Halfway through the season, it is time to take a look at the Angels’ pitchers and assign them some mid-term grades:
Jose Arredondo: Everyone who wanted Arredondo to be the closer this year instead of signing Fuentes can go right ahead and take this moment to pull their foot out of their mouth. Finished? Good. Dondo was so frustratingly inconsistent this year that he finally got demoted to Triple-A to try and find his long lost command. He still hasn’t found his way back to the majors, but did find his way to the DL. Good work by him. Grade = F
Jason Bulger: Bulger was a breathing BP machine early in the season but has really settled into the Halo bullpen and seems like he could stick for awhile. He was almost unhittable in May, but has cooled off since. His bouts of inconsistency have cost him a chance to secure the set-up man job, much to the Angels’ chagrin. Still, Bulger is one guy that Sosh doesn’t have to worry about much anymore. Grade = B-
Kelvim Escobar: Poor Kelvim. One start and done. He wants so much to pitch again, but it just doesn’t look to be in the cards which is too bad because he could be the perfect 8th inning guy right now. Grade = Dropped out
Brian Fuentes: Fuentes probably isn’t the best closer in the league but he is awfully close. He got off to a rocky start as an Angel but hasn’t allowed a run (and only five hits) since May 30th. That is why he is an All-Star and why you don’t hear about anybody pining for a K-Rod return. Grade = A-
Kevin Jepsen: Jepsen battled a bad back and general ineptitude early in the season and was promptly exiled to Salt Lake. He has since been promoted, generally due to attrition and is starting to come on strong thanks to accidentally discovering he can throw a potentially nasty cutter/slider pitch. He is steadily gaining Mike Scioscia’s confidence and could be a major factor in the Bullpen of Doom before everything is said and done but that doesn’t totally absolve him of his early season sins. Grade = D+
John Lackey: Lackey has been playing catch up ever since missing the start of the season with an injury and he just can’t quite seem to get back to his old self. Every time it seems like he is back to being an ace, he has a meltdown of some sort which is why his record and ERA are still fairly poor. With Santana and Saunders struggling, the Halos badly need Lackey to get his groove back ASAP. Grade = D
Sean O’Sullivan: O’Sullivan really has no business being in the majors right now, having not pitched above Single-A before this year, but thus far he has held his own. I don’t see that lasting very long, but he’s the de facto fifth starter for now and should be commended for not buckling under the pressure of a rapid promotion in the middle of a pennant race. Grade = B
Darren Oliver: Even with all the contact that Darren Oliver allows, he continues to be the best story in the Halo bullpen this year. No Angel reliever is a bigger departure from the typical power-profile that Mike Scioscia prefers, but Old Man Oliver is the only Halo middle reliever that doesn’t cause my sphincter to clench when he comes out of the bullpen. I don’t know how much longer he can keep it up, especially since he showed himself to be still vulnerable at times in June, but he has far exceeded expectations this year. Grade = A-
Matt Palmer: The clock finally struck midnight on Palmer as a starter, losing his gig to Sean O’Sullivan late in June, but he gets big ups for somehow managing to win so many games. All hope is not lost for Palmer though as he has flashed some potential as a middle reliever and I suspect that he’ll get another turn in the rotation before all is said an done. Grade = C+
Rafael Rodriguez: I honestly have no idea why the Angels keep calling him up. Maybe he has long-term potential, but he clearly isn’t major-league ready yet. R-Rod’s fastball has a lot of movement, but he doesn’t seem to have any idea where the ball is going when it leaves his hand. Grade = F
Ervin Santana: It almost isn’t fair to judge Santana because of all his arm problems, but he should get some of the blame for forcing his way back into the rotation before he was ready. Surely he noticed that Darren Oliver had a harder fastball when he came back in mid-May. Ervin seems closer to healthy now, but question marks remain. Grade = F
Joe Saunders: Saunders has been going out of his way the last several weeks to put an emphasis on the “former” in “former All-Star.” Saundo got off to a very nice start to the season but fell apart in late-May when he started pitching scared due to a nasty case of gopherball-itis. Once he quits worrying so much about the long ball and starts attacking the inner half of the plate with real aggression again, all should be fine; but until then, right-handed hitters are licking their chops whenever they see him on the bump. Grade = D
Scot Shields: Shields did all he could to fight through a knee injury that he hid to start the season, but finally had to go under the knife for season-ending surgery. Again, you hate to blame a guy for getting hurt, but he chose to pitch in the World Baseball Classic even though history has shown it a terrible health risk for pitchers. Grade = F
Justin Speier: Every time it seems like Justin Speier is going to lock down the set-up job, he goes and gets killed in a crucial situation (i.e. stupidly pitching to Hank Blalock in a tie-game with a base open). His overall numbers are much better than last year, so he isn’t such a free agent bust anymore, but he should still be better than this. Grade = C+
Rich Thompson: There is no in between for Chopper. He’s is either lights out or bombs away which is why he has been relegated mostly to mop-up duty and shows no signs of earning a promotion anytime soon since he can’t keep the ball in the park. Six homers in 16.2 innings of work would normally earn you a quick ticket back to the minors, but the Angels have no better alternatives right now and just have to hope Thompson figures it out. Grade = F
Jered Weaver: Weaver was poised to grab an All-Star selection after his shutout victory against San Diego on June 14th, but has since gone into a minor swoon that left him on the outside looking in. Nonetheless, he has really progressed nicely this year and has been a steadying force in an otherwise shaky rotation, picking up six wins on days following a Halo loss. That’s the kind of things aces do and Weaver is on the verge of earning that title. Grade = A-
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