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Utter anonymity The Angels have quietly become a force in the AL WestPosted: Friday July 26, 2002 3:25 PM
They toil in the long, blue shadow of the Dodgers in their hometown. They're obscured by the methodical Mariners and the rambunctious A's in their division. They got off to the worst start (6-14) in franchise history this year. They sent but one player to the All-Star Game, and none of their hitters are on track to reach the 30-homer mark. In fact, no one on their roster ranks in the league's top five in batting average, home runs, runs, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, wins or ERA. Let's face it, the Angels have an identity problem. Yet here is Anaheim, entering a three-game series at Seattle this weekend atop the wild-card standings and trailing the division-leading Mariners by just a single game in the AL West. How did this happen? It helps that the Red Sox, the wild-card leaders for most of the season, have been a pedestrian 35-34 since bolting to a 24-7 start. But give the Angels credit. Their lineup, though unheralded, is explosive. Their rotation stacks up well against the league's best and they have the AL's second-best bullpen ERA (3.39). In short, manager Mike Scioscia has quietly developed a dangerous combination: a talented team that, because it attracts little attention, has snuck up on the rest of the league. "I thought they were finished after the way they played in April," says one scout. "But I think they have the talent to win the wild card." Anaheim has benefitted from the resurgence of two players who slumped badly last year. Center fielder Darin Erstad hasn't matched the career season he had in 2000, when he hit .355 and smacked 240 hits, but he has ironed out the mechanical problems that developed in his swing last year when he was bothered by a chronically sore right knee. Entering play Friday, he's hitting .291 and has driven in 53 runs from the second spot in the order. Right fielder Tim Salmon, who looked lost at the plate last season, has already surpassed his 2001 RBI total (49, compared to 65 this year) and is two long balls away from matching his home run production (17). Salmon has also reasserted himself as a clutch hitter. Last year he hit .171 with 42 strikeouts in 129 at-bats with runners in scoring position. This season? Just 24 whiffs and a solid .325 average in 120 at-bats in those situations. Salmon can thank leadoff hitter David Eckstein for creating so many of those run-producing opportunities. The 5-foot-8 shortstop bounces around the field -- he must be sprinkling extra sugar on his Frosted Flakes every morning -- and is one of the peskiest players in the game. He's been hit by a major-league-high 17 pitches and he's been his team's best hitter with runners in scoring position (.366). Is all this enough to keep the Angels in contention? Well, they swept the Mariners last week and then took two of three from the A's. After visiting Seattle this weekend, the Angels face a week of games against the Red Sox and Yankees. Ten days from now we should have an answer.
Giant drop-offNo player in baseball has seen his production drop off from last year like Rich Aurilia, which is certainly an unfortunate development for the battered Giants, who barely have enough healthy bodies to field a team. Barry Bonds, Reggie Sanders and Benito Santiago are all out of the lineup with various injuries, and on Thursday center fielder Tsuyoshi Shinjo landed on the disabled list with a pulled hamstring. By the end of a 4-3 loss to the Cardinals Thursday, the San Francisco had just two regular starters in the lineup. All of these absences have magnified Aurilia's struggles. He exploded last season, hitting .324 with 37 home runs and 97 RBIs. He won't come close to those numbers this year. Aurilia missed two weeks in May after having surgery to remove bone chips in his elbow and has struggled to find his stroke since. Going into the Giants' weekend series against the Dodgers, the shortstop had just eight homers, 30 RBIs and a .256 average. His strikeouts are up (52 in 213 at-bats, compared to 83 in 636 ABs in '01) and he's driven in just two runs since the All-Star break. With a decimated lineup, San Francisco's chances of staying close in the playoff race -- it trails Arizona by four games in the NL West -- are shrinking. The Giants will have no shot if Aurilia doesn't get hot down the stretch. Sports Illustrated staff writer Stephen Cannella covers the baseball beat for the magazine. Touching Base appears every week on CNNSI.com |
