We have a three game set with the Angels starting tonight at Rogers Centre. The Angels come into town with a 3-7 record, but slow starts aren't unusual for them.
I sent off a few questions to Rev. Halofan from SB Nations Halos Heaven and he was kind enough to send answers.
Mike Scioscia has been manager there since, well since Frank Tanana pitched for the team it seems. What do Angel fans think of him? What are his strengths and weaknesses?
Just in looking at the conversation on other blogs the big difference is the deference he gets - his track record has been so stunning - 900 wins in 10 seasons - people being up issues but nobody flips out about it and ever blames him directly. Kinda like getting in Tony Soprano's face. His biggest strength is the patience to see how things go. Frankly I believe that patience might have cost us the division in 2006 where we sputtered early and he did to tinker until June, but his patience saw us through a few seasons, so it has more than balanced out.
Can you give us a quick scouting report on the starting pitchers we are likely to face?
JERED WEAVER: Deceptive fastball pitcher with flyball tendencies. If hitters time him perfectly, they hit homers, but his FB has a lot more movement this season so he is improving.
I was dumb enough to draft Brandon Wood to my fantasy team. What's going on with him? Should I dump him now?
SO did I, dude! Scioscia will be patient with him and the hope is he comes around. they have tried to make a patient contact hitter out of him and I believe his power stroke will suffer. He might not be playing everyday so if he has not hit at least two homers by the end of April dump him.
Who would you expect to be the Angel's offensive MVP this year?
Safe money is on Weaver becoming an ace, Torii Hunter not aging on the field and keeping the clubhouse together. If Kendry Morales can naster hitting the soft stuff, we have the makings of a superstar.
It has been about a year since Nick Adenhart's tragedy, is his presence still felt around the team and the stadium?
Each guy is different and you have guys in the clubhouse now who were not here last season. The other day in New York some of the players witnessed a man jump of the roof of their hotel in a suicide and one player was quoted heavily in the media while the other turned around in his locker when he saw the press coming, so there is obviously still that daily ten second spot where everything pauses and all of a sudden he appears in the mind. The team really set the bar for memorializing a player in a classy way that had no profiting aspect and that probably helped things move on as much or more than plain old time healing the wounds.
What is the over/under for walks taken by Kendry Morales this year? He will have more homers than walk right?
O/U is close: 30 walks 32 homers, the fan in me will take the overs in both but damn if he isn't a happy hacker with three ball counts.
Is there anything else Jay fans should know about the Angels?
It is always good to catch the Angels early in the season because Scioscia is patiently auditioning guys for different roles to see what works, so you can sneak a few wins against a non-optimized lineup. By June, Mike is done tinkering and event the replacement players are above league average at their assigned spots.
Thanks Rev.