves now. I’m 34. It’s not like I’m 24 and have time to sit around and waste years sitting around. That’s not what I’m going to do.”
That sounds very much like “play me or trade me,” a refrain as old as the game itself.
Shields reflects on Classic
The Angels are back at full strength. Scot Shields has returned to his familiar spot in the bullpen, having returned from the World Baseball Classic to enrich teammates with inside stories about the event.
“The experience was great,” Shields said. “I just wish we could have played one more game.”
Team USA was ousted in the semifinals at Dodger Stadium on Sunday by Japan, which went on to successfully defend its title from the 2006 inaugural event with a thrilling victory over Korea on Monday night.
“Japan’s got a pretty good team,” Shields said, agreeing that its aggressive, old-school style is similar to that of the Angels. “They’ve got good hitters all through their lineup, and three starting pitchers who are excellent. They’ve got speed, they get guys over, they play defense.
“I’m disappointed in how it ended, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Getting to know a whole new team, just about was great. The only guys back from the first one were Chipper [Jones] before he had to leave, [Derek] Jeter and Jake [Peavy].”
The highlight was the dramatic, come-from-behind, 6-5 triumph over Puerto Rico in the second round in Miami that clinched a semifinal berth for Team USA.
“That was one of the best games I’ve ever been involved in,” said Shields, who produced four outs of perfect relief to keep Puerto Rico at bay. “The guys had been together for like a week and a half and were celebrating like we knew each other all year.
“That showed how important it was for us to win.”
Shields has heard and read the criticism of Team USA, that it didn’t care as much about the event as other countries, notably the two finalists.
“We all take pride in having those letters across our chest,” he said. “We really wanted to win. Japan just beat us, that’s all.”
Shields appeared in five of the team’s eight games, yielding two earned runs on seven hits and a walk in 4 1/3 innings, striking out two men.
“I got my work in,” Shields said. “I’m feeling good. I’m ready to go.”
Escobar impressive again
Kelvim Escobar, throwing to Minor League hitters wearing a different uniform for the first time on Monday afternoon in a simulated game, gave the Angels even more cause for optimism.
The big right-hander from Venezuela unleashed fastballs consistently in the 90s, including one that hit 96, while delivering 34 pitches to Cubs batters.
“I can feel the way the ball was coming out of my hand,” Escobar said in the afterglow. “I didn’t feel I was going to throw 96. Maybe 94.
“I’m very happy — even happier with the way I felt. I’ve surprised myself. I’ve tested my arm many times, and it’s feeling good. Now I’m going to stop worrying if it’s going to hurt or pinch and focus on my mechanics.”
The early projection for Escobar’s return to a spot on the Angels’ pitching staff was mid-season, but he has bumped that up by months. His recovery from July 29 shoulder surgery to repair a labrum tear has been stunning.
Before going to the mound to face the Cubbies, Escobar had a long-toss session in the outfield and threw hard in the bullpen. He said pitching coach Mike Butcher told him he unloaded 38 pitches in the bullpen, and he was letting go.
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That would have brought him to 72 for the day, and he was still bringing it at the finish.
“Even in the bullpen I had good velocity,” Escobar said. “I was feeling great. Throwing the way I did, that many pitches [in the bullpen and simulated game] is a good sign.”
The stands behind the backstop on one of the Minor League diamonds beyond Tempe Diablo Stadium were packed with red uniforms attached to young Angels, Minor Leaguer dreamers intently watching a Major League star.
“Seeing all the guys got me excited,” Escobar said. “The whole Minor League complex was watching me.”
Escobar used his entire repertoire – four-seam and two-seam fastballs, split-fingered fastballs, breaking balls, changeups.
Rough fifth for Lackey
The wind is blowing out for the Royals, too. With blasts by Alberto Callaspo and Mike Jacobs in the fifth inning, K.C. caught the Angels, four bombs apiece, and John Lackey departed with a 10-7 lead after facing six men in the fifth without getting an out. David Herndon quieted the Royals.
Lackey’s line — seven earned runs on 10 hits in four innings — will bloat his ERA, but that’s why numbers in the spring sometimes don’t mean much. He had good life on his fastball and got his work in, as they say. Big day for Lackey’s batterymate, Jeff Mathis: homer, two singles, a walk, three runs scored. His buddy, Mike Napoli, also will have something to talk about. His smash to right center would have left the yard with the wind blowing in. He crushed it.
Bombs away!
The Angels brought their hitting shoes to Surprise, obviously. They got here for early batting practice, and it clearly is paying off. They produced nine runs on 10 hits in two innings against southpaw Horacio Ramirez, with Juan Rivera and Mike Napoli going back-to-back with bombs to right center following a Robb Quinlan homer in the first inning. (Quinlan looks sensational, by the way). Jeff Mathis joined the homer party in the third inning with a near replica of Quinlan’s bullet to left center.
Scorching Matt Brown already tripled in a run and singled, joining Rivera with two hits. Rivera also singled home two runs in the first inning. Juan seems to have found his groove. On Saturday, in Tempe, he launched a ball so high and so far, the third-base umpire (Jim Joyce) was left to guess whether it cleared the foul pole in fair or foul territory. It was so far above and beyond the pole, there was no way to tell. From where he sat, Mike Scioscia obviously thought it was fair, prompting him to do a full-tilt sprint to Joyce to voice his disapproval.
Scioscia, I can report from personal experience, still can throw hard. He asked me to warm him up before throwing BP, and he zinged a few. I bounced a few throws back to him, to make sure he could still get down and dig ’em out as in the days of old. The last time I did this probably was right about the time he was breaking in as a young catcher with the Dodgers in Dodgertown. I’ll see how my arm feels in the morning, but I’ll be icing the shoulder after the game just in case.
John Lackey yielded a solo homer to Ryan Shealy but got out of a jam in the third when he struck out Jose Guillen to leave two runners stranded. Apparently, a handful of Angels fans in the crowd haven’t forgiven Guillen for his indiscretions in his final days with Team Scioscia, serenading him with boos and catcalls in his plate appearances.
Kendrick could flourish as No. 2 hitter
Howard. That’s what his wife, Jody, and his family members call the Angels’ second baseman, known in the baseball world as Howie Kendrick. I tried calling him Howard in print for a time last season — he told me it didn’t matter one way or another to him — but it seemed to confuse readers, so I went back to Howie.
He told me this morning that he became Howie after a baseball card company asked if it could call him Howie rather than Howard. It picked up momentum when he was in the minor leagues, and he’s been Howie ever since — even though those close to him call him Howard.
So … on to the news of the day. When the season opens and he’s announced as Howie Kendrick at Angel Stadium, he could be in the No. 2 spot in the order, between Chone Figgins and Bobby Abreu. It was manager Mike Scioscia’s initial plan to bat the highly selective Abreu second, followed by Vladimir Guerrero and Torii Hunter. But Kendrick’s strong spring and growth as a hitter seems to be moving Scioscia toward a new look.
I love the idea of Kendrick batting second, the more I think about it. For one thing, it will give him as many as 70 to 80 more at-bats than he would get hitting down in the order, and this guy could be a batting champion very soon. He drives the ball to all fields and doesn’t strike out a lot, and he’s an exceptional baserunner. Figgins likes the idea of Howie hitting behind him, and Abreu has batted third most of his career. So it makes sense on a number of levels.
Scioscia made an interesting point about why Kendrick doesn’t walk more. He squares up balls and puts them in play at a high rate. But he is learning how to work counts, and he’s totally into the game. Reggie Willits, one of the smartest guys I’ve been around, hit in front of Kendrick in the minors and thinks Howard has everything you’re looking for in a No. 2 hitter.
We’ll see where it goes from here. Scioscia has been known to experiment with lineups. Maicer Izturis also is highly capable of being a solid No. 2 hitter, and Erick Aybar also has made strides in his selectivity. But Kendrick is a special hitter — a “freak of nature,” Willits calls him, with utmost respect. , ,
Moseley sharp again
Dustin Moseley continued his impressive march toward a spot in the Angels’ rotation with his most effective effort yet of the spring.
Stretching it out to five innings, Moseley held the White Sox scoreless on four hits and a walk, striking out four men. Three of the four were caught looking, indicating Moseley had his two-seam fastball getting excellent late movement. He was effective down in the zone, creating seven outs on the ground.
Moseley’s biggest predicament came in the third following back-to-back singles with two outs, but dangerous Jim Thome grounded out to Howie Kendrick on a fine play at second base.
Moseley has yielded four earned runs across 14 Cactus League innings, but two of those were gifts on a windblown pop fly in the sun that Erick Aybar couldn’t find.
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