In Advanced Scouting, MLB FanHouse's professional talent evaluator breaks down each of the playoff teams from a scouting perspective.There are a lot of reasons that the Angels lead baseball in team batting average. Beyond the general fact that they are just loaded with quality hitters, they are loaded with hitters that are as comfortable hitting off-speed pitchs as they are the fastball. To shut down these hitters, you need to attack with power stuff and aggression. They thrive on jumping on pitches early in the count and forcing pitchers to go to secondary offerings before they want to.
By not allowing the pitcher that first-pitch strike, the Angels are creating a great deal of discomfort and taking him out of his rhythm. If you run out a pitcher with merely average stuff, Los Angeles has the approach to handle changing speeds.
They are not loaded with power, but hitters like Bobby Abreu and Juan Rivera will punish off-speed offerings if they aren't forced to respect the fastball. These are reaction hitters, who are confident enough in their swing mechanics to let pitches track deep. Trickery and changing speeds is not the answer; the team to beat them better bring power arms.
Once their trademark, the Angels' bullpen is not what it once was. In somewhat of a transition period, this is the area you want to get into if you are the opposition. Scott Kazmir, as we know, is prone to short outings and high pitch counts, but John Lackey and Jered Weaver will be the challenge. Look for Weaver, in particular, to try to establish his big breaking ball early. If teams can lay off early and do some damage on his more pedestrian fastball, that's not only the way to hurt Weaver, but also the way to get into that suspect bullpen early on.
Matchups To Watch
A point will come in these playoffs where the Angels will need Brian Fuentes to be a shutdown closer. The question remains, though, as to whether he can be that guy. He has had his problems with the Red Sox, and his style simply does not match up well with their offense. His 88-91-mph fastball will not be enough to keep their offense from jumping on him, so look for his slider to be an even bigger factor than usual. The bottom line is that he will need to be extra fine, especially with that slider. The Angels will be playing some tight games against Boston, so there may be no important matchup than how Fuentes combats its sluggers.
X-Factors
Bobby Abreu: The Angels' aggressive approach has been a thorn in the side of American League teams for quite a few years now, but with Abreu they now have another dimension -- patience. In many ways, Abreu sets the tone for the Los Angeles lineup. Teams like to develop a strategy to attack an opposing offense, but amongst a very aggressive group, the Angels' No. 3 hitter throws the opposition a bit of a changeup. • Scouting Perspective: Abreu's approach and swing are rather unorthodox if you consider the type of hitter he is. His front side tends to bail out, and for most hitters that's a death sentence on the outside pitch. Despite this, Abreu is able to keep the hands back and seems to invite the pitch away, allowing him to consistently drive the ball to the opposite field. Look for teams to try to get Abreu out with the high fastball, but as patient as he is you could see a lot of balls lined into left field on tough pitches on the outer half.
Chone Figgins: As a team, the Angels may not match up well against the league's top power pitchers, but Figgins obviously didn't get the memo. Against the likes of Josh Beckett, CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Felix Hernandez he is 15-for-30 this season. Apparently, the book on Figgins has been to bust him with the fastball -- he sees about as many as any hitter in the league. The Red Sox, or any other opponent of his, may want to re-think that strategy this October. • Scouting Perspective: Figgins, like many leadoff hitters, has a short compact swing. What that also typically means is that he would be at his strongest against off-speed pitches given his ability to react late. He has an underrated skill of being able to recognize pitches well out of the hand. Often times you'll see guess hitters, players who look for one pitch to sit on, not have much success against the league's elite pitchers as it is much more difficult to get them into a pattern on which to guess. Figgins' ability to hit pitchers with elite stuff is a testament his patience and confidence in fighting off the plus fastball on pure reaction.
Scott Kazmir: It's no longer a secret that Scott Kazmir handles the two AL juggernauts, the Yankees and Red Sox, as well as any pitcher in baseball. So, if the Angels are to make a serious run, Kazmir is going to need to be a factor. • Scouting Perspective: Kazmir's high leg kick and long stride can get out of sync, and his problems at the end of his Tampa Bay career can mostly be traced back to mechanical issues. He is now keeping his front foot closed at the peak of his leg kick, keeping himself back over the rubber longer. With Tampa, his tempo looked off and his lower half was drifting toward the plate before his arm could catch up. He's now getting on top of the fastball and creating that good late life that can make him so difficult. From the angle he throws, and his cross-body delivery, Kazmir makes it very difficult on right-handed hitters when he comes inside on them. He can get inside on righties better than most left-handed pitchers.
Frankie Piliere spent the last three seasons working as a scout, most recently in the professional scouting department for the Texas Rangers in 2009. He now serves as the National Baseball Analyst here at FanHouse.
