Angels 6 .....
Devo Swag - for all your meltdown needs. Coming to an M's team store near you
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=== Blake Beavan ===
Dr. D throughly admired his moxie and his command. And he caught Prince Albert with a couple of early-count changeups. Tonight he threw the ball well, by his standards. He executed pitches just about as well as he can execute them.
Watching batters with 53 OPS+'s pop the ball up, and watching Albert Pujols whack the ball out of the park, a sudden thought occurred. I wonder if Blake Beavan's unusually good at catching rabbits, and unusually susceptible to being trampled by elephants.
The "here it is, hit it" 91 fastball on 2-1 leads to batted-ball outs against AAA players and against Alberto Callaspo. Has anybody ever checked Beavan against dangerous hitters?
It's a thought. At BJOL there has been a discussion about historical "bully" pitchers -- Don Drysdale actually did pitch unusually well against weak teams, with no pressure on, and tended to wilt against good teams, with pressure on. I think he was 0-13 or something against Juan Marichal.
Beavan doesn't have a bully personality; he's a courageous man. I wonder (w-o-n-d-e-r) if his "show me" attitude stands up to the scrutiny of, say, a Yankee lineup or, say, 100 starts in the majors.
One strikeout tonight.
=== Tom Wilhelmsen ===
Did the heavy lifting for League on Friday. He rocked Mike Trout's world with a [12-6 Curve, 98-MPH] fastball left and right.
This forced his plan through: there were two out, nobody on for Prince Albert. Capt. Insano battled gamely through to a harmless walk. He then retired Kendrys Morales easily on an 0-1 topped groundout.
Nobody noticed that Wilhelmsen had done exactly the same thing for League in League's "save" against Texas. Wilhelmsen fought the heart of the Texas order hammer and tongs, saving the game in the 8th inning ... then League the Titled Magic Closer crept in to face the #7, #8, and #9 hitters there. The first batter crushed a fastball right at an outfielder, though League did retire the #8 and #9 hitters routinely with the PSI gauge down to exactly zero.
Naturally, the TV crew proclaimed League "BACK!" after that sham outing in Texas. Dr. D looked on forlornly. He knew better.
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=== Brandon League ===
SSI has consistently argued that the intersection of (A) League's telegraphed pitches and (B) League's wildness gives a recipe for --- > guaranteed pain and anguish.
I'm glad to re-visit that periodically. Things change. Maybe this diagnosis is no longer in order? Let's visit it again tonight. What actually happened out there? :: ticks list off on his fingers ::
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1) League came in, to face the bottom of the Angels' lineup, with the body language of a man facing an amputation. Without whiskey.
2) League's first pitch was a telegraphed fastball, of course, and Mark Trumbo (who averages 38 walks and 161 strikeouts per season) leisurely whacked it into center for a clean single.
3) League, fighting his command all the way, walked Alberto Callaspo. Alberto Callaspo has a 63 OPS+.
4) League made a fielding error. Because you couldn't have pulled a needle out of his lips with a tractor.
5) League's first pitch to Erick Aybar ... OPS+ 53 ... was a telegraphed fastball whacked into center field for the game winner.
.........
Hm. I'm going to go with "Yep."
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After the game, Wedge says he has no choice. League's the closer. There's nobody else down there.
Hesitation will make your worst nightmares Come. True. Dr D cheerfully invites anybody to explain to him, in one-syllable words so he can understand it, how a "rissssky, Gollum, rissssky" April promotion of Steven Pryor and Carter Capps could have
RESULTED IN ANYTHING WORSE THAN THIS !!!
.
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