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| Chone Figgins had three hits on Saturday night breaking a stretch of 2-for-25 since June 25th. |
Our View: Figgins is just trying to get healthy since it's tough enough to play this game when your at 100%. He is line to have a big second half if he can stay out of the doctors office. |
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| Vladimir Guerrero had two hits and three RBI for the Angels including his 14th home run of the season. |
Our View: Vlad has struggled a bit of late, but over his last 18 games he has four home runs and is batting .353 to up his average to .288. Expect the hot hitting to continue. |
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| John Lackey lost his second game of the year on Saturday as he allowed six runs, five earned, to the Blue Jays in six innings. Lackey walked just one while striking out seven in the loss. |
Our View: Lackey had his worst outing of the season on Saturday as he allowed more than three earned runs for the first time in 10 starts. He leaves this outing with a 6-2 record and a 1.93 ERA. |
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| Gary Matthews Jr. might be on the trading block as the Angels look to unload the $33 million he is due in 2009-11, according to MLB.com. |
Our View: The veracity of this report would receive a huge boost if the team were to follow through on the other rumor that has them acquiring Matt Holliday as the money going to Matthews would then be funneled to pay Holliday. |
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| Kelvim Escobar tried to throw on Friday afternoon, but he stopped short of 10 tosses due to further shoulder soreness. He plans to meet with Dr. David Altcheck, the Mets medical director, in the near future, and surgery may be the result. "The MRI was good," Escobar tells the Los Angeles Times. "They said muscles that didn't look good before looked a lot better. [But] something's causing me a lot of inflammation, and they don't know what it is. When I throw, it's taking longer than normal to recover." |
Our View: We had a small ray of hope for Escobar to return this season, but this week's setback makes it seem unlikely. |
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| Garret Anderson went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer in Friday's 8-2 win over the Jays. His other two hits went for singles. |
Our View: Anderson has racked up eight homers and 39 RBI over 77 games, and raised his average a few more points to .265. |
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| Jered Weaver was strong in Friday's 8-2 win over Toronto, as he only gave up two earned runs on six hits over 7.1 innings, with one walk and six strikeouts. |
Our View: He evened his record to 8-8, and lowered his ERA to 4.17. He has allowed two or less earned runs in three-straight starts, with 18 strikeouts over the span. He should remain active in your roto-rotation. |
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| Chris Bootcheck has been activated from the 15-day DL, and optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake, according to the Sports Network. He been on the shelf since June 9 due to a strained right forearm. |
Our View: Bootcheck is not worth waiting for as a fantasy reliever, ad he surrendered 18 earned runs, 30 hits, and 12 walks over 16 innings this season. |
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| With the Angels offense slumping, manager Mike Scioscia has decided to bat Casey Kotchman in the number two hole against right-handed hitters, according to the Orange County Register. |
Our View: This seems backwards, because Kotchman, who hits left-handed, is hitting .368 against lefties vs. .270 against right-handers. His on-base and slugging percentages are much better against southpaws as well. Either way, Kotchman has had a quality season for fantasy players. It would be nice to see a little more power, but his overall numbers won't disappoint. |
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| Francisco Rodriguez tied a record in getting save number 34 for the Angels last night. That tied John Smoltz for the most saves recorded before the All-Star break, according to AngelsBaseball.com. |
Our View: K-Rod has been a force in the bullpen, striking out 35 and recording a 1.15 WHIP this season to go with his saves. He has been one of the top closers in fantasy baseball, and should only get more save opportunities for the first-place Angels. |
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| Kelvim Escobar is probably going to miss the rest of the year, according to the Los Angeles Times. "I woke up [Tuesday] and it was like, wow, it's painful," he told the paper. |
Our View: Escobar will likely get an MRI, and may need another surgery, which would keep him out of the game until the middle of next season. Any fantasy owners hopeful of picking him up for the second half will now have to eliminate him as an option for pitching help. |
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| Juan Rivera went 1-for-3 with three RBI in Wednesday's 7-4 win over Oakland. Most of his damage was done on a two-run homer. |
Our View: That was Rivera's first homer of the season, on 65 at-bats. He also doubled his season RBI total at six. |
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| Joe Saunders allowed four runs (only two earned) on six hits over 6.1 innings in Wednesday's 7-4 win over the Athletics, with two walks and five strikeouts. |
Our View: Saunders claimed his 12th win of the season tonight. He is 3-1 over his last four starts. |
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| John Lackey has been named the AL Pitcher of the Month for June, according to the AP. Lackey went 5-0 with a 1.16 ERA in the month (38.2 innings), with 34 strikeouts.
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Our View: Lackey was worth the wait this season, as he is 6-1 with a 1.44 ERA and 0.89 WHIP over nine starts. |
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| Angels ace Ervin Santana failed to get the win in tonight's 5-3 victory over Oakland, but not due to a lack of effort. Santana pitched seven innings to surrender two runs (both earned) on eight hits with two walks and seven strikeouts. |
Our View: Fantasy owners will be happy to hear Santana failed to surrender a homer and he continues to add to his already-gaudy strikeout/walk ratio. A win would have been nice, but the offensive support wasn't there. |
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| The Angels prove more efficient on offense this evening, posting one less hit than the opposing Oakland A's but finding two more runs, winning 5-3. The work of designated hitter Garret Anderson led the way, going 2-for-4 with his seventh home run of the season as well as his sixth stolen base, ending with two RBIs and one run scored. |
Our View: Anderson hit just .188 for the month of June with one homer and just eight RBIs. Getting him back on track would be a gift, and this game may serve as the catalyst for that rise. |
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| Earlier today we reported Angels pitcher Kelvim Escobar was struggling with discomfort but had pitched well in three scoreless innings for Single-A Rancho Cucamonga. Now reports comes from Orange County claiming Escobar may have in fact reaggravated the torn right labrum and could be looking at an extended rehab assignment, according to MLB.com. |
Our View: The Angels report Escobar is expressing pain in the shoulder and that he could tell during warm-ups that something was wrong with his shoulder, yet he still decided to pitch and on Tuesday he admitted that it wasn't the right decision. Escobar said he is scheduled to meet with Dr. Lewis Yocum during the Angels' game against the A's on Tuesday night. He said he'll figure out his options once he meets with Yocum, but his return will definitely be delayed. |
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| Garret Anderson has not played in two consecutive games for the first time all seasons, according to the Los Angeles Times. Manager Mike Scioscia said he expects Anderson to play tonight. |
Our View: Anderson is hitting only .255 on the season, and has had a horrible June, batting only .188 with a .227 on-base percentage. Even in deep AL-only leagues, it would be hard to have Anderson currently active at the moment. |
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| Kelvim Escobar had some trouble warming up on Monday night but he pushed through it on his way to working three scoreless innings at Single-A Rancho Cucamonga, according to the Orange County Register. ”I felt good and that’s the most important thing,” he said. ”I threw strikes and my changeup has been good." |
Our View: Escobar threw in the 90's at times, but it was clear that this was just another in a series of steps that he hopes will culminate in him pitching out of the pen for the Angels at some point toward the end of July. |
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