| Ryan Bolta. 2nd April, 2007 - 11:03 am
 Many prognosticators have the Angels coming out on top in the AL West. That will become a daunting task if they can’t keep their star players, and many of their role players, out of sickbay. The Angels will start the year with five regulars, including former Cy-Young Winner Bartolo Colon, and last year’s rookie stud Jered Weaver, on the DL.
The pitching staff is anchored by John Lackey and Ervin Santana. With Colon and Weaver healthy the Angels were expected to be right alongside the Boston Red Sox for the best rotation in the American League. In Weaver, they lose a young arm that went 11-2 last year with a 2.56 ERA and miniscule 1.03 WHIP. Losing him to right biceps tendonitis at such a young age is worrisome to Angels management, and will vastly affect the number of innings he will be able to throw even when he does return. And, though Colon did not pitch up to his standards last season, he is just one year removed from a 21-win campaign.
In the outfield, the Angels arguably have the deepest depth chart in the majors, but they will be put to the test. Five-tool fantasy stud Chone Figgins was placed on the DL with two broken fingers on his right hand and Juan Rivera’s .310 BA 23 HR and 85 RBI will be missed as he is out for an extended period of time with a broken left leg. This leaves a lot of pressure placed squarely on the shoulders of Vladimir Guerrero, to start the season he will be placed in an outfield with the aging Garret Anderson, and free agent signing Gary Matthews Jr. who is surrounded by performance enhancing speculation.
The infield loses some depth as Dallas McPherson is out long term due to his recovery from back surgery. Beyond SS Orlando Cabrera, the Angels have a very young group with Casey Kotchman, Howie Kendrick and one of Robb Quinlan or Macier Izturis rounding out the infield.
The fortunate thing for the Angels is they were projected as a favourite in the American League, and specifically the AL West because of their depth. If they can handle the months of April and May with any success, look for the them to make a run when they get their line-up back to 100%. |
