Uncertainty Surrounds Angels 2009 Season

If I had written this Angels preview just a few weeks ago, it would have looked a lot different. 

I would have told you the Angels have one of the top pitching rotations in the American League. I would have told you the offense will once again be a weak link. I would have told you the return of Kelvim Escobar is a luxury, not a necessity.

And then came the injuries.    

First, No. 2 pitcher Ervin Santana was shut down due to a sore elbow and is expected to miss all of April. Then, two weeks later, ace John Lackey suffered an elbow strain, and he’s projected to be out for a month, too.

The mission has changed from relying on pitching to jump out to a lead in the AL West, a division the Angels won by 21 games last year, to just hoping the offense can keep the team afloat until its ailing arms return.

Locked and loaded
This isn’t your typical Angels offense. The lineup is deeper than in years past and it will be the team’s strength for the first month of the season.

Sure, fans may be disappointed that the Angels didn’t sign slugger Mark Teixeira, but I’m in the camp that believes Kendry Morales is ready for a breakout year.

The 25-year-old Cuban import has done everything the team has asked of him, including spending an extra year at Triple-A, and he’s been lighting up opposing pitchers all spring to the tune of a .400 batting average.

Morales is slated to hit sixth for the Angels, a key RBI spot behind new addition Bobby Abreu, Vladimir Guerrero, and Torii Hunter. Abreu meanwhile gives the Angels some patience in the middle of the order―something the team has sorely lacked in year’s past when the approach was more of the swing-first philosophy.

As goes Chone Figgins…
So goes the Angels’ offense. Figgins battled leg problems last year and was never truly healthy. But from the look of his hot spring (.415 avg), he appears recovered and ready to be a productive lead-off hitter again.  

The Halos need Figgins to return to his 2007 form, when he hit .330 and reached base at a .393 clip, to set the table and also take pressure off No. 2 hitter Howie Kendrick. If Figgins is getting on base, Kendrick shouldn’t feel any extra burden, and will be more comfortable to swing away.  

If Figgins isn’t getting on base, there could be a lot of innings where Abreu hits with the bases empty and that would not be ideal.   

Cross your fingers
If there’s a glaring weakness it’s that the Halos open the season with inexperienced pitchers Nick Adenhart, Dustin Moseley, and Shane Loux all in the starting rotation.

Moseley has shown good stuff in the past but he’s never been able to sustain it over a long stretch. Loux is 29 years old and still trying to make his mark at the big league level, something he failed to do in ’02 and ’03 with Detroit.

Adenhart has the most upside of the three, but he’s also the youngest and showed last season his command can be inconsistent. The Angels probably only need one of these guys to step up and perform at a high level, and can get by with the other two just eating innings.  

A bullpen is only as good as the starting pitching
If the starters can’t throw enough innings, the bullpen will log a lot of unnecessary work in April that could come back to bite them in August and September.

Right now, though, the bullpen remains one of the team’s strengths, which is hard to believe considering the Angels parted ways with lights-out closer Francisco Rodriguez in the winter.  

Thankfully, it didn’t take long for the Halos to replace him with Brian Fuentes, an accomplished closer himself who saved 30 games for the Rockies last year. Also returning are set-up men Scott Shields and Jose Arredondo, giving the Angels a nasty one-two punch in the seventh and eighth innings.

Help is on the way
As bad as the pitching situation looks, don’t forget that Lackey, Santana, and Escobar are all expected back around the start of May. It’s probably wishful thinking to suggest all three will be ready to go by then, but just getting two of them back would be enough.

Ironically Escobar, who was expected to miss as much as half the season, may be in the best shape of them all. He started an exhibition game Friday against the Padres and may only be out a few more weeks. Santana has begun long tossing but the Angels will likely be careful not to rush him.  

Lackey's injury raises some red flags because he’s had a similar problem two years in a row, but the team reported there is no structural damage, so it doesn’t appear to be serious. For now the Angels will rely on Joe Saunders and Jared Weaver to anchor the staff.