The rotation is still lacking

[WallyWorld]

It was the team's biggest issue last year, and as of now, not a lot has been done to address it.  I loved the Trumbo for Santiago/Skaggs deal, but that was when I thought it would be followed up with the addition of another legit starter (Tanaka, Garza).  Now it's looking like the team is content to roll into the season with what they have, and I'm having a hard time convincing myself that the rotation is any better than 2013.

 

Weaver & Wilson: unlike 2013, hopefully Weaver stays healthy. Still, his fastball velocity has to be a concern.  Both of these guys are a year older, on the wrong side of 30.

 

Richards: a guy who failed to make the rotation at the start of last year behind Hanson and Blanton, is now being counted on for a full season of solid #3/4 duty?

 

Santiago & Skaggs: Santiago looks like he could be a solid mid-rotation guy, but Skaggs is a real wild card.  Could be completely useless for 2014.  Is this combo really more appealing than Hanson & Blanton were at the start of 2013??

 

and then there's the man himself, Joe Blanton, lurking on the periphery  - one strained forearm or stubbed toe away from being in the rotation.

 

How are we better off than this time last year?  I feel like we're being sold a bill of goods.  

[Chuck]

Disagree with almost everything you posted.

 

The Angels 2013 rotation sucked!

 

Blanton will not pitch out of the rotation this season. Period.

 

Hanson is GONE.

 

Enright is GONE.

 

Weaver doesn't have a broken elbow!

 

Wilson is a solid #2 and really commanded his stuff better down the stretch.

 

Richards will be better!

 

Santiago is already good, but should get better pitching half of his games in a friendly ball park.

 

Skaggs has the stuff to be a very good #2 and a tweak to his delivery which was caused by some bad coaching on his changeup will reclaim his velocity.

 

Mulder has a chance, I said a chance, to be an effective innings eater like what we hoped to get from Blanton and Hanson last season.

 

Shoemaker impresses me.

 

Dipoto is not done, still looking for more arms.

 

Settle down and hug someone.

 

Out!

[fan_since79]

One or two injuries and Joe Blanton is very much in the picture. We need to sign another SP. 

[Guest]

There is a VERY good chance Blanton will start several times this season. If someone in the rotation were to get injured,they'd have no choice but to turn to Blanton. I have very little faith in Mark Mulder making the team, let alone starting.

The Angels really should have kept Jerome Williams. A huge blunder on their part.

[WallyWorld]

Chuck, I'm sorry, but that's the same kind of ra-ra b.s. we were all (myself included) spouting this time last year.  Any rotation looks good when you project the best case scenario for every pitcher.  I swear I'm trying to simply be objective and not just a pessimist - I see a rotation that needed to be vastly improved from 2013, and is now looking only marginally better, if at all.

[Chuck]

Chuck, I'm sorry, but that's the same kind of ra-ra b.s. we were all (myself included) spouting this time last year.  Any rotation looks good when you project the best case scenario for every pitcher.  I swear I'm trying to simply be objective and not just a pessimist - I see a rotation that needed to be vastly improved from 2013, and is now looking only marginally better, if at all.

 

As the rotation is in its current state it already is MUCH better than last seasons.

 

I doubt Blanton is on the team when the club leaves Arizona. But if he is, he'll pitch in long relief.

[floplag]

Right now the rotation is better than what we started last year with in any formation you put out there...  and i should point out that if you read some of the other posts on the subject you would see that the projections for this staff are not terrible at all.

 

The real question still though as ive said in other posts is what exactly IS the rotation.  right now we know 4.. beyond that is all going to be decided in ST.  We have no idea who the 5th will be right now.. none.

[NrM]

As the rotation is in its current state it already is MUCH better than last seasons.

 

I doubt Blanton is on the team when the club leaves Arizona. But if he is, he'll pitch in long relief.

 

Much better? Seriously chuck?

 

What happens when one or two pitchers inevitability go down for an extended time?

 

The staff has no depth. Just like last year.

They don't have a guy they can call up from the minors.

 

You have to expect one or two guys is going to disappoint big time. Especially with this rotation.

You also have to expect that one or two guys will get injured for an extended amount of time.

Edited January 29, 2014 by Poozy

[floplag]

Chuck, I'm sorry, but that's the same kind of ra-ra b.s. we were all (myself included) spouting this time last year.  Any rotation looks good when you project the best case scenario for every pitcher.  I swear I'm trying to simply be objective and not just a pessimist - I see a rotation that needed to be vastly improved from 2013, and is now looking only marginally better, if at all.

 

...and this is exactly the kind of butt hurt stuff everyone is posting now based on 2013.

 

Look we were all frustrated at last year, but there is zero chance this team was actually that bad... it has too much talent.

[WallyWorld]

...and this is exactly the kind of butt hurt stuff everyone is posting now based on 2013.

 

Look we were all frustrated at last year, but there is zero chance this team was actually that bad... it has too much talent.

 

you play 162 games . . . you are what your record says you are. 

[wopphil]

I don't agree that is "sucks," but I do agree that it badly needs more depth. 

[Bruce Nye]

What happens to any great pitching staff when 1 or 2 key guys go down?

[jshep]

This years rotation certainly has more upside than last year's.

But it still carries a ton of risk. I doubt it will be as bad as last year's, but I'm definitely not confident that it's collectively better enough as it stands now. Especially WHEN someone gets hurt or when/if the team wants to take a step back with one of the young guys who has never pitched more than like 150 innings.

Edited January 29, 2014 by jshep

[Inside Pitch]

They need at least one more arm, someone good enough to keep Blanton from ever starting.   It doesn't need to be a star, anyone who puts up a ERA around 4.50 as a SP will be a massive improvement on what we had last year.

 

As SPs:

 

Williams - 25 starts, 138.2 IP, 5.06 ERA

Hanson - 13 starts, 67.1 IP, 5.59 ERA

Blanton - 20 starts, 116.0 IP, 5.66 ERA

 

Thats almost 60 starts 300+ IP worth of suckage and a ton of innings the BP had to pitch after early exits...

Edited January 29, 2014 by Inside Pitch

[NrM]

What happens to any great pitching staff when 1 or 2 key guys go down?

 

 

So you think the angels should go into this year expecting their rotation to be 100% healthy?

Edited January 29, 2014 by Poozy

[floplag]

you play 162 games . . . you are what your record says you are. 

 

and anything can happen in 1 season.. a season in which we lost our ace, one of our huge contracts was injured, the other pressing, and everything that could have gone wrong did pitching wise.... i call it payback for '02.

 

or perhaps you can then tell me why players have season slumps.. off years, or every other statistical oddity that can be explained?

 

or do you really think this team was that bad with the amount of talent it has on the roster?  If you do then there is little to be said.

 

[WallyWorld]

What happens to any great pitching staff when 1 or 2 key guys go down?

 

They absorb it with their depth and keep winning games.  See: A's, the Oakland; Dodgers, the Los Angeles; Giants, the San Francisco; etc.

[mulwin444]

Weaver dealt with a freak accident last season not related to pitching wear and tear.  His velocity is down and he's probably doesn't have the same arm he did a couple of seasons ago, but the guy can still pitch. 

 

Wilson had his best season with Angels last year and, despite his tendency to nibble, he got them through 212.1 IP.

 

Neither of these guys are aces but they'd still be at the top of any team's rotation in baseball.

 

Richards was misused, I believe, and, once he was able to settle into a SP role, he found success.  As a starter last season, he was 6-6 4.18 ERA 1.306 WHIP, 4 of those starts occurring in April when he gave up 16 ERs in 29 IP.  I think Richards projects right now to be a solid 5 with an eye towards 3 or 4 as he progresses.  I wouldn't be shocked to a see something along the lines of 4.00 ERA 1.30 WHIP when the season is done which should be able to replace Hanson or Blanton's numbers with a positive.

 

Santiago has some upside and should be a solid 4 for us and Skaggs could be the 3 we're looking for if the mechanical flaw we heard about is fixed and brings back some velocity on his fastball. 

 

The Angels are a 2 or 3 starter away from division contention but these guys could give them chance at the Wild Card which is more then I expected with Hanson/Blanton.

[WallyWorld]

and anything can happen in 1 season.. a season in which we lost our ace, one of our huge contracts was injured, the other pressing, and everything that could have gone wrong did pitching wise.... 

 

 

 

this board has been filled with this type of reasoning for the past 4 years. "everything that can go wrong, did, so certainly next year will be better!"  well no, not certainly.  

i also love that everyone assumes Hamilton was pressing last year and will surely be better in 2014 - weren't we all saying the EXACT same thing re: Pujols a year ago??  

[WallyWorld]

The Angels are a 2 or 3 starter away from division contention but these guys could give them chance at the Wild Card which is more then I expected with Hanson/Blanton.

 

this i agree with.  the problem is, there aren't any 2/3 starters available at this point.  And based on what happened in 2013, I expected to go into 2014 with something better than "our rotation could give us a shot at a WC if everything goes right".  Maybe my expectations for what could be accomplished in a single offseason were unrealistic. 

[beatlesrule]

Sorry.

[Brent Maguire]

I don't think this rotation looks too bad but they absolutely need another starter. One injury and we're looking at Mulder or Blanton as a starter.

I highly doubt they're done making moves since they still have some money to spend. At the very least, they should add a guy like Capuano.

[mulwin444]

this i agree with.  the problem is, there aren't any 2/3 starters available at this point.  And based on what happened in 2013, I expected to go into 2014 with something better than "our rotation could give us a shot at a WC if everything goes right".  Maybe my expectations for what could be accomplished in a single offseason were unrealistic. 

The fact is they won 78 games so I'm keeping my expectations realistic.  The rotation was a problem but not the only problem.  We had a bad BP and terrible D.  To expect all these things to be fixed in a single offseason is unrealistic so I am assuming that, if everything falls right, we're looking at a maybe a high-80 win team and 2nd wild card.  

[nikkachez]

We started winning a lot more games last year when Weaver and Vargas were healthy and Richards was given the rotation spot, and that was without Albert, Howie, Burnett, Bourjos, and we had a $#!++y bullpen. A rotation of Washburn, Ortiz, Sele, Appier, and Lackey probably didn't sound all that good but with a lights out bullpen, a strong lineup, and a rotation that was able to keep us in games, we won it all. I think depth is more of the issue, if we can add someone who pitches admirably in the event of an injury, I think we'll be in decent shape. Richards and Santiago have the talent to pitch in the middle of the rotation, Skaggs has the potential to become a #2, and Weaver/Wilson are solid. We just need Albert and Hamilton to mash along with health in the rotation, it's the depth that scares me. 

[Angel Oracle]

If we need one more starter after 2014, I know of a FA pitcher by then who should be more reasonable salary wise than Tanaka.

 

Justin Masterson, who one or two publications think may be ready for a Scherzer like breakthrough soon

He gets a lot of swings and misses (8th in AL Ks) and generates a LOT of GB outs (best GB/FB ratio in AL). 

Two of his past 3 seasons saw a mid 3.00s ERA, including 2013.

If he refines his control some, look out!