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Friday, July 14 | |||||
Midseason report: Anaheim Angels ESPN.com | |||||
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Biggest disappointment: Kent Bottenfield was one of St. Louis' more pleasant surprises last year, posting 18 wins in his first crack at a full season holding down a starting job. Now, to show how far he's come from the hanger-on he was just two years ago, he qualifies as a disappointment. Bottenfield's 4-7, 5.78 ERA this year hasn't helped. With the Jim Edmonds trade came expectations, and Bottenfield hasn't lived up to them yet. Biggest surprise: Troy Glaus, yeah, we knew he was going to be good. Sure, Ben Molina is a top-notch rookie. But the number 24 can't be overlooked. Although it's troubling his batting average has sunken to Rob Deer-like proportions, Garret Anderson's power display qualifies as a first-half surprise. He's already hit 26 homers. Look out, Mac and Sammy, here comes Garret! Second-half goals: This is a team that could use a healthy starting pitcher or five. A staff ERA of 4.97 (through 87 games) is not going to win the AL West, no matter how many homers the Angels lineup of sluggers produces. Losing Gary DiSarcina's defense in the middle infield hurt; the team would do well to find itself a defensive specialist and sacrifice some offense at that spot.
Grade: | ALSO SEE MLB midseason reports ESPN.com's All-Star Game coverage Kurkjian: Stories of the first half Ten second-half questions for the AL Ten second-half questions for the NL Midseason report: Seattle Mariners |