The Angels defeated the Rangers 4-1 Wednesday night to take over first place in the AL West. Jered Weaver won his fifth game of the season as he gave another dominant performance against one of the best offenses in the AL. He pitched his first complete game since 2009, allowing just six hits and no walks while striking out eight. His ERA stands at 1.23, and the league is hitting just .150 against him.
Three weeks into the baseball season, he’s already 1/4 of the way to 20 wins. This is another reason I love Mike Scioscia. The Angels played 18 games, and Weaver start five of them. He pitches ever fifth day instead of every fifth game. Scioscia knows that he has two outstanding pitchers in Weaver and Dan Haren. By skipping the back of the rotation when possible, Mike might get them two or three more starts than if he stuck with a strict five-man rotation. So far, it’s working, as Weaver and Haren got credit for nine of the Angels 12 wins, and the team is on top. Scioscia plays to the strength of his team.
Scioscia will look like a genius if Haren and Weaver hold up the entire season. If they break down, though, everybody’s going to whine about Scioscia overworking them early in the year.
Everybody wrote off the Angels before the season, and so did I. The team really wasn’t that bad last year, though, with a nearly breakeven run diff. Scioscia figures that he can improve that differential enough to contend…if he pitches his good guys as much as possible.
So far so good.