SB Nation - Jose Arredondo

Is Jose Arredondo Angels Trade Bait With Latest Malfeasance?

Rev Halofan — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 01:29:23 -0000

More photos » by Chris Pizzello - AP

3 months ago: Los Angeles Angels pitcher Jose Arredondo, right, celebrates with catcher Mike Napoli after recording the last out of their 7-1 win over the Chicago White Sox in an MLB baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Friday, Sept. 11, 2009. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

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The OC Register has a feature on Angels reliever Jose Arredondo and it is not pretty.

Read Bill Plunkett's BIG exposé about it.

When Arredondo was left off the postseaosn roster, he was told to go to the Angels' camp in Arizona to work out in case he was needed as a call up becuse of injury, or was selected in between playoff rounds to be added.

Instead he went home to the Dominican Republic. Basically, that is the best way to get your name on the top of your team's sheet list.

The problem for the Angels is that this is far from an isolated incident. Arredondo has a history of insubordination, outbursts and disestablishmentarianism in the decidedly antidisestablishmentarianist vocation of professional baseball. He stormed off a mound in the minors, is rumored to have cussed out coaches in spanglish and had the worst haircut in the major leagues in 2008. On top of all that (and rumors of much more swept under the carpet and away from nosy bloggers) he pretty much stunk in 2009 to render that 11-Win relief season in '08 a distant memory.

But wouldn't he look good in Blue Jay powder blue?

Jason Bulger Stiff Shoulder Scrambles Angels Bullpen Roster

Rev Halofan — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 04:31:52 -0000

More photos » by Chris Carlson - AP

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Jason Bulger was pulled early from Saturday's game when he complained of a Shoulder tightness to Angels pitching coach Mike Butcher. There is no word on whether or not he will be added to the postseason roster.

The Bullpen is easily the Angels biggest question mark headed into the postseason. Bulger was an integral part of the late inning relief corps.

Without Bulger, the Angels Bullpen Depth looks lke this:

Brian Fuentes: Closer

Kevin Jepsen: 8th / 9th

Darren Oliver: 7th / 8th / Lefty Situational

And then the ambiguities form: Ervin Santana will be called in if a starting pitcher falters, traditionally the role of Matt Palmer this season. Palmer may get a more important role and his 2 shutout innings on Saturday illustrate his effectiveness. Sean O'Sullivan could be a possibility and threw out of the pen the other day quite effectively.

A four man rotation and the six pitchers listed here leave room for other relievers, none of whom should get you too excited: Jose Arredondo, Trevor Bell, Rafael Rodriguez and Rich Thompson should only get the ball in the postseason with ten-run leads or 8-run deficits.

Poll

ALDS, 7th inning, Angels ahead by one run, Oliver just pitched the 6th, Bulger unavailable, Jepsen/Fuentes the obvious choice for the 8th/9th... who you gonna call?

Another inning from Cousin Oliver

144 votes

Magic Matt Palmer

175 votes

Black Magic Ervin Santana

392 votes

Ghostbusters

79 votes

790 votes | Poll has closed

Holly Madison - Angels Good Luck Charm?: Thursday Halolinks

WiHaloFan — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 14:48:04 -0000

More photos » by Chris Carlson - AP

Actress Holly Madison from the reality show "The Girls Next Door" waves at Rev Halofan before throwing out the first pitch in Anaheim, Calif., Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

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Holly Madison threw out the first pitch at the Angels game Wednesday night and the Angels' pitchers tossed a 1-hit shutout. Coincidence or do we have a Rally Hottie on our hands?

Up next for Angels: Thursday vs. Texas -- latimes.com
Lackey will make his final regular-season start.
John Lackey vs. Kevin Millwood.

Choir of Angels pitchers one-hits Texas -- latimes.com
There will be few relievers in the playoffs with as impressive credentials as a starter as Matt Palmer's. The Angels right-hander capped an improbable regular season with his final and perhaps most memorable start Wednesday night at Angel Stadium, uniting with four relievers for a combined one-hitter during a 5-0 victory over Texas.Palmer, Darren Oliver, Jose Arredondo, Kevin Jepsen and Rafael Rodriguez gave the Angels their first combined one-hitter since July 27, 2004, against Texas.

Team Reports - CBSSports.com
Setting the rotation for next week's Division Series against the Boston Red Sox is the Angels' main priority as the regular season winds down, manager Mike Scioscia said. "There's a lot of things we're considering," Scioscia said. "Number one is going to be setting our rotation. I think that's always the most important thing to do. Then you try to anticipate some depth issues that might come up in games. "But number one is definitely setting your rotation."

Rangers-Angels Preview - FOX Sports on MSN
Los Angeles looks to win its fifth straight Thursday night when it closes a four-game series with the Texas Rangers.

Team Reports II - CBSSports.com
1B Kendry Morales was chosen as the Angels' MVP by his teammates and received the award before Wednesday's game. Morales leads the Angels in home runs (33), RBI (105) and slugging percentage (.563), ranking among the AL leaders in each of those categories.

Weaver wins the Adenhart Award - MLB.com: Multimedia
Jered Weaver wins the Nick Adenhardt Award for top pitcher as voted by his teammates.

Video highlights from last night's game:

Angels one-hit Rangers - angelsbaseball.com
Daily Recap: Matt Palmer allowed one hit through five scoreless innings, and the bullpen finished the shutout, holding the Rangers hitless

Aybar turns double play with a spinning toss - MLB.com
Erick Aybar completes an inning-ending double play with a spinning toss from second to get Nelson Cruz at first base in the fifth

Quinlan makes a diving catch at third base - angelsbaseball.com
Robb Quinlan makes a diving catch at third to end the game

The rest of the video highlights
from last night's game.

Lackey ready for final ALDS tuneup - angelsbaseball.com
Lackey is expected to throw only a few innings as he prepares for a likely start in Game 1 of the American League Division Series against the Red Sox on either Wednesday or Thursday at Angel Stadium. "It'll be probably a little shorter tomorrow," Scioscia said of Lackey's start. "It's almost like just getting some work in between starts and getting a good feel."

Hard to get playoff handle on enigmatic Red Sox - FOX Sports on MSN
So, who are the Red Sox, exactly? October will tell us all we need to know. For now, we offer three reasons to fear the Red Sox ... and three more that should scare the Sox themselves. In the accompanying poll, 45% of the respondents said the Sox will lose to the Angels.

Red Sox bumbling, stumbling toward playoffs - Los Angeles Times
The Red Sox have lost five consecutive games and seven of their last nine.

Every playoff team's main concern, from Yankees to Rockies - Jon Heyman - SI.com
The reality is that every team -- and that includes the $200 million Yankees -- has something to worry about. Some imperfection, a flaw, a weakness. Here is a rundown of each team's main concern (and in some cases, concern is putting it kindly):

Who'll be the 'go-to' guy? - Los Angeles Times
Who'll be the Angels' "go-to" guy in the postseason? You know, like Kobe Bryant is the Lakers' go-to guy. We're talking about the player who wants to be up there in the clutch spots, the one who can get the key hits and drive in the big runs that might finally take out the Red Sox in the first round. Let's take a quick look at the top candidates:

Forget the reports, just play ball | know, scioscia, angels, every, pitch - OCRegister.com
If you want to know what pitch Jon Lester throws on a 2-and-1 count on a Thursday when it's 55 to 60 degrees and the high tide at Buzzards Bay is scheduled for 9 a.m. or before … By this time next week, Mike Scioscia will be able to tell you.

I don't usually link to many OC Register stories, especially one from Mark Whicker, but this is kind of interesting since it's sort of a stats story written by a guy who believes Wins are a good stat in evaluating pitchers, and some hitter are more "clutch" than others.

New York Mets vs. Washington Nationals - Recap - September 30, 2009
At the very moment Justin Maxwell 's grand slam off All-Star closer Francisco Rodriguez with two outs in the ninth inning cleared the red flowers atop the left-field wall, the Washington Nationals came sprinting out of the dugout. He drove a full-count fastball from Rodriguez (3-6) barely over the wall for his third homer of the season. The Mets led 4-2 entering the ninth, but Rodriguez loaded the bases, then walked Adam Dunn to force in a run en route to blowing a save for the seventh time this season.

Wow, I didn't realize Frankie was having this kind of season.

Angels hosting postseason rally Thursday - angelsbaseball.com
The rally is expected to begin at approximately 6 p.m. and admission is free with fans asked to enter the parking lot at the Orangewood entrance and enter the stadium through the Home Plate Gate after the completion of the eighth inning.

Someone bring a camera a post some pictures please.

October 1 - BR Bullpen
Events, births and deaths that occurred on October 1.
2008 - In Anaheim, the Red Sox continue their postseason dominance of the Los Angeles Angels by taking Game One of the ALDS 4 - 1. Jason Bay hits a two-run homer off John Lackey, while Jon Lester gives up only an unearned run in 7 innings of work for the win.
Happy birthday to:
1901 - Jimmie Reese, infielder (d. 1994) Jimmie would have been 108 years old today. If he were alive, you'd probably see him hitting fungoes before tonight's game.
1945 - Rod Carew, infielder; All-Star, Hall of Famer

I had created a fanshot about this yesterday, but this video is pretty cool:

Poll

Holly Madison threw out the first pitch before last night's game causing:

The Angels' pitchers to one-hit the Rangers.

50 votes

Mike Napoli to think "I so getting laid!"

122 votes

Hugh Hefner to buy all of his girlfriends Angel jerseys and pink shorts.

27 votes

All of us old guys to realize we're a bunch of old guys.

85 votes

284 votes | Poll has closed

Maicer Izturis Paves the Way for Angels 7-1 Bulldozing of ChiSox

Rev Halofan — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 04:41:35 -0000

More photos » by Chris Pizzello - AP

3 months ago: Los Angeles Angels' Vladimir Guerrero hits an RBI single during the ninth inning of an MLB baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Anaheim, Calif., Friday, Sept. 11, 2009. The Angels won the game 7-1. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

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Final Score in Anaheim: White Sox 1, Angels 7

Angels lefty Joe Saunders pitched 7 innings of 1-Run Ball, striking out 3 and throwing only 99 pitches; meanwhile his offense was there tonight, making ten hits count as they brought around 7 Runs, the big blow being a 2 run double in the 5th inning by 2Bman Maicer Izturis.

Best play of the night was a foul ball off the bat of Erick Aybar that smacked the arm of Pale Hose manager Ozzie Guillen. It was part of a 13-pitch AB that helped to wear out Chicago starter Gavin Floyd.

Saunders was efficient, scattering hits and inducing a lone double play when he needed it.

Four of the Angels hits were doubles, 2 by Izturis and 1 each by Bobby Abreu and Juan Rivera. A base hit late in the game by Vladimir Guerrero drove in another run, Vlad's 2nd RBI of the night, both on sharp basehits with men in scoring position.

Chris Petit made his major league debut replacing Guerrero on the basepaths and sporting the jersey number of the recently-released Justin Speier. Petit stole 2B and scored on Rivera's double for the final run of the evening. Justin Bulger and Darren Oliver pitched the 8th and Jose Arredondo made use of the insurance runs to pitch a 1-2-3 9th inning, a year and a day after he got caught playing with the garden hose after the game.

Poll

Panther of the Game

Maicer Izturis

57 votes

Joe Saunders

175 votes

232 votes | Poll has closed

Angels Bullpen Chokes Up Jered Weaver Gem

Rev Halofan — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 04:11:38 -0000

More photos » by Chris Carlson - AP

3 months ago: A stunned Los Angeles Angels' Chone Figgins, right, stands at second base after making the final out as Oakland Athletics second baseman Mark Ellis celebrates their 4-3 win during a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Saturday, Aug. 29, 2009. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

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FINAL SCORE IN L.A. of ANAHEIM: Oakland Athletics 4, Angels 3

Jered Weaver was gassed after 6 innings. The bullpen was running on fumes after showing up in the 3rd inning on Friday. Weaver lost his W and relief scrub Rafael Rodriguez got the L, but it was Jose Arredondo, masterful in two innings last night, who loaded the bases and saw every runner score to tie the game. You know what they call that? A massacre. But wait, it gets worse later in the 9th inning...

Chone Figgins is on base with one out and Bobby Abreu hits a long flyball for out #2. Figgins tags up and breaks for 2B. He gets there but the tag gets him and the massacre is over. Figgins made the first out on the bases in Thursday night's 2-0 loss in getting picked off at 2B against the Athletics and he made the last out of Saturday night's loss trying to reach 2B.

However, when you are getting 2/3 of your night's runs on the rare Maicer Izturis HR and Jered Weaver nibbles so much that his 6 inning shutout costs him 119 pitches, victory is not exactly destiny with a gassed bullpen and day game tomorrow before a road trip.

Poll

Blame of the Game

Abreu

36 votes

Arredondo

327 votes

363 votes | Poll has closed

Not So Smooth, After All: Tigers 10, Angels 7

Ian Casselberry — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 13:05:14 -0000

More photos » by Jae C. Hong - AP

Miguel Cabrera has been Lord of the Manor lately, batting almost .500 in his last nine games.

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So for those of you that may not have stayed up to watch the Tigers and Angels (like, um, some people I know), what would surprise you more:

The Tigers ringing up a 10-0 lead on the Angels? Or...
The Tigers almost blowing a 10-0 lead on a night when Justin Verlander was pitching?

(A possible third choice: Detroit sports fans not being able to get a free Arby's sandwich today, because the Tigers didn't hit three homers during a game in which they scored 10 runs.)

The Tigers broke out of whatever malaise plagued them in Oakland, as they pounded Jered Weaver (and Jose Arredondo after him) for a combined nine runs and 11 hits. The two biggest blows were a two-run homer from Miguel Cabrera in the fifth and a three-run shot by Carlos Guillen in the sixth. Detroit exploded for seven runs in that sixth inning, and after the smoke cleared, a clear path to victory was surely expected.

But after cruising through five shutout innings, Verlander must have stiffened up or zoned out while the Tigers staged that run parade. Whatever sharpness he had was gone. Verlander allowed six hits from there - four of them with two outs - resulting in four Angels runs, and turning a cakewalk into a minefield.

Those mines started blowing up in the eighth, as the Angels teed off on Brandon Lyon, who had been as close to lights-out as anyone in Detroit's bullpen. Over his past 15 appearances, Lyon hadn't allowed a run. Yet after notching two outs in the inning, he became uncharacteristically hittable. The Angels knocked five straight hits, highlighted by a three-run homer by Bobby Abreu. Suddenly, a 10-run lead had been cut to three with the Tigers only four outs away from finishing the game.

However, Fernando Rodney was able to stop the rally short, pitching one of his most impressive ninth innings of the season for his 27th save. His change-up, in particular, was lethal, prompting some foolish-looking strikeout swings from Kendry Morales and Maicer Izturis.

Isn't it strange how a Tigers team that struggles so often to score runs on most nights (including this one, for four innings) can end up on the winning side of a slugfest? And it's happened a few times this season.

Roar:

Cabrera's homer was part of a 3-for-5, five-RBI night. During what's now a nine-game hitting streak, BigMig is 20-for-41 (.488) with three homers and 13 RBIs. Is he repeating the late-season surge he made last year?

Whimper:

We don't want to pick on Lyon, since he's been so good lately. So how about we circle Aubrey Huff's 0-for-5 night. Okay, he's had a week to adjust to being a Tiger. But right now, he's the anti-Cabrera, batting 2-for-20 with one RBI.

Comment of the Night:

It's the west coast

Strangeness abounds, especially at the Big A

by SabreRoseTiger

Thanks to Kurt for setting up a second overflow thread, long after I passed out. He had my back last night!

And if you want to check out plenty of photos from the scene in Anaheim, allikazoo has set up a FanPost with several images - including a great shot of Brandon Inge's new arm ink - along with a link to her Flickr site.

Bobby Abreu HR Gets Angels Close, But Too Little Too Late

Rev Halofan — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 05:42:20 -0000

More photos » by Jae C. Hong - AP

Never bring a knife to a gun fight...

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Final Score in Los Angeles of Anaheim: Tigers 10, Angels 7

Jered Weaver was rocked early and then, gassed, handed a small deficit over to a bullpen that imploded. But a valiant comeback highlighted by Bobby Abreu's 3-Run Homer managed to give the folks their money's worth - Despite trailing 10-1 at one point, the Angels brought the tying run to the plate in the 8th inning. The Angels lead the American League West by 5 Games.

Jose Arredondo was the culprit of sending this game to an early grave, although it was Weaver's absurd 6th inning pith count that caused the pen arms to enter so early in the first place.

The Angels look tired, road weary, not used to being back in their beds yet, a few balls on the warning track might ordinarily have gone over the wall if there had just been a nap or two along the way the past couple of busy days. But it looked terrible at one time and at least Detroit has been forced to use a lot of its bullpen (along with their Ace Justin Verlander) heading into games Tuesday and Wednesday.

Poll

Blame of the Game

Arredondo

167 votes

Weaver

88 votes

Rivera

14 votes

269 votes | Poll has closed

Torii Hunter Returns Triumphant; Angels Down O's in Extras

Rev Halofan — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 22:05:33 -0000

More photos » by Rob Carr - AP

T O R i i

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Final Score in 13 Innings in Baltimore: Angels 17, Orioles 8

After a month+ on the disabled list Angels All Star Centerfielder Torii Hunter returned to the lineup and had a clutch base hit in the top of the 13th inning to open the scoring floodgates for the Angels on Sunday afternoon after their starting pitching and reliable relievers had allowed the Orioles back into the game on three separate occasions.

(Try to write a better run on sentence than that without cutting and pasting a Steve Physioc mid-at-bat anecdote of a game other than the one he is being paid to describe)

Angels starter Sean O'Sullivan blew a 4-run lead and had to be relieved by Matt Palmer with nobody out and 2 runs across in the 6th inning. Darren Oliver pitched 1.1 scoreless to take the Angels and a two run lead into the 8th.

Palmer was in line for his 10th win of the season but Kevin Jepsen let one run come in during the 8th and Brian Fuentes let another one in during the 9th inning for his 5th Blown Save of the season. One of the outs Fuentes recorded was an Adam Jones bomb to the warning track caught by Juan Rivera to score the tying run as a sac fly, but, well, it was scary.

In extra innings, though, the Halo arms got serious. Jose Arredondo pitched 2 scoreless frames of 2 hit, 2K ball and Jason Bulger tossed the 12th and 13th for the Win.

Chone Figgins went 4 for 7 with 3 runs scored and 3 RBI. Erick Aybar scored 2 and had 3 RBIs as well in a 3 for 6 afternoon effort. The Angels loaded the bases at will in extra innings only to see each effort end in a disheartening double play, but finally they broke thru.

In addition to being responsible for creating 6 runs in the game, Figgy had the 1,000th hit of his career in the game. He is only the 7th Angel with at least that many hits. Vladimir Guerrero has 987 so, expect another party by the end of the week. Guerrero had Sunday off.

The other six Angels with more than 1,000 hits under the Halo are: Garret Anderson (2368), Tim Salmon (1674), Brian Downing (1588), Darin Erstad (1505), Jim Fregosi (1408) and Bobby Grich (1102).

Poll

Panther of the Game

Arredondo

76 votes

Aybar

15 votes

Bulger

74 votes

Figgins

137 votes

Hunter

100 votes

402 votes | Poll has closed

John Lackey Suffers Angels Comedy of Errors; Rangers Derek Holland Dominant

Rev Halofan — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 22:05:04 -0000

More photos » by Gus Ruelas - AP

...in a nutshell...

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Final Score in Los Angeles of Anaheim: Rangers 7, Angels 0

The Angels had as many hits as they had errors Sunday afternoon and it added up to a thumping at the hands of the suddenly playoff-viable Texas Rangers. The Dallas Nine saw starter Derek Holland carry a no-hitter into the 6th inning, while a splendid early pitching performance by John Lackey was disrupted on errors so tragic that they must be classified as comedy. Lackey made a great effort, striking out 8 while throwing over 130 pitches.

Mike Scioscia gave three tired Angels a rest against his team's closest division opponent. A slumping Chone Figgins, a lukewarm Kendry Morales and a tepid Mike Napoli watched the game from the shade of the dugout and 2 of 3 saw their replacements choke the simplest plays of the century. Quinlan could not cover 1B to save his behind and Abreu snapped his glove closed before the ball had arrived on the next play.

The only Angels highlight was the return to the mound of Jose Arredondo from the minor leagues. Well... there was that solo homer he surrendered late in the game, but he did have 2 strikeouts in 1.2 IP. Baby Steps!

Poll

Blame of the Game

Abreu

236 votes

Mathis

65 votes

Quinlan

80 votes

381 votes | Poll has closed

Minor League Report: the return of Chris Pettit

rghan — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 18:01:30 -0000

Jeremy Moore holds up, showing more patience than usual on a night when he walked three times.

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AAA Salt Lake Bees, 57 and 58

Jose Arredondo, rhrp - (4 appearances) 1 W, 4 IP, 1 hits, 0 ER, 4 K/2 BB

Arredondo earned his way back to the bigs, one Salt Lake appearance at a time. Most of his AAA numbers looked great: he struck out 10.5 per 9 innings and limited the opposition to a .188 BAA. Despite the nasty stuff, however, he continued to struggle with his control, walking 6.1 per 9 innings.

Chris Pettit, OF - (27 AB's) .407/.448/.556 with 1 Dbl and 1 HR

The Bees have floundered over the past month and a half due to a thin pitching staff and injuries/promotions to key line-up fixtures. Pettit was one of said injuries, but he got back into the swing of things this week. Teammate Freddy Sandoval is rehabbing in the ASL, and may join Pettit and the Bees as soon as this week.

Brandon Wood, 3B - (27 AB's) .259/.310/.667 with 3 Dbls, 1 Trpl, and 2 HR's

Matt Brown, 1B - (24 AB's) .375/.444/.500 with 3 Dbls

Wood showed why he ranks first in the Pacific Coast League in slugging percentage (.595) and third in homeruns (19). Brown also had a good week, but we're still waiting for him to get into a consistent groove.

AA Arkansas 17 and 24 (second half)

Trevor Reckling, lhsp - 1 L, 13 IP, 8 hits, 2 ER, 11 K/6 BB

The Trav's offense waited until the 8^th inning last night to provide run support, costing Reckling a well-deserved "W." He's gone 6 or more innings in each of his last 5 starts, a good sign of things to come. After Bell, he would be the next logical promotion, though the Halos are facing a logjam on the 40 man roster. Who are they going to bump on Wednesday?

Brian Walker, C - (12 AB's) .417/.533/.500 with 1 Dbl and 3 K/3 BB

Walker raked in his first full week in the Texas League. He'll back up Conger from here on out, likely catching between 1/3 to ½ of the remaining games.

Nate Sutton, OF - (27 AB's) .333/.455/.519 with 5 Dbls, 6 BB's, and 2 SB's

The 26-year-old Sutton is now hitting .313/.396/.395 on the year. The UC Santa Barbara alum would be an interesting choice for Travs MVP due entirely to his season-long consistency.

Pete Bourjos, CF - (30) .300/.400/.500 with 2 Dbls, 1 HR, 6 RBI's, and 5 BB's

When I first compiled this list a couple of days ago, Bourjos was batting just .264 on the week. I was going to include him anyway due to good patience and power numbers, the point being that he's showing enough secondary skills to contribute offensively even when the hits aren't falling. Bourjos went on to hit for average anyway, but the point still stands.

High A Rancho Cucamonga, 21 and 21 (second half)

Clay Fuller, CF - (18 AB's) .444/.524/.722 with 3 Dbls, 1 Trpl, and 5 RBI's

Alberto Rosario, C - (16 AB's) .500/.529/.625 with 2 Dbls and 5 RBI's

Jeremy Moore, OF - (20 AB's) .300/.391/.600 with 2 HR's and 3 BB's

Andrew Romine, SS - (25 AB's) .400/.464/.520 with 1 Dbl, 1 Trpl and 3 BB's

P.J. Phillips, CF - (20 AB's) .350/.381/.600 with 2 Dbls, 1 HR, and 6 RBI's

Abel Nieves, 2B - (23 AB's) .348/.444/.522 with 2 Dbls and 1 Trpl

Jake Rife, OF - (15 AB's) .333/.375/.533 with 1 Dbl, 1 Trpl and 3 RBI's

Hot hitting up and down the line-up pushed the Quakes to the .500 barrier, which is a huge deal for a team that's wallowed at the bottom of California League standings for most of this year. Quick updates: 22-year-old Rosario is a basestealer's nightmare, erasing 52 of 107 this season, or 49%. Moore, who never met a pitch he didn't like, walked an astounding 3 times in Wednesday night's game. Former shortstop Phillips appears to be done with the infield, playing center for most of the week. Lastly, 2009 draftee Rife continues to hang with the big boys, holding his own in High A.

Ismael Carmona, rhrp - (3 appearances) 3 Svs, 1.2 IP, 0 hits, 0 ER, 2 K/0 BB

Taylor Wilding, rhrp - (3 appearances) 1 W, 4 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 3 K/1 BB

Mike Kohn, rhrp - (2 appearances) 2.2 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 3 K/2 BB

Eddie McKiernan, rhrp - (1 appearance) 1 W, 2 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 1 K/2 BB

The other big story of the Quakes' recent success is their bullpen. The starters haven't been bad exactly, but neither have they been especially good, so the Quakes' have made due with the formula of explosive offense and effective bullpen. Hmmm, that sounds familiar - which other club has used that formula over the past month?

A Cedar Rapids, 24 and 18 (second half)

Alexi Amarista, 2B - .296/.345/.593 with 3 Dbls, 1 Trpl, 1 HR and 8 RBI's

Amarista ranks 5^th in the Midwest League in BA while flashing enough patience and pop to rank 8^th in OPS. Needless to say, that's impressive for a table-setting second baseman who also contributes plus defense. There's going to be some debate this offseason about whether Amarista or Orem's Jean Segura is the better prospect - Segura also ranks fifth in his league in BA, though he's a lowly tenth in OPS.

Ryan Chaffee, rhsp - 1 W, 6 IP, 5 hits, 1 ER, 5 K/2 BB

Chaffee made it to the 6^th inning or further in 4 of the last 10 starts. Look for him to jump a level if he can keep going that deep into games.

Darwin Perez, ss - .381/.458/.429 with 1 Dbl

Perez is finally beginning to look like the player he was with the Owlz last year. The Halos have a lot of middle infielders, so he is going to have to hit to keep his spot in the coming year.