Green: Angels keeping MLB on its toes

It’s tough times for Red Sox fans right now. The team lost two out of three to the Yankees. They escaped the sweep only to immediately face off against the team that did sweep them, the Angels. Meanwhile, Manny’s trade drama has hung over the city like smog.

In these stormy waters, I sought comfort on the firm, dry land of numbers. Anaheim’s winning percentage, which is well over .600, had me fretting that these were no longer the Angels of quiet ALDS defeat. Those Angels excelled at the fundamentals, championed a small-ball approach, and could not get beyond the first round of playoffs. Could their splashy acquisition of Torii Hunter have really made the difference?

Looking at their team offensive stats feels like sailing into a safe harbor. In the majors, the Angels are 19th in runs scored, 22nd in home runs and on-base percentage, 24th in total bases, 28th in walks. They still run pretty well, but they aren’t especially good at staying out of double plays and they’ve got a mediocre stolen base success rate. That doesn’t sound like the fearsome best-in-baseball juggernaut they’ve been imitating.

The truth is that while they’ve compiled an excellent win-loss record, that record is much better than it has any right to be, judging by the difference between the number of runs they’ve allowed and the number they’ve scored. Heading into Tuesday night’s action, that number was 39, while Boston’s was an AL-best 93. Some teams manage to outperform their run differential for a full season — but it’s rare.

The difference-maker has been their excellent record in one-run games, the outcome of which is largely the product of chance. The fact that closer Francisco Rodriguez is on pace to set a new single-season saves record illustrates just how close so many of their games have been.

Another key difference between the Angels and the rest of MLB is that Angels have a winning record on the road. Every other team in baseball is hovering right around .500 on the road, or has a losing record when away from home. I’m not sure how to account for that, but judging by the rest of their performance, it feels like an outlier.

Also reassuring is the fact that manager Mike Scoscia seems inclined to play offensively-challenged veterans like Gary Matthews Jr., Garret Anderson, and Juan Rivera in left field, leaving on-base machine Reggie Willits appallingly underused. Sure, Rivera has been hot in July, but playing full-time last year, Willits put up a .391 OBP with 27 stolen bases. They’d be better off DH-ing Rivera and letting Willits play left full-time. But let’s not tell them that.

After all, we already have enough to worry about.

Sarah Green is a freelance writer. She can be reached at