The Angels Are On Top and Deserve It!

It's hard to believe the Angels are where they are in the standings at this point in the season.  Considering how many games they have played on the road lately, the throwing in of tripple A pitchers to shore up the pitching staff, and the aging and injured Vlad, leaves one to scratch their heads that they are in first place as the All Star break looms.

As of this writing they have a four game winning streak with pitchers whose names no die hard Angels' fan would have known at the beginning of the season.  A well travelled and well seasoned Matt Palmer who had previously found little success on the big league level can only be described as a Godsend at this point.  Sean O'Sullivan is another spot starter who upped his record to 2-0 after only pitching in tripple A.  John Lackey, the Angels long time ace who is looking for a contract extension, has not been up to his usual tough standards but is fighting for every out.  The dynamic duo of Jered Weaver and especially Joe Saunders (who quite possibly was not even going to make the major league roster a year ago) are leading the way for a decimated Angel rotation.

A line up which most critics panned at the beginning of the season for it's lack of power has seemed to prove the critics wrong to this point.  Juan Rivera has found his 2007 stroke and is seeing the ball especially well of late.  He has 13 home runs as does Kendry Morales who is making some forget the Casey Kotchman trade of last year for Mark "I follow the money" Texiera.  Although it will still take effort on Morales' part to get close to the gold glove caliber defense of both Kotchman and Texiera, he is far from an embarassment to the organization.  I have yet to hear a critic of Morales' defense and that is amazing considering from the point from which he started.  Howie Kendricks departure to tripple A seemed like blow when it happened but the duo of Macier Itzuris and Erik Aybar haven't missed a step at this point and are playing exceptional defense up the middle.  Chone Figgins has been outstanding, batting over .400 since mid-may.  He is undoubtedly the catalyst for this team when it is hot.  He gets on base any way one can conceive of and is very patient at the plate.  I recently read an article where he credits swimming with his continued productivity.  I would volunteer to send him swim trunks and hope the team follows suit (no pun intended).

Speaking of "up the middle", our MVP unquestionably of this season is Torii Hunter.  Nineteen HRs, hitting over 300 - which is nearly 30 points above his career average, his clutch hitting, impeccable defense, and quiet but dignified leadership, make him the best free agent pick up since Vlad.  His smile and demeanor, especially after the Nick Adenhart tragedy, along with his experience and leadership are the qualities that go far beyond the white lines.  He is without a doubt this team's MVP and should be in contention for league MVP if he can keep up this pace.  However, with the East Coast bias of many voters I don't see it happening.

What can be said about Vlad that I just won't be repeating from others.  He has definitely seemed to have aged faster than Dorian Grey's portrait.  I know that he has only played in 37 games so far and has only two HRs but I can only hope that we are starting to see an awakening from this slumber lately.  I hate to say this but I think Vlad getting injured and being relegated to DH has actually helped this club put it's best outfielders out there.  I hope he regains his form during the second half because for this team to beat anybody in the playoffs, his presence is definitely going to be needed.  If we do actually get to the playoffs it would be nice to see Vlad erase from memory the previous poor performances and have a spectacular playoff run.

There are other unsung heroes on this team.  Mike Napoli has surpassed expectation with his power and bat savy.  The bullpen has only seemed to get better since rubber armed Scot Shields was lost for the season and Jose Arredondo lost his form, was demoted, and then injured.  Darren Oliver has been impressive of late along with Justin Speier, who previously seemed like he was in the wake of another lost season. Brian Fuentes has seemed to lost those butterflies he had early in the season and has pitched himself into the league lead for saves.

Like any good team, talent rises to the top and replacements step in for those who fall.  Great teams overcome this and rise from the deepest pits of adversity and do it because of great character, chemistry, and leadership.  As I have said many time during my life - "the fish stinks from the head".  That is usuallly said of bad organizations, whether is be corporations, sports enterprises, or any entity.  In this case the opposite is true - this organizations class, character, and overall integrity comes from the top as well in Arte Moreno and Mike Scioscia.  Without these men, this organization has overcome the most adverse of adversity and risen to it's rightful place at this point in the season.  They deserve to stay there.