Los Angeles Angels First to Worst
The great thing about success is that it often breeds more success. For most of the new millennium the Los Angeles Angels have been just that, successful.
Three times the team would lose in the divisional series round; three times they would get to the American League Championship Series. Their most successful year came when they did not win the division, however. In 2002, the team had to earn the wildcard berth to get into the postseason. It ended up paying off in the end when the team took the San Francisco Giants the distance to win the 2002 World Series, 4 games to 3.
Five of the last six years found the Angels in charge of their division, winning the division title at the end of the regular season. For that to happen again this season, the Angels are going to have to find someone to turn around the dreadful play that has led to them being in a position they are not accustomed to—the bottom half of the division with a 15-21 record.
What a difference a year makes
The season is still young with plenty of time for the division leading landscape to undergo a complete overhaul numerous times. If the Angels are going to figure out how to make that turn around they may want to take a hard look at where they have been and where they currently are.
Over the last three seasons, ones in which they won the division, the Angels were among the best hitting teams in the league. They ranked 4th and 10th in 2007 and 2008, both years which saw them drop the opening round in the playoffs to the Boston Red Sox (with a .284 and .268 batting average respectively). Last year they led Major League Baseball with a team batting average of .285.
Their pitching staff has been among the better staffs in the league as well. They progressed from being ranked 11th in 2007 with a team ERA of 4.23 to the 8th best staff in the following year and an ERA of 3.99. Last season the staff underwent a dip in production falling to 21st in the league with a team ERA of 4.45.
Both segments of the game have taken a serious hit at this point of the 2010 season. The pitching staff has fallen down a bit further, to the 26th spot in the league with a team ERA fairly close to 5 at 4.96. Although the pitching has faltered, the biggest hit has to come in the team’s offense. Once a matter of pride for the team, the collective batting average for the club has fallen to .249 (21st in the league).
So not only is the team allowing more runs than usual, they are not scoring many either. In 2009 the offense averaged nearly 5.5 runs a game; so far in 2010 they are averaging less than four. Defensively, the team gave up an average of 4.7 runs a game in 2009. After 36 games in the 2010 season the staff ERA is 5.3.
Can they turn it around?
The great thing about baseball is that a team can struggle, but that it still has time to get the ship righted and back on track without the team losing all hope of making the playoffs.
However, the Angels will have some stiffer competition than they are accustomed to. The Texas Rangers have been bordering on being a competitive team for years and appear ready to contest for the division this season.
They better watch out for the Oakland Raiders this year as well. Dallas Braden has been the center of attention lately, but if you were to take a more detailed look at the team you would see that they have one of the better pitching staffs this season (with a 3.9 ERA, good enough for 12th). If they are really going to make a push for the division pennant, the Athletics will need to improve their batting which currently only rates two spots (19th) and two points better than the Angels.
Tags: