I was too preoccupied with worrying about Joel Pineiro blowing his start to even think about how potent at blowing games our bullpen is. It didn’t cross my mind that the blowpen could ruin the Angels chances at winning the game until Takahashi’s unfortunate face appeared on the tv screen, warming up his arm for another shot at blowing another game. I know the Angels loved their signing of Fernando Rodney two years ago; they loved it so much they had to go out and sign a left handed version of him this past offseason. Little did they know what we, the fans, knew about these two pitchers before they got signed to this team.
They suck.
Well Takahashi didn’t suck as bad as Rodney with his previous team, he actually showed a little promise, but that’s beyond the point. What’s done is done, no amount of whining can give us back those wins that these two carelessly handed away. This is the team that the Angels need to beat in order to catch up to the Texas Rangers, luckily for the Angels they’ve been graced with a 4 game set against the Mariners instead of the standard 3 game set. This gives the Angels more of a chance to fatten up on wins, or lose all of their confidence by getting hammered by their vastly inferior division rivals.
Game Notes
- Joel Pineiro, surprisingly, did not stink last night. He didn’t have the strongest start, but it was good enough to warrant him a no decision. He still gave up a lot of hits, but he kept the runs low and kept his team in the game the whole way through his start. This isn’t close to the Joel Pineiro we should have in our rotation, but he’s getting there. Though you really have to ask yourself this question, “Would he have done this good against an offense not as weak as the Mariners?” He made them look tough last night, which is far from what the Mariners are capable of looking like. It was a good first step for Pineiro, but he’s going to have to prove that he can do better then what he did last night against a team tougher then the Mariners. He’s going to have to prove he can do that against a playoff contender team. Once he’s ready to do that the Angels will be on a clear path the playoffs. More like IF he can do that.
- Hisanori Takahashi reminds me more of an Italian butcher then a ML reliever. Constantly serving up meatballs to the hitters hearts’ content until the game is far from salvageable. A 2 run deficit is far from manageable when it comes in the late innings, especially with an offense as erratic as the Angels. Tony Reagins continues to bury himself deeper and deeper into a hole with his inaction at the trading deadline and his continued stagnation throughout the waiver period. I don’t care if he picks up a lefty or a righty; he just needs to pick up someone trustworthy that can pitch in the late innings. Knowing Reagins he’ll pick up Fernando Rodney 3.0 and parade him as our biggest splash to date.
Halo A-Hole
I’m not giving up on Hisanori Takahashis’ chances yet. Not his chances to be good, but his chances to stop appearing in so many games.