The Angels Start 2014 Right

The Angels finished up their first winning month of 2014 with a blowout of the Chicago Cubs on Friday, February 28. The 15-3 victory was the first in what I hope will be a successful 2014 campaign. With the sad starts the team has had the past couple of years, getting hot early will be important to this team. A good spring alone will not make the Angles happy, but the first game held many promising signs of what is hopefully to come.

Winning 15-3, the Angels showed much of what they will have to do this season to be competitive in a tough AL West. Weaver threw 3 solid innings giving up only 1 hit, and the bullpen, sitting on a 4 run lead, was able to recover after giving up a home run to the second Cub faced. With the offense running on all cylinders though, the result was never in doubt. Iannetta and Shuck were impressive with their 2 hit/3 RBI games, and Aybar showed some nice patience at the plate, drawing 2 walks and singling in a run in the second, but it was Trout who was the star of the day. The 22 year old superstar went 2 for 3 with a grand slam and 5 RBIs.

Finishing 1-0 in February is not much, but it is a start, and the Angels need a good start to erase the disappointments of the last few seasons. After finishing with over 30 losses in the past two Aprils, the Angels need to get out of the gate early to show they mean to compete in 2014.

Hopefully winning their first spring training game will be a harbinger of things to come.