Why Alberto Callaspo is So Important

First off, let me start off by saying that the entire Angels Roster had a decent game today (outside of Brandon Wood, who, by all accounts is done. Guess I'll have to chalk that one up to just being wrong about a guy, oh well). Sure, Hunter and Wells both struck out 3 times, but both also had late RBI's to help the Halos push further and further away from Tampa Bay, giving Dan Haren his first win of the year.

Now, lets get on to why Callaspo is such a key for the Angels this season. He can play any infield position (I don't trust him at Shortstop, but hell, I don't trust Aybar at Short), and now that his wrist has healed, he has turned into the best all-around hitter in our lineup. He has two home runs, 9 hits and 5 RBI's in 20 AB's on the year. Throw in the fact that he is a solid third basemen defensively, and we have proven to the baseball world that we didn't, in fact, need Adrian Beltre. Sure, Beltre might have a bit more pop, and he plays gold-glove caliber third base, but Callaspo is more than just an average big-league player.

If the Angels manage to get Callaspo into 150 games this season, he could hit 20-25 Homers, drive in 80-90 runs and hit somewhere around .320. Thats a damn fine season for someone most had written off at the end of last season. His at-bats will decrease once Kendrys Morales returns, because Scioscia loves getting Izturis as many at bats as possible, but the Angels need to find a way to get him into the lineup everyday, and maybe even start hitting him as high in the order as 2nd or 3rd. Imagine the RBI opportunities he'd get if he had Bourjos, Izturis or Kendrick hitting right in front of him 3-4 times a game.

This team looks much better than it did even a day or two ago, but it looks like Tampa Bay is shaping up to be one of the worst teams in the league if they can't turn around their offense. But at the same time, Kansas City is about to improve to 5-1 on the season, winning their last two against the White Sox, so maybe we lost 3 of 4 to a better team than we thought. Regardless, the Angels are 3-3 and look to be turning the season around rather quickly. Lets hope we can keep the winning streak alive in our home opener against Home-Run Champ Jose Bautista and the Blue Jays.