Kazmir provides needed arm, hope for Angels
Posted by: JustAnotherHaloVicto on Sep 04, 2009 - 01:14 AM
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 Scott Kazmir: Angel of October? The Angels continue attempting to out-run their pitching staff, which ranked 27th in the majors with a 4.88 ERA entering play Sunday. Worse yet, they've recently been forced to break into a sprint: The August team ERA is 5.46, highest of any month this season, and Angels pitchers have surrendered 40 homers in 28 games this month.
Not a good trend, even if, as expected, the Angels remain in control and win the AL West for what would be the sixth time in eight years. Because, after that, you know who's next ... yep, as of today, a nice, ripe, first-round October rematch with Boston.
The Angels need Scott Kazmir, acquired over the weekend from Tampa Bay, in September. And they especially need him in October. Boston has bounced the Angels from the playoffs in three of the past five years. Not that the Angels are developing a complex about that, but rumor has it that they've banned Cheers reruns and all Ben Affleck movies from the clubhouse flat-screens.
Just given his Get Out of Jail Free card from the wicked AL East, Kazmir arrived in Anaheim on Sunday with some impressive credentials: Lifetime, he's 6-4 with a 3.05 ERA in Fenway Park over 13 starts (including 2-0 with a 3.27 ERA in two starts this summer). He's yet to face the Yankees in new Yankee Stadium, but he is 2-0 with a 2.63 ERA against them this summer in Tropicana Field.
"I kind of like that," Angels center fielder Torii Hunter says, smiling. "That made me feel good."
"That's a very tough division, and he's handled it well," says Angels right fielder Bobby Abreu, an AL East alum after time in the Yankees' lineup from 2006-2008. "It's very important for us that he comes from one of the toughest divisions, and that he came from one of the best teams."
Now, understand: Nobody in the Angels' clubhouse is putting a potential playoff matchup against Boston, or the Yankees, or anybody else ahead of what they've got to do in September. Texas is a vastly different team than in past years, and the Rangers have whacked the Angels in nine of 12 games so far this year to prove it. Ask manager Mike Scioscia about how Kazmir might change things this October and you'll no doubt get a six-part dissertation on the dangers of the Seattle Mariners and starter Luke French in Monday's series opener there.
That's fine. But we also know contenders must look a month or more ahead during these last few days of August, because no player acquired after Aug. 31 can play in the postseason. When the Angels acquired Kazmir, it was a move they desperately needed to make. Entering Sunday, the Angels ranked second in the majors with 727 runs scored, and they led the majors in batting average (.289) and batting average with runners in scoring position (.303).
Offense, especially with first baseman Kendry Morales banging away, is no problem.
Pitching, that's a problem.
Kazmir is no Roy Halladay, whom the Angels attempted to acquire from Toronto last month. And he's no Cliff Lee, whom they attempted to nab from Cleveland. But. ...
"He's one of the best left-handers in the game," Hunter says. "I don't like facing him. And if I don't like facing him, I think I'll take him."
Though Kazmir has had a highly disappointing season (8-7 with a 5.92 ERA -- now below 6.00 for the first time all summer), he is 2-1 with a 3.20 ERA over his past three starts. And he's reunited with the pitching coach, Mike Butcher, who first helped get him going in 2006 and 2007 in Tampa.
"It feels like I'm a lot more comfortable now," Kazmir says. "I'm attacking the strike zone, trying to get strike one. That's the main thing. Earlier in the year, I was battling from behind."
As for his success against the dreaded Red Sox, Kazmir says: "You really get a lot of adrenalin. I feel real comfortable in big situations facing the Yankees, facing the Red Sox in Fenway."
The way things shape up now, he will get that opportunity. Even with only three starters needed in the first round, he could slide in behind John Lackey, for example, with either Jered Weaver or Ervin Santana following him (and the other working out of the bullpen, which currently ranks 12th in the AL with a 4.74 ERA. Or, Kazmir could give the Angels a left-handed long man out of the pen.
Yes, there's still a long way to go until October. But it's also just around the corner.
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