Stalling those “pesky” Angels
Posted by: Josh Thomson - Posted in Misc on Oct 14, 2009 
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Plenty of talk before and after today’s workout focused on the running game of those pesky Angels, who, in addition to their 148 steals this year (third in MLB) also happened to score 883 runs, second behind only the Yankees.
I mention this because the Angels have a reputation as these base-swiping, first-to-third devils who have outrun the Yankees all these years, most notably in their two ALDS series. But has anyone noticed their offense performed almost on par with the boys in pinstripes?
Now, can these Angels run? In 2009, yes. They stole 17 in 24 attempts against the Yankees this year. They were also thrown out more than any other club in baseball.
But back in 2002 and 2005, the Angels didn’t run with any special regularity to unseat the Yankees. In fact, over the years Mike Scioscia’s club has simply outslugged the Yanks, posting a better average, on-base percentage and home run rate in both of the much ballyhooed series. This season was no different despite the 5-5 record over 10 games. The Yankees hit more home runs (15 to 9) but reached base less often than their nemesis.
Anyway, I’ll have more in tomorrow’s paper on how Joe Girardi and his team plan on stalling the Angels running game. Expect a few more throws to first, the occasional pitch out and an outfield that has been prodded to charge base hits and limit runners from taking the extra base. That said, is it possible that Girardi and his catchers paid a little lip service to the running game today while internally focusing on what’s most important: Keeping the Angels off base? Hmm.
Here’s what Jorge Posada said today:
You have to get the hitter, that’s the main objective. The priority there is to get the hitter. You have to pay attention to the running game, but obviously the main priority is the hitter.
just dont let tthem get on base its that simple… in our outfield melky has an above average arm swisher has a average to slighgtly above average.. and damon is the only one they can run at will against
Yep, Jorge Posada, spouting wisdom of gold.
play the if back a step & the of in 1 step
Cannot BEGIN to tell you how thrilled I was to read Posada’s quote.
In my opinion, and I watch the Yankees very closely, there have been plenty of times in the past when a fast runner on first base completely freaked out the pitcher (and the team)… Giving away balls with pitch outs, countless throws over, etc, etc, etc…
Get the guy with the stick in his hand and the rest will take care of itself.
Let’s spin some singles today as Joe Girardi is 45!
Composure by AJ Burnett when runners are on will determine his performance come Game 2…..Ah those base on balls….
Those two strike outs that turned into base runners had as much to do with A.J.’s poor performance against LA the last time Posada caught him out there.
The game being rained out on Friday really kills the Yanks.
Chico Harris
October 14th, 2009 at 8:40 pm
Let’s spin some singles today as Joe Girardi is 45!
=====
How about “Time of the Season” by the Zombies?
I wish it was Friday. Go Yanks! No rain please
The Curious Case of Joba Chamberlain October 14th, 2009 at 8:45 pm
The game being rained out on Friday really kills the Yanks.
how
Everyone keeps talking about the keeping the Angels off the bases, but no one seems to note the fact that the Yankees actually have the better success rate on the bases. Sure the Yanks stole less bases, but they got caught less often than the Angels. Plus, Gardner’s stolen bases in the last couple of games vs the Angels were the key to success.
Keep them off bases – simple to say, not so simple to execute. If they don’t get on base, they can’t score. That said, you can’t expect pitchers to be perfect, so the pitchers and the defenders are going to have to be sharp and on top of their game.
You can’t steal home!
(Well technically you can … but….you know what I mean)
Yummy Angels,Bobby gets to try and score,ain’t that cute?
:frown:
I’d rather have Posada, Molina or Cervelli behind the plate than Napoli or Mathis
Side note: Is Josh John Cena???? lol
you cant steal first is the correct saying
Scioscia quote from ESPN.com:
“I’m hearing a lot of rain. We may face Sabathia seven times,” Scioscia joked. “We might play just one game a week. I don’t know.”
Sounds good to me. The more CC, the better.
I wish MLB didn’t make us wait four days for a game…I’m jonsing…I need my fix. Friday can not come soon enough.
As the old saying goes, you can’t steal 1B.
Um, the Yankees are a better base stealing team than LAA. LAA also isn’t good. 70% team success rate. That’s bad. The MINIMUM is 75%.
Slug trumps running. Let’s just play our game.
‘And I’m still trying to figure out how McClelland was wrong to call Brett out.’
He wasn’t wrong. He and Billy were right. That was the rule.
Awesome – MLB Network showing The Rog unleashing that great arm.
MacPhail’s ruling was based on the illusory spirit of the rule, which reflected his anti-Steinbrenner bias.
Vader,
I’d trade a few withdrawal symptoms for restored late life on Phil Hughes’ FB.
Jorge nails it. It’s all about the pitching. If you’re not on base, then you can’t run, and you’re defense is not stressed. The Yanks’ pitching is more K and fly ball oriented, which, if the pitchers’ are on, will negate that part of the Angels’ game. That’s why they’re 5-5 this year, taking 3 of the last 4 played. The pitching came through.
It’s all about the pitching. The Yanks are welll stocked in power arms, more so than past years. I hope Jorge’s comments echo Girardi and the coaching staff’s plan here.
The thing was, The Yanks were in the hunt in the AL East at that time, ruling came down and the team slide after the appeal by the Royals was ruled in their favor….Yanks never really recovered …..Once again the pitching was shallow as it was during the 80′s…..
I can still remember Brett’s face as he had a primal like it was yesterday.
bodhisattva – Destiny Wears Pinstripes
I’d trade a few withdrawal symptoms for restored late life on Phil Hughes’ FB.
___
Hughes’s problem isn’t late life, it’s command. He is rushing his delivery and as a result, his shoulder is flying open.
Rich – That’s been an issue for Hughes in the past. Hopefully, Dave Eiland has picked up on it on the video, and they make the adjustment. Phil probably just needs to control his adrenaline a bit more.
Cam Ward is rooting for us to win it all.
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb
Ken Rosenthal has an A-Rod interview. Sorry if it has been posted.
Rich,
I expect Hughes to be more sound after the break.
He’s thrown more this year than last, so he’s probably dragging a little. He may be speeding up, but his location was beginning to get a little wobbly down the stretch, before the postseason kicked in.
CC has to back the Angels hitters off the plate in game one to establish the intimidation factor. The Yankees are going to have to play smart defense, which they did well against Minnesota. Let’s face it LA is going to steal on Jorge, but it’s up to the pitchers to not give in to the Angels slap hitters.
45 hours and 27 minutes until Game 1!!!!!!!
Rebecca,
“Pearls of Wisdom”?
Girardi talked about this yesterday. The importance of focusing on the guy at the plate so that it doesn’t turn into 5, 6 runs give up.
I must be missing something……..I’m getting bits and pieces of conversations about the pine tar game and about Phil, but I feel like I’m missing half the conversations, lol
Carl, I can’t find the interview…….
Betsy,
Right side under the Advertisement.
http://msn.foxsports.com/video.....8;fg=gtlv2
NVM here’s the link.
Carl, thanks! Great interview – I can’t believe how low key Alex is…….
Betsy,
I agree!
Good night Yankee people!
Good night Erica!
The Yankees are better base stealers than the Angels, by far.
Take the Yankee’s stolen bases (111 SB, 28 CS (80%)). The Yankees would have to attempt 72 more stolen bases, and get thrown out 35 times (51% success rate for the additional attempts), to equal the Angels’ stolen base efforts (148 SB, 63 CS (70%).
The Angels are better at other aspects of base running, but not at stealing bases.
Anyone else want Cervelli in there instead of Molina? Better ops (.682 vs .560 in 2009) and better in 2009 at throwing out base stealers (44% vs 28%).
MattNc,
Angels are an aggressive team and they are not afraid to take the extra base when the opportunity arises and they are not worried in giving an out if they get caught..
Even though their CS % is more, the no. of attempts they made is the most except for Tampa Rays..
There are no stats for hit and runs , hitting in the hole or errors incurred in stolen bases/pick offs or getting from 1st to 3rd. These are the things that the Angels are good in doing.. Productive outs, situational hitting etc..
Angels lead the american league in productive outs with 37%.. yanks were in th bottom half with 31%…
Angels also had the highest base runner scoring %…
Angels had 300 lesser base runners with batter at plate and still had 30 more base runners score than the yanks..
It’s simple really…the angels aren’t better on the base paths than the yanks:
Yankees: 111/139 SB, 80%
Angels: 148/211 SB, 70%
Stats don’t lie