Remember back when the Diamondbacks had two legit aces at the top of their rotation? Randy Johnson and Curt Shilling back in the (hey) day and more recently Brandon Webb and Dan Haren. Those were nice times.
↵Webb is now with the Rangers and once again "shut down" due to "shoulder tightness" but Haren is giving his new Los Angeles Angels team some serious ace-type performances.
↵Haren is now 3-0 on the season with an ERA of... wait for it... 0.73. He even pitched out of the pen for an inning to get a win on Saturday for the Halos. Dan threw a nine inning, one-hitter Tuesday night against the Indians.
↵↵↵Halos Heaven - For Los Angeles Angels Fans
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In an era of pitchers babied because of six- and seven-man bullpens and coddled to protect multi-million-dollar investments, Haren looked as strong in the ninth inning as he had in the first, mowing down the Indians in a 1-2-3 ninth to complete the 17th one-hitter in Angels history.
The Diamondbacks probably did the right thing in moving (dumping the salary of) Haren at the deadline last summer and if Tyler Skaggs turns into the rotation guy he's projected to be it will be an even better deal.
↵Imagine the .500 Diamondbacks with all their current grit and hustle sporting Haren at the top of the order? Now that would be a nice team, assuming Gibby's Snakes can keep up this pace.
↵I'm not here to criticize the trade -- just pointing out what a great start Haren is off to. Good for him.
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