John Lackey, RH Jeremy Guthrie, RH (10-5, 2.99) (4-1, 2.45) 3B C Figgins CF C Patterson SS O Cabrera SS B Fahey RF V Guerrero RF N Markakis DH G Matthews, Jr. 1B K Millar 1B C Kotchman DH A Huff 2B H Kendrick 3B M Mora LF E Aybar LF J Payton C M Napoli C P Bako 2B C Gomez CF N Haynes
Angels fans in California have to get up at 10am to watch this game. THAT'S CRAZY. But then, so does westcoastofan and our other friends from the O.C., Laguna Beach, and The Hills. And Entourage. Same shit except Entourage has boobs and the f-word. Man, that show got awful really fast after the second season.
This is a pitching by god matchup. John Lackey is one of the best in the game and has been for the last three years. He's durable, good K-rate, and he gets batters out without them frequently scoring runs.
I think maybe the lesson the Angels have learned from Lackey is to not give up on Santana. Lackey showed lots of promise in his rookie season (18 starts in the World Series year of 2002, when he started Game 7 against the Giants), but then was pretty mediocre in 2003 and 2004 before he put it all together. Santana showed promise in 2005 (23 starts), but he sucks this year. The difference, of course, is he was pretty damn good last year at age 23. His stinkage this year is definitely fixable, though. I'd still take him.
Jeremy Guthrie has presented a mild dilemma that no one has yet raised their voice to anyone else about, although the subject has been approached pretty frequently. Should we trade high on this dude before he comes crashing back down to earth, and perhaps through the earth and into the crap in the center?
I'll tell you what, bros and broettes. I would usually say yes. I would get on here, on this blog, and I would say, YES, we should trade Jeremy Guthrie. NO, I can't believe in a 28-year old starting pitcher who literally put it all together overnight. So let's trade high. LET'S TRADE HIIIGH.
But I'm not going to do thaaaaat. Guthrie isn't pitching over his head. I really am starting to truly believe he's just pitching off his ass. He's doing things the easy way, just keeping the ball over the plate and daring to challenge the hitters, which I wish to God someone would hammer into Cabrera's head. Guthrie has been Madduxian out there. He hasn't just been lucky. I just can't imagine trading a guy that is become a serious fan favorite and then finding out this is no fluke and he has another great 10 years.
Oh, also: My understanding of lineup structure is that it's largely irrelevant so long as you don't do incredibly stupid shit like bat guys with .281 on-base percentages leadoff, DAVE TREMBLEY, YOU MORON. And for the record, I haven't said much lately, but I am not big on him.