LA’s biggest weakness?

Here’s Derek Jeter on the Yankees’ ALCS counterpart, the LA Angels:

“What makes them tough is they hit, they pitch, they run, they steal, they play defense, good bullpen, good closer, good manager,” Derek Jeter said. “I think that pretty much wraps it up.”

While Derek is correct in that the Angels have a very good balance of speed (e.g., Chone Figgins, Howie Kendrick, Bobby Abreu), power (e.g., Torii Hunter, Kendry Morales, Vladimir Guerrero, Juan Rivera), defense,  and so on and so forth, the Captain’s admonition that the Angels have a “good bullpen” will certainly be tested in the ALCS, as it is the one area of weakness that has been exposed throughout the course of LA’s season.

In ‘09, the Angel bullpen has sported a 4.27 FIP, which is actually better than the Yankees’ mark of 4.33. However, looking beyond FIP, there are some discernible flaws nesting within the LA ‘pen. For instance, while the NY relief corps has walked 3.46 batters per 9 — the second lowest BB/9 in the AL — LA’s relievers have walked 3.85 per 9, the 5th highest in the league. In addition, the Angels’ bullpen has put up relatively weak strikeout numbers when compared to the rest of the AL. With a K/9 of 7.41 — the 6th lowest in the league — the Angel bullpen isn’t as imposing when compared to previous years (the Yankees 8.44 K/9 is the best in the AL).

Therefore, although the Angels do have a very good team, their bullpen can be exploited in a 7-game series. Their relievers can be wild at times and don’t have the greatest raw talent, making it a nice target for the Yankees in the later innings. Of course, this is contingent upon getting to the Angels’ starting pitching (which the Yankees should be able to do).