We are pleased to inform you that the reports of the early demise of Mike Trout were incorrect. As it turns out, the guy going in a little 0-for-12 slump is not a reason to lose your mind. Everyone, even superhumans, are entitled to small slumps. Just be patient and they will break out of it.
We do, however, regret to inform you that the reports that of Ernesto Frieri being totally fixed and ready to pitch in high leverage again were also incorrect. Brian Roberts? Seriously? SERIOUSLY?
Run Expectancy Rundown
You know you had a tough night on offense when Collin Cowgill is one of just two Angels in the positive. Raul Ibanez and Ian Stewart are in the lineup. That’s just going to continue being a major problem until everyone gets healthy.
Brian fucking Roberts. If this were 2009, fine. But it isn’t. It’s 2014 and Roberts can barely get on the field, much less hit. Disgusting.
Starting Pitcher Scores
A very nice pitching duel between Wilson and Kuroda who both pitched much better than when they faced off the other week. Kuroda didn’t really have anywhere to go but up from that start but, unfortunately for the Angels, he went all the way back to vintage HIROK form. Wilson probably deserved a better fate
Bullpen Battle
The biggest problem here, in my opinion, is the lack of bullpen usage for the Angels. I know it isn’t a strong unit, but you can’t just avoid them until you have no other choice. Letting Wilson go through the Yankees lineup for the fourth time was an egregious mistake, especially with that huge pitch count. It was an even bigger mistake to not pull him once it started going south. Then when he finally did go to the bullpen, Frieri was a seemingly obvious choice except that this was fourth outing in five nights. You can see that in the MWAH Bullpen Usage Report. You can also see there that Frieri’s meltdowns seem to come at the tail end of heavy usage. Even if you discount Frieri’s first outing since it was just one pitch (though he did still go through the process of warming up to go in the game), it is still three games in four nights. Perhaps Scioscia needs to more carefully consider his overuse of Frieri, even on a night where Joe Smith is unavailable.
Of course, this whole thing would be a moot point if Joe Girardi didn’t make the same mistake of letting Kuroda roll the order over for the fourth time and wasn’t so insistent on overusing Shawn Kelley who has been shaky in every single outing against the Angels this year.
Game Flow
The Death by Sac Fly offensive philosophy produced that win expectancy hump in the middle of the game, but that went away after the Yankees tied it, though it did threaten to get worse had they not scored a run via GIDP. Then the eighth inning rolled around and things went haywire as the Angels almost got out of the jam, then didn’t. After they tied the game, they were back in the driver’s seat, but then Frieri served Roberts a first pitch cookie and that was all she wrote.
Halo A-Hole
I probably should give this to Scioscia for all of his bumbling, but how can I possibly overlook
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