Angels Player Power Rankings - Week 6

It is the last week before we reach the quarter pole of the season and the last week in which I am going to allow my pre-season perceptions to factor into the ratings. In other words, if you like seeing Albert Pujols not ranked in the 20s, then you might want to relish this week.

As always, the rankings are based on a player’s overall season performance with a weight on recent performance.

RANK	PLAYER	CHANGE	COMMENTS
1		+1 Last Week: 2	C.J. Wilson – I doubt he’ll get it, but he deserves the respect of the Ranger fans for stepping up and taking the bump again the morning after a rain delay cut short his previous start. He had to get up emotionally to face an incredibly hostile crowd twice and he pitched his ass off to help the Angels win.
2		-1 Last Week: 1	Jered Weaver – So this is what happens when Weaver doesn’t face the Twins every outing. Yuck.
3		+1 Last Week: 4	Mark Trumbo – Mark Trumbo is officially a grown ass man now.
4		+5 Last Week: 9	Mike Trout – Have you accepted Mike Trout as your personal lord and savior? I know I have.
5		+2 Last Week: 7	Howie Kendrick – He’s been hitting like his old self lately, but never in an important situation it seems. Of course, I don’t see how I can bust on him for that when the same thing can be said about everyone on this team.
6		-3 Last Week: 3	Torii Hunter – He had one hit all week, a home run. At least he made it count.
7		+1 Last Week: 8	Scott Downs – For the second time this season, Downs looks like he is seriously hurt but manages to shake it off and comeback looking better than ever just a few days later. And people say the Angels have had no luck.
8		-2 Last Week: 6	Albert Pujols – I honestly don’t think I can be rational about Boojols anymore. Let’s just move on.
9		-4 Last Week: 5	Dan Haren – Let’s just hope these back spasms are a brief bump in the road.
10		+3 Last Week: 13	Ernesto Frieri – Some say he is the closer of the future. I say the future started when he got demigod Josh Hamilton looking on Saturday.
11		-1 Last Week: 10	Kendrys Morales – A sore Achilles is no surprise, nagging injuries like this were bound to happen with Morales and all the more reason the Angels are smart to limit his playing time… well, that and he can’t hit lefties.
12		+2 Last Week: 14	Ervin Santana – I don’t know what he did that caused the Angels’ bats to not score a single run for him in five straight starts, but now that he was gotten back on their good side, I highly recommend he not repeat whatever the original transgression was.
13		+2 Last Week: 15	Maicer Izturis – I’m starting to think that the wrong Angels shortstop got the contract extension.
14		-2 Last Week: 12	Jerome Williams – I refuse to penalize Jerome for his pseudo-spot start on Friday. That was an untenable situation for most any pitcher and, if anything, he should be rewarded for taking one for the team.
15		+6 Last Week: 21	Jordan Walden – A 1-2-3 inning with a two-run lead against Texas is another step forward in the resurrection of Walden. It might take awhile, but he’ll get there.
16		+6 Last Week: 22	Alberto Callaspo – Just when the roster logjam was starting to resolve itself, Callaspo has caught fire in May (.986 OPS) and turned third base back into a daily guessing game on who will get the start.
17		+2 Last Week: 19	Peter Bourjos – The more I think about it, the more I realize that the Free Peter Bourjos campaign should really be the Free Guy Who Isn’t Vernon Wells campaign.
18		— 0 Last Week: 18	Vernon Wells – Remember how everyone said there is no way he can be as bad as last year? WRONG! Wells is posting worse numbers in almost every single offensive category compared to his final numbers for the abortion that was his 2011 season. If there is any justice in this world, he’ll be benched if not released by the end of the week.
19		-2 Last Week: 17	Erick Aybar – I’ve been too obsessed with figuring out what’s wrong with Pujols to even begin trying to figure out why Aybar has been so wretched this season.
20		+3 Last Week: 23	Bobby Wilson – For the next two months, this guy is the starting catcher… yep. Hey, umm, does anyone have Bengie Molina’s phone number? I want to talk to him about something. Actually, that’s not fair, Wilson isn’t that horrible, but the last thing the Halos need is another offensive liability in the lineup.
21		-1 Last Week: 20	David Carpenter – I like Carpenter quite a bit, but I’m still not ready to see him pitching in high leverage situations.
22		+2 Last Week: 24	Jason Isringhausen – If not for this weekly feature, I don’t think I’d even remember that he is still on the team.
23		+2 Last Week: 25	Hisanori Takahashi – How bad does it have to get when Taka can’t even get into a game as a mop-up man anymore?
24		— 0 Last Week: n/a	John Hester – I have no idea if he is any good, but my wife assures me he is very handsome, so he has that going for him.
25		— 0 Last Week: n/a	David Pauley – Mop, mop, mop, all day long. Mop, mop, mop while I sing this song.