http://www.sbnation.com/users/leftwing Posts made by leftwing on SB Nation http://www.halosheaven.com/2009/4/21/847469/wood-gets-the-call-from-salt-lake leftwing Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:53:11 -0000 <h3><a href="http://fromthedugout.freedomblogging.com/2009/04/21/wood-gets-the-call-from-salt-lake/22385/">Wood gets the call from Salt Lake - Angels blog -&nbsp;OCRegister.com</a></h3> <div class="description"><p>Our savior arrives. Jepson to 15-day DL. Wood up from SLC.</p></div> http://www.halosheaven.com/2006/5/25/01913/1667 leftwing Thu, 25 May 2006 04:19:13 -0000 <p>This is my first diary here. I was going to just post a comment on the latest win post, but it got pretty long.</p> <p>I'm not ready to give up on this season yet, and here's why....</p> <p><strong>The Kids</strong><br /> Napoli is leading the team in average and inspiring mancrushes all over the place. DMac is hitting the ball hard, including 2 homers. Kendry is off to a good start in two games. Between them, they're solidifying what have been our three weakest positions this season - C, 3B and 1B.</p> <p>Say what you will about Sosh (I think he's overmanaged this team terribly so far), but the "for the forseeable future" comment about Kendry gives me hope that someone in the organization has realized we need to get these kids in there at their regular positions and give them a realistic chance. I think we could easily see all three of them stay at those positions for a good while if they can stay above .250ish and show a little power now and then. That's the best thing for the future, but also for right now, because really, who else is there? Better to give them a shot than waste starts on guys with no upside.</p> <p><strong>The Rest of the Lineup</strong><br /> After those three positions, we're in reasonably good shape. Kennedy and OC are playing well in both halves of the inning. The Vlad/GA/Figgy/Rivera/Salmon pentumverate can get the job done at OF/DH. Izturas has to come back eventually and will be a solid utility man when he does. Murphy looks like he'll be a good pinch runner/defensive specialist (and if I had my way, he'd be spending every waking moment working on becoming a situational bunting specialist too).</p> <p><strong>The Standings</strong><br /> Ok, we're 9 games under .500, but as has been said many times here, we're still only 4.5 games out of first in a struggling division.</p> <p><strong>The Schedule</strong><br /> The next month-ish of games has the potential to be very kind. Here's the next 6 opponents:</p> <p>vs. Baltimore (21-25 = .457)<br /> vs. Minnesota (20-26 = .435)<br /> at &nbsp;Cleveland (23-23 = .500)<br /> at &nbsp;Tampa Bay (21-26 = .447)<br /> vs. Seattle &nbsp; (21-26 = .447)<br /> vs. Kansas City (10-34 = .227) - 4 game series</p> <p>If there's going to be a run to get our record back up, that's the kind of schedule that will allow it. After that is a swing through the NL west, which is a little tougher, but those teams (AZ, CO, LA, SF, SD) are the only teams between now and the all star break who are over currently over .500. The first half finishes with Seattle and Oakland.</p> <p>It may sound crazy, but there's really no reason why this team can't be at or near first place by the break. Give up on the season? No way.</p>