Yardbarker: Joe Saunders

Weekend Preview: Red Sox @ Angels

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 13:44:45 -0500

Buchholz v Lackey... Beckett v Saunders... and Wakefield v Weaver... possible ALDS preview... ???

Mid Season Report

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:54:07 -0500

The first half of the 2008 Major League Baseball season has been full of surprises, from the Tigers to the Rays to the Padres to the Braves. Most surprising of all, at least to the Phillies faithful, is that at the All Star break the Phillies were in first place atop the National League East. The Phillies are currently a half a game ahead of the Mets and one a half games up on the Marlins. Lets go through the majors and recap the season so far. AL East Perhaps the biggest story in the majors this year is the surprising play of the Tampa Bay Rays, who at the break were just half a game behind the first place Red Sox, and that's with a seven game losing streak. The Rays have been bolstered by one of the most talented young lineups in the majors in years, as well as some timely defense and a great, young rotation led by ace Scott Kazmir. They are definitely the Cinderella, the darlings of the 2008 season, much to the chagrin to their division rivals the Red Sox. Boston fans are upset that some of the media focus and the limelight has been diverted from their beloved Sox. The reigning champs continue to be one of the best teams in baseball, despite losing pitcher Curt Schilling for the year (and perhaps for good) and a decline in production from slugger David Ortiz (including a stint on the disabled list). It looks like this could be the first time in years that the New York Yankees won't make the playoffs. They currently sit six games back of Boston and it just looks like there is too much talent in Tampa and Boston for the Yanks to make up enough ground. That being said, I am loathe to ever count the Yankees out of anything. Red Sox win division. If it wasn't for the Rays, the debacle in the AL Central would be the biggest story of the season. The Tigers, whom I picked to win the World Series, are a disappointing .500 on the season. Even more surprising, the Indians are in last place, 12 games under .500. The Chicago White Sox are sitting pretty atop the Central at 14 games over .500, led by 10 game winner, and former Phillie, Gavin Floyd. Erratic closer Bobby Jenks, despite being on the DL, has 18 saves with a 1.95 ERA. On offense, the White Sox have a tandem of heavy hitting outfielders in Jermaine Dye and Carlos Quentin. I have to admit, I'm not overly impressed by the White Sox. In large part, I think they have overachieved so far this season. I think they will come back to earth, which will leave an opening for the Minnesota Twins to step in and take the division. The Twins, led by first baseman Justin Morneau, DH Jason Kubel, and catcher Joe Mauer, are right on the tail of the White Sox, just a game and a half back, and with star pitcher Francisco Liriano waiting in the wings of AAA, the Twins are poised to move into the post Santana era. Twins win the division. AL West Until the Texas Rangers find someone who can pitch (Vicente Padilla currently leads the team in wins with 10), the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are the prohibitive favorites to win the division for years to come. The Rangers can hit, led by the top individual story of the year Josh Hamilton, Ian Kinsler and Milton Bradley, but their pitching is a joke. They boast a rotation of Kevin Millwood, Padilla, Jamey Wright and Kason Gabbard. Until they can get at least one pitcher, they could have all the offense in the world, they still won't be able to compete with Los Angeles. The Angels' pitching rotation, which boasts John Lackey, Ervin Santana, Joe Saunders and Jered Weaver, not to mention closer Francisco Rodriguez who is on pace to shatter the single season saves record, is arguably the best in the majors. Their offense, while not being the power heavy lineup that Texas or Boston has, plays small ball like no other team in the majors. The obvious offensive leader is Vladimir Guerrero, accompanied by Torii Hunter. But the offense works so well because of intelligent baseball guy like Chone Figgins, Howie Kendrick, and Garret Anderson. The Oakland Athletics have basically traded themselves out of contention and the Seattle Mariners have the worst record in baseball. Needless to say, Angels win the division. I think the Rays win the AL Wild card this year. They are too talented to fall behind the likes of the White Sox or Rangers. In the end however, the Red Sox have too much experience and skill to be taken down. They beat the Angels to go on to the World Series. NL West Many commentators are calling this the NL Worst, and it's hard to argue with that. After starting out red hot, division leading Arizona is now one game below .500. That's right. The division leader has a losing record. Need I say more? The reigning NL Champion Colorado Rockies are fourth in the division with a record of 39-57, topped only by the San Diego Padres, an incomprehensible 37-58. The Dodgers are one game back of the Diamondbacks, trailed by the San Francisco Giants in third place. This division is a crapshoot at this point, but the Diamondbacks' pitching, led by Brandon Webb and Dan Haren is just too good and the offense is not going to continue to struggle in the mighty fashion it has over the past month or so. With up and coming stars like Mark Reynolds, Conor Jackson and Chris Young, the Diamondbacks are going to eventually right their ship. Arizona wins the division. NL Central This is the best division in baseball. The Cubs are tied with the Angels for the best record in baseball. Four and a half games behind them are the Cardinals, with the Brewers just a half game behind them. All three of these teams are going to be better in the second half. The Cubs traded for Rich Harden last week, and the Brewers added reigning AL Cy Young Award winner CC Sabathia. The Cardinals are getting ready for the return of Adam Wainwright and former Cy Young Chris Carpenter. Both pitchers are aces on almost any other team in the majors. The Cubs and Brewers already have bona fide aces on their teams in Carlos Zambrano and Ben Sheets, respectively. This is, without a doubt, the toughest division in baseball in some time. I think the Cubs are ultimately the most complete team in the league, and certainly the division. Now let me just say, here and now, there is no way Ryan Dempster continues to pitch this well. He just isn't this good. He will come back down to earth. But even with The Dumpster coming back to reality, the Cubs are bolstered by some serviceable pitching in Ted Lilly and Jason Marquis, in addition to Zambrano and Harden. On offense, the Cubs' lineup reads like it's very own All Star roster, led by Derek Lee, Alfonso Soriano, Aramis Ramirez, and Geovany Soto. Cubs win the division. NL East The Phillies came into today with a half game lead over the Mets. The Marlins sit just one game behind the Mets. It is a division up for grabs to say the least. The Marlins boast a talented, young roster rivaled by only Tampa Bay and Arizona. Led by Hanley Ramirez, Mike Jacobs, Dan Uggla and Josh Willingham, they have an offense that puts the in a position to win every night. That being said, their pitching is thin, with Ricky Nolasco leading the team with 10 wins and a 3.70 ERA. The Braves are most likely looking to scrap this year and go into rebuilding mood, if only temporarily. First baseman Mark Teixeira is a free agent at the end of this year and chances are that the Braves are going to move him before the trade deadline. Their pitching is pretty banged up, and old. John Smoltz, Tom Glavine and Mike Hampton are all currently on the disabled list. Not to mention that they are six and a half games out of first place. The Mets pose the biggest threat to the Phillies' playoff hopes. Winners of nine straight coming into the break, the Mets are batting .320 as a team during that time. They also only gave up a total of 19 runs over the same span. They are hot, no doubt, led by Carlos Delgado, Carlos Beltran, and Fernando Tatis. But therein lies the problem for the Mets. They have been winning in large part as a result of the contributions of usual bench players like Tatis, Endy Chavez, and Damion Easley. The Mets' pitching is also suspect after you get past Johan Santana and John Maine, neither of whom have been stellar this season. After having a impressive season last year, Oliver Perez is 6-5 with a 4.44 ERA. His record is somewhat deceiving, as he has been wildly inconsistent this year. Pedro Martinez continues to battle being really old. Originally set to return this week, his next start is being skipped. I just don't think the Mets have the talent to overcome a Phils team with a much more potent offense and what could end up being a more stable pitching rotation. The Phillies acquired Joe Blanton from the Athletics Thursday, and while Blanton has not had much of a year so far this season (5-12, 4.96 ERA), he has show some real talent and a change of location could be all he needs to break out. More importantly, the addition of Blanton means that Adam Eaton is out of the starting rotation. Brett Myers is progressing nicely in AAA and is set to return to face the Mets on July 23rd. JA Happ threw a no hitter today in his minor league start and it is only a matter of time before he is brought up to the major leagues for good. The biggest cause for concern for the Mets is that the Phils' struggles have in large part been due to a lack of offense. This coming from one of the most offensively talented teams in the league. Jimmy Rollins, Chasey Utley and Geoff Jenkins are eventually going to turn things around. Ryan Howard continues to lead the league in home runs and RBIs. Pat Burrell is going to eclipse his usual 30 home runs and 100 RBIs. And that's without the possible addition of another bat, like Matt Holliday or Jason Bay. I say this with the caveat that I generally have no faith in the Phillies in ever winning anything, and at the risk of tempting fate, I pick the Phillies to win the division. I pick the Brewers to win the NL Wild Card this year. I'm going to be very cliche and pick the Cubs to win the NL Pennant over the Brewers. I think unless the Phillies add a serious starting pitcher, ala Erik Bedard, they are not going to be able to compete with the Brewers in the playoffs. That will bring us to the ESPN's ultimate dream, a Red Sox Cubs World Series. Bristol could fawn all over the lovable losers from Chicago and Boston. Seriously though, just thinking about it makes me want to throw up. Boston wins, again. (Just threw up again) Should be a very exciting second half. Continue to check out Hot Stove Philly as we bring you all the latest scores, trades, rumors, and general sports drama.

Experiencing the All Star Game

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 19:11:40 -0500

I'd be lying if I told you I wasn't a little disappointed that I got hurt early in the season. If I had stayed healthy who knows maybe I'd be at the All Star Game with my teammates. There is no doubt that New York is a special environment. Every living Hall of Famer is there so there is no doubt the atmosphere is sweet. It is going to be a great experience. I told our guys, especially Joe and Ervin to just take it all in, get to all the parties and have fun. It's their first time and I'm sure they're enjoying it. I had a great time last year. San Francisco did a great job. It was funny because Frankie and I got booed when they introduced us because of the World Series stuff. There is a lot more to the All Star game than you think, especially when it is your first time. They had this entire room filled with stuff for all of us to sign for sponsors, for other players, for charity - it took two days to get through it all. They have you doing something all the time so there really isn't much time for yourself. They definitely keep you busy. The homerun derby was cool, but the best part is meeting guys from the other teams. You compete against these guys but you don't really know what they're like off the field. When I got there Manny came across the clubhouse and gave me a big hug like we'd been friends for ever. It really caught me off guard, but he was a cool guy. Getting to know all those guys was great.

Actual AL Cy Young Odds

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 19:03:39 -0500

From Bodog.

Andy Pettitte, 50:1
Pettitte is actually one of the better longshots here. With 10 wins, he is only two behind Lee and Saunders. The problem is that he also has seven losses, and his ERA are over 4 (with his peripherals supporting about that level). 50:1 seems about right for him.

Cliff Lee, 9:2
I actually put Lee at exactly this price a few weeks ago. For him, not all that much had changed. Your AL All-Star starter has a good shot of being the best pitcher in the league, but the other factors that help you win a Cy Young--a good team record, a good bullpen, and a good offense--aren't exactly in his favor.

Ervin Santana, 13:2
It's interesting to see that Santana, with a higher ERA and fewer wins, has lower odds than Saunders. This makes sense, of course, since Santana has the peripherals to support his current stats, while Saunders does not. Santana is probably the third favorite at this point, and is priced accordingly.

Joe Saunders, 10:1
I would have him a little higher--probably somewhere between 12:1 and 15:1--but after factoring in juice, this makes sense. No value here.

John Danks, 20:1
Danks is actually fourth among AL pitchers in VORP, but only has seven wins. He would have to have a ridiculous second half to accumulate enough Ws to be considered.

John Lackey, 25:1
Lackey has gotten wins in six of his 11 starts, and has a 2.47 ERA. If he hadn't missed six weeks, he might be the favorite. As it stands, he has a lot of catching up to do. He's not completely out of it, but he obviously has a lot of catching up to do. Probably not a lot of value at 25:1.

Jon Lester, 20:1
Lester didn't make the All-Star team because he's only 7-3, and he's not a real Cy Young contender for the same reason. He had a nice first half, with a 3.38 ERA, but is due for some regression, as his strikeout, walk, and GB ratios are only average.

Josh Beckett, 12:1
He could stand to get some more ground balls, but Beckett has actually had a really good year, with a 107:24 K:BB ratio in 112 innings. He is probably the fifth most likely to win the award, so 12:1 makes sense.

Justin Duchscherer, 9:2
He really got screwed yesterday. He has been getting lucky all year though, with a .213 BABIP and a 4.8% HR/FB ratio. His QERA is 4.40, which is right around his PECOTA projection. He's got a shot, but he certainly doesn't deserve to be priced right with Lee and Halladay.

Mariano Rivera, 6:1
I don't really understand this at all. Why is he here and not K-Rod? I get that Mariano has a low ERA, and hasn't blown a save, but this is ridiculous. He only has 23 saves, and he has three losses. And I don't care how good his K:BB ratio is (50:4), if the Yankees don't make the playoffs, he's got no chance.

Mike Mussina, 20:1
This is about right. 11 wins and a decent ERA. Not exactly a thrilling candidacy, but he's in the mix. Mussina also might get some points for the 250 wins he recorded prior to this year. His best Cy Young finish was second, in 1999 (although it wasn't exactly close).

Roy Halladay, 5:1
I think this is too high. What's not to like? 11-6 so far, with a 2.71 ERA. Best QERA in the league, at 3.07. Best FIP, at 2.86. Most innings, with 146.1. An outrageous amount of ground balls (56%). 121:21 K:BB ratio. And a very good track record prior to this season. All that, and he's priced below Justin Duchscherer? The only problem is Toronto's offense, which isn't exactly a juggernaut. Even so, if there's value in any of these, I think it's with Halladay.

Field, 9:2
This includes Matsuzaka, Kazmir, King Felix, Gavin Floyd, and of course K-Rod. I'm not sure why some of those guys aren't listed while Lester and Danks are, but I also don't think 9:2 is particularly high for that group.

Bodog also has odds on the NL Cy Young, and the MVP in both leagues.

All-Star '08: The Final Recall

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 21:15:26 -0500

Every year, MLB.com makes a big production "The Final Vote", letting the fans pick the 32nd man on the All-Star team in each league. But arguing about who got snubbed is really only half the fun of All-Star debates. With that in mind, I thought BBTF commenter "DKDC" had a great idea when he suggested that we vote one player off each team, too. You can now do just that in All Star '08: The Final Recall.

Below I've listed the six eligible players in each league, along with a brief summary of their candidacies. Unlike The Final Vote, you may only vote once in The Final Recall. Unless you can get past the cookies, in which case you can vote as many time as you please.

Joe Crede, CHW: On-base percentage of only .333. Zero triples. Has grounded into nine double plays. 0/3 in stolen base attempts.
Dustin Pedroia, BOS: OBP down 25 points from last year; also not as gritty. Zero intentional walks. Has grounded into eight double plays.
Joe Saunders, LAA: Not actually good; mostly a product of good defense and luck. 63 Ks in 120.3 IP. Zero shutouts.
George Sherrill, BAL: Was the third best player traded for Erik Bedard. 22 walks in 38.2 innings. ~~Five~~ Six blown saves.
Ichiro Suzuki, SEA: .068 ISO. Plays for the Mariners. May be drunk during game.
Jason Varitek, BOS: See here. Has grounded into 10 double plays. Having caught four no-hitters does not make you an All-Star.

Aaron Cook, COL: Has allowed 141 hits and struck out only 64 in 132.2 innings. Plays in a division which is the rough equivalent of AA.
Kosuke Fukudome, CHC: 65 strikeouts, only seven home runs. Has not actually caused his teammates to walk more, despite what you may read.
Cristian Guzman, WAS: 15:7 GIDP:BB ratio, which is not good. 3/6 in SB attempts. Team is rapidly approaching having a 0% chance of reaching postseason.
Alfonso Soriano, CHC: Has played in 51 games. OBP of only .332. Has 191 fewer PAs than Jose Reyes.
Miguel Tejada, HOU: Hitting .207/.262/.333 in last 45 games. Grounded into 11 double plays. Unsure of his actual age. Hitting .243/.294/.378 on the road.
Brian Wilson, SF: 16 walks in 35 innings. 97 ERA+. 131st among NL pitchers in VORP.

Voting will be open until Monday at 4pm EST.

Harrison Dominates Major League Debut As Rangers Top Angels, 3-2

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 14:42:16 -0500

One of the five players acquired by the Texas Rangers in the blockbuster July 2007 Mark Teixeira trade, 22-year-old southpaw Matt Harrison left his mark on the first-place Angels on Tuesday night.

Capps Down and Out

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:54:22 -0500

Matt Capps is out for 2 months leaving a void in the Pittsburgh bullpen. Clayton Kershaw also gets sent down to the minors while Jay Bruce is making a comeback in performance.

Breaking Down The Wagerline Numbers: June

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 23:34:05 -0500

I did this for April/May, and thought it was worth doing again. This time the discrepancies we'll see are based more on actual results, rather than preseason perceptions.

I'm skipping right past the average percentages, and straight to the adjusted ones. The line on the game explains about 63% of the variation of which team the public is going to bet on, so any unadjusted list is just going to include lots of bad pitchers on one end, and studs on the other.

First, June's most undervalued starters; the guys who have gotten significantly less public backing than we'd expect from their game lines (min. 5 June starts):

Bedard's reputation has taken an extremely sharp downturn; I guess that's what happens when you get traded to Seattle. A year ago he struck out 15 Rangers in one game, and was on his way to putting together 5/6 of a Cy Young campaign before getting injured. At the beginning of last month, he was 4-4 with a 4.47 ERA. That drop in the perception of him caused the above gap, and he's actually been quite good in his last five starts (1.82 ERA). Of course, with that offense behind him, the Mariners are only 3-2 in those games.

Some of these are pretty standard; Harang and Jimenez are pitchers who have been significantly better than their record would indicate. Billingsley is 8-7 now, but that's because he's won his las four starts. It's unlikely there will be value in betting on him, and his 9.3 K/9, for long, so enjoy it while it last, until people catch on.

Joba is a surprise here. It's possible that he is so overhyped that pretty much everybody realizes it, and they forget that he's actually pretty damn good. He needs to get the walks down, but in 35 innings as a starter, he's struck out 37 and allowed just one home run.

It's not entirely clear why Hamels was undervalued, as the ace of a team with one of the best records in baseball. I suppose he was only 5-4 with a 3.73 ERA through the first two months, but that's not exactly awful. I guess that's kind of the point, though.

Here are the most overvalued, based on the opposite criteria:

Despite allowing 12 homers and striking out just 24 in his first 59.1 innings, Byrd had a 4.10 ERA through the first two months. People saw right through that, and they've been rewarded, as he has a 7.85 ERA and a stellar 15:11 K:HR ratio since. I would advise any GMs considering trading for him to ignore the previous two sentences, and instead recall this dominance.

Saunders is a good candidate to be high on this list again in July; he's 12-4 with a 3.04 ERA, yet his FIP is 4.50, barely better than the 4.92 PECOTA had him at coming into the year. The two other Angels are in the same boat, if to a lesser extent, as their records aren't nearly as gaudy, and their ERAs aren't as unsustainably low.

There's not much more to be said about Floyd; 6.0 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, 40% GB%. His ERA is one of the more impressive flukes of the first half.

Now, the most underappreciated teams:

On June 1, these five teams were a combined 116-171, good for an impressive .404 W%. Obviously, not many people were all that interested in betting on them at that point. They've slightly improved since, winning at a .428 clip, but not by much.

Finally, the most overrated teams:

Again, no surprises here. The Angels are way ahead of the pack; that'll happen when you're 10 games over .500 despite outscoring your opponents by only five runs in the first two months.

The Cubs and Red Sox are no strangers to 'overrated' lists, and the hot starts of the White Sox and Cardinals caused them to be overvalued by the general public. Notable in their absence are the Yankees. That's partially because they're in third place, but they also don't seem to have any particular pitchers that the public gets extremely excited about.

A team to watch for in the coming months is everybody's current darlings, Milwaukee. Part of it is the addition of Sabathia, who people are obviously very excited about, but, as MoneyLine pointed out today, there also seems to be a residual effect. Sabathia is good, yes, but it's unclear why 74% of people jumped on the Seth McClung bandwagon on Monday night.

All data taken from Wagerline.

Angel All-star picks amazingly make sense

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:43:42 -0500

Spencer Kyte already pointed out how ridiculous many of the All-Star picks were, but when it came to which Angels were selected, they actually picked the right ones. Ervin Santana, Joe Saunders and Francisco Rodriguez have all had amazing seasons — and they got picked. (John Lackey's been great too, but he missed some time due [...]

Angels in the All Star Game

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 10:04:58 -0500

The All-Star teams were announced yesterday, and three Angels, all pitchers, made it: Joe Saunders, Ervin Santana, and Frankie Rodriguez. All three are great choices and you can't say that any of the three didn't deserve to be there. John Lackey didn't make it this year, but he's having an All-Star caliber season so far. But still, I don't think he deserved to make it because he missed six weeks and because the competition this year for starting pitcher was so intense. In any other year, he makes it. I also have to point out that Joe Saunders should be starting the All-Star game. Yes, Cliff Lee has a lower ERA, but Joe has more wins, and Cliff Lee blew his last chance to get 12 yesterday when he lost to the Twins. As far as position players, I don't think any Angel should have made it except Vladimir Guerrero. Three outfielders in particular, one up for the final vote, bug me: Carlos Quentin, Grady Sizemore, and Jose Guillen(up for the final vote). Vlad has a higher average than all three, but for Quentin and Sizemore, it's acceptable because their power numbers are substantially better. But Vlad, in 7 fewer games, has more runs, homers, walks, and fewer strikeouts, as well as a higher BA, on-base percentage, slugging, and OPS than Guillen. Why isn't Vlad up for that last spot?

Who has the most All0stars

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 21:15:30 -0500

There has been debate about who should vote for the All-star teams but in the end, the teams usually end up equally, even if the AL team always wins. This year's voting has been filled with late overtakings including the young wiz kid Ryan Braun overtaking Ken Griffey Jr. This year there are two teams tied for most All-stars at seven, one team having a great season and the other having a somewhat disappointing season currently in second place.

Who has the most All0stars

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 21:15:30 -0500

2008 American League All-Star Roster: Flubs and Snubs

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 16:00:19 -0500

The 2008 MLB All-Star rosters were announced today. The All-Star Game will be played on July 15, 2008 at Yankee Stadium, with the league winner securing home field advantage in the World Series. We'll take a look at these rosters, and pick them apart - Who doesn't deserve to go? Who got the snub? Because we know most of our readers likely suffer from ADD, we'll do this in two parts. This article will address the American League roster, and later we'll address the National League roster. So here's how the AL roster looks.......

Wake Up Baseball Fans! & Get A Clue!

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 11:10:50 -0500

The hell people? I don't have many post but I like to write something when I am pissed off at the baseball world. I mean, open your eyes America's baseball fans and realize that the Angels have the best pitching staff in baseball, 3 worthy All Star starters and nobody comes close to Frank Rodriguez. (He should be closing). That's right All Star Starters in Ervin Santana, Joe Saunders and John Lackey. With the exception of Lackey I'll bet no one's even heard of Santana & Saunders. Need I say that Saunders 12- 4 is tied for the lead in wins in all of baseball? Santana is 9 – 3, Lackey 5 – 0 in June with 1.44 that's ridiculous & sick! He missed the first part of the season cuz of injury, you don't come back from injury and dominate like Lackey has, that just not human, he's a machine, hell all three of them are machines. What about Franky? Damn! 34 saves? WAKE UP BASEBALL WORLD, 34 saves, its July 3rd for Barking out loud! What, is he gonna get 70 saves this year. And don't even get me going on Kotchman. Kocthman 2 errors in 699.1 innings are you joking! Is kotch even on the All Start Ballot?(He is but with hardly any votes) But no you the American brain washed baseball fans are like robots and will vote for the usual – or what ESPN will lead you to believe should be their Jeter, Giambi, Edgar Renteria? David Oritz? (Isn't he hurt? Missed the last 2 months or something?) Does any give a crap about fielding and great plays? I guess if you don't hit the long ball or ESPN doesn't give you love then America's Baseball fans won't really see who is the best…. GO HALOS! Out, Kb

Big Joe Saunders

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:50:44 -0500

How big has Joe Saunders been? 11 wins, tops in the Majors. I remember last year when he was sent down and I told him he'd be back soon and he'd be back for good. Well, he's here and he's been huge. He has more experience under his belt and has really settled into his role. He was up and down from the minors in the past because of our pitching depth, not for a lack of talent by any means. With Escobar and myself our early this year, he knew he could relax and go out every fifth day and do his job. He has learned how to be a professional and he's got ice water in his veins, never gets rattled. He prepares well for each start and his command has been spot on. He watches video, studies hitters and asks a lot of questions. Mostly, he has learned what is takes to be successful at this level. He keeps us in every game and has figured out how to be efficient with his pitches to last deeper into the game. He's been amazing and so has Santana. They have both stepped up big time. It's no secret that pitching has been the foundation for the Angels' success. In order for this team to get where we want, the pitching has to be up to par. Guys definitely feed off each other when there is success. Its been cool to see these guys match each other start after start. Santana goes again tonight - let's keep it rollin'