It’s been awhile, but I’m finally updating this. I’ve had a ton of other stuff going on. Anyway…
The return of Brandon Wood! Is this the time when he finally gets a fair shot? We’ve got middle infielders dropping like flies. Izturis is done for the season. Kendrick hurt his hamstring AGAIN, and if you remember, he was out for a long time earlier this season. There’s a distinct possibility that he’ll be out until the playoffs roll around. Aybar hurt his hamstring as well, but we don’t know how bad it is. He might just be day-to-day.
So what are our options? Sean Rodriguez can play second, but he looks out of his element at the plate. I didn’t think I’d ever see someone swing farther over breaking balls than Jeff Mathis, but Rodriguez can do it. If Aybar is healthy, I say put Aybar at second. If not, put Figgins there and let Quinlan play third. Rodriguez needs to calm down before he can hit major league pitching.
So what about shortstop? Enter Mr. Wood. The guy’s hit 31 HR’s in the AAA this season. He’s OPSed .970. Unlike Rodriguez, whose minor league career has been pretty up and down, Wood has hit at every level, just with a ton of strikeouts. According to Physioc, Hatcher’s been working with him on his pitch recognition, and even though it’s a miniscule sample size, his at bats did look better last night than I’ve seen in the past. His defense isn’t spectacular, but scouts have said he has great instincts to make up for his subpar range.
The bottom line? There’s absolutely no downside to starting Wood, at least while Kendrick is out. You get the chance to rest Aybar if he needs it. You get the chance to see what he can do on a daily basis. The Angels have been criticized for their handling of him to this point, and I think it’s a very fair criticism. With a guy like Wood, you have to put him in the lineup every day for a month and see what he can do against major league pitching. Starting him every third game isn’t going to help him at all. The Angels have a 16 game lead and one player doesn’t make THAT much of a difference, especially considering the other options the Angels could throw out there.
Scioscia: Start Brandon Wood. Start him every day for the next 3 weeks. There’s always the chance that he plays so well, he earns a spot on the October lineup. This lineup (assuming Wood is hitting well) looks pretty darn good to me:
1 Figgins
2 Kendrick
3 Teixeira
4 Vladdy
5 Hunter
6 Anderson
7 Wood
8 Rivera
9 Napoli
You’re looking at a lineup where seven guys have the pop to hit 20 HR’s in a season. The other two? Figgins is an OBP machine and Kendrick hits so many doubles, it doesn’t matter than he doesn’t hit homeruns. Let him play, Sosh.
2 comments:
i would put Wood at third, Figgins and 2nd, and Aybar at short if Aybar is healthy enough to play... always go with your best athlete at SS homie!
Yeah, that would work too. As long as Wood gets the playing time, that's fine with me.
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