The Angels appear to be in mid-season form after going 5-2 this last week (12-8 on the Season). Although the competition wasn’t of the AL’s strongest quality (Rangers, Royals and Mariners) the wins did include a short two-game sweep of the Rangers in Texas and taking two of three at home against the Mariners, both who are AL-West rivals.
   
The Angels currently lead the Majors in batting, hitting as a team at a .295 clip.  The Angels are also have the 2nd most 2B’s and are in the Top 5 in Runs and RBI.  Now, that may be considered a hotter start that most would have imagined, but given the addition of Torii Hunter it couldn’t be all that impossible.  The pitching on the other hand is a different story.
   
Who expected this kind of starting pitching coming from the Angels at the beginning of the season? Given the fact that the #1 and #2 starting pitchers began the year on the DL, most columnists and baseball aficionados across the country wrote off the Angels.  But both Joe Saunders and Ervin Santana are pitching like top of the rotation starters, having not allowed more than 4 earned runs in any of their combined 8 starts.  

Those 8 starts also include a 6-0 record and only 12 BB’s in 56.1 innings pitched.  With John Lackey expected back in early-May the Angels are in a great position to go deeper into games and take a little pressure off of what is normally a solid, but one that has struggled so far this year (2008 Bullpen – 47.1 innings pitched, 26 earned runs, 21 BB’s).

–    Torii Hunter made one of the greatest catches in Angels History on Friday night (see above), robbing Richie Sexson of a potential 9th inning, 2-Out, 2-run homer that would have given the Mariners the lead.  Hunter also went 3-for-4 with 3 2B’s and 3 RBI’s in the game

–    Welcome to the Big Leagues Sean Rodriguez.  Rodriguez who turns 23 on April 26th has been an Angels’ blue-chipper in the minor leagues for some time now.  Rodriguez was recalled to replace the injured Howie Kendrick, who was placed on the 15-day DL retroactive to April 13.  Rodriguez was hitting .333 in 13 games for Triple-A Salt Lake City.  A natural shortstop, he’ll slide over to 2B and share time there with Macier Izturis.

–    LOL.  The Mets fans got “Rick-Rolled” at their own stadium.

–    Francisco “No longer K-Rod” Rodriguez went 4-for-4 in SV opportunities this week.  He also struck out 4 batters in 4 innings which might lead to him earning his nickname in this column.  However, I’m still skeptical that Rodriguez won’t be able to return to his dominant self anytime soon.  His fastball is still only topping-out in the low 90’s and his command of his off-speed pitches just hasn’t been there (8.1 innings pitching, 7 BB’s)

–    BRRRRR … it’s been really cold at the evening games.  So cold, that my “brother-from-another-mother” Glendon and I had to go buy a sweatshirt and jacket from the Angels in-Stadium store.  $120 for a windbreaker, sounds like a steal to me!

–    Erick Aybar has made some of the most electrifying plays for a shortstop this season.  He has a powerful and accurate arm and he gets to balls in the hole that few other shortstops could.  I just wish he wouldn’t make so many mistakes on the routine plays instead.  The kid has all the talent in the world to become the Angels’ starter, but a .947 fielding percentage just won’t cut it over the long haul.

–    BOLD PREDICTION OF THE WEEK – (LAST WEEK) I think Ervin Santana ends the week with a 3-0 record.  Santana has always had his struggles on the road (Career Road ERA – 7.03) compared to pitching at home (Career Home ERA – 3.14), but Ervin is showing signs that he is maturing as a person and on the mound and he’ll take a big step forward this week by dominating the Rangers in Texas. 

I’m 1-1 on Bold Predictions this season.  This upcoming week won’t be so easy to pick as the Angels head on the road to face the AL-East leading Red Sox and the Detroit Tigers.  Despite starting the season 2-9, the Tigers have won 4 of their last 6 and are starting to show signs of getting their offense back on track.  Well, this is a Bold Prediction after all, so I’m going to say that the Angels win both of their series this week on the road and finish the week with a 16-10 record.