Angels starting pitching has been a terrible mess for years. With injuries and under-performances, it was looking bleak when Cole went to the Yankees. All the Angels got was a couple of mid-rotation pitchers, one of whom being Dylan Bundy in a swap with the Baltimore Orioles.
Well, Bundy was always good against the AL West (besides the Angels). He took this fresh start and applied himself to be the Ace he knew he could be. With multiple starts cut short due to manager Joe Maddon, Bundy was on a mission to pitch deep into this game. And so he did.
No Jo Adell today but Shohei Ohtani is back, and he made his presence known going opposite field for a home run. That gave the Angels the early lead, as Bundy went through the first 3 innings with no issues, pitching so well that a 1-0 lead felt like two. Which was vital as Taijuan Walker was the Mariners starter.
Scoring really happened in the 4th however, as the struggles by Walker allowed the Angels to score 3 runs with even Justin Upton getting in on the action by getting a HBP. Walker was chased after throwing 69 pitches and things were nice. However, Bundy did give up a home run in the bottom half and so the lead was 4-1 going to the 5th, he did his job and kept the Mariners bats quiet.
Score stayed the same until the 8th when Max Stassi hit a home run, this is one catcher who rakes and the Angels are glad to have him. With a 6-1 lead, it was all Bundy needed and was able to pitch through the 8th, a rare move for Maddon.
Bundy pitched a complete game with 10 k’s, no walks, 4 hits, and only 1 ER. First complete game in a long time and the 3rd for Bundy in his career. Maddon has his ace, as the Angels win their first series this year.
Just anuther awpertunity tooo saye Itoldyuh soh
.333 6 HR’s 13 RBI’s
Where would he play? We have no DH spot and I don’t want to see him in the field.
OK, anybody who predicted Stassi as a total power threat probably also saw Murder Hornets coming. I sure as hell didn’t.
It’s 2020, no one predicted SHIT
With Ohtani sticking to just offense, and with Adell playing full-time, I’m really looking forward to seeing this offense take flight.
Against RHP, we should be really tough: SS Fletcher, CF Trout, 3B Rendon, DH Ohtani, 2B LaStella, 1B Pujols, LF Goodwin, RF Adell, C Castro. Or something like that.
In the rotation, Heaney, Bundy, and Canning are all really solid. It’s too soon to tell with Teheran, and I’m guessing Sandoval will likely be the #5 SP moving forward. I dunno, but I do think at the very least, we have a good shot of playing October baseball, even if it is as the 8th seed.
Yeah my confidence has risen. The SP is not trash this season and the offense is fire. Have to pay like the 2019 Nats, ride the SP as long as possible and user the bullpen sparingly.
Admittedly, it’s typically easier to find a reliever who catches fire than to find a good SP. SP has been our issue for a long time, and it looks like we have 3 very solid SPs at least, and perhaps a few more beyond that.
This offense, at least against RHP, should be very, very good. We just need a few relievers to step up or find some elsewhere. The Nats ultimately used Daniel Hudson (!) to close out games for them, so ..
Soggy Joe says “Never”
While this bullpen has been god awful and we’ve had the usual steady wave of bad news as an Angels fan, we have had a few nice pleasant surprises, including Bundy’s dominance and Stassi’s offense.
We are already more than 20% of the way done with the season (crazy!), and the current 8th seed is 5-5 (Tigers), then a bunch of teams who are 2 games under. We are 3 games under. Let’s string together a few wins and take it from there, eh?
Sweep Texass and .500 again!
Should go 2-1 at the very minimum. We need to beat up on teams like the Mariners, Rangers, etc..
Issue is there are few trash teams in the West. Besides those two who else? Sneks are righting ship and best Houston. Padres have a ton of talent. Even the Giants are doing well.
Yeah. The NL West looks a lot together than I thought. Dodgers are loaded as always, and I figured the Padres would be at least pretty decent given all their talent, but the Rockies’ start is very surprising, and the Giants look decent too.
Gonna be tough. We need to really beat up on AL West teams. That blown save against the Astros really hurt a lot.
Great performance. His K/BB ration is amazing considering so many pitchers are struggling with control. Bundy with the short summer camp and no expectations appears to be pitching confident and not overthinking things. Might end up the ultimate “change of scenery” guy
Fuck it, let’s pitch.
-Dylan Bundy, probably
(August)
Stassi = Comeback player of the year, clinced
This is the type of guy that would light it up until Memorial Day then regress. This year the season ends after the equivalent of playing until the end of May. He might keep it up for another 5 weeks before fading.
He had 18, three with us, hits all of last season.
Something changed during the off season. He learned how to play again. His glove work needs some improving. Losing strikes on the bottom edges of the zone, but the umps suck this season, so it isn’t all Max’s fault.
I’m enjoying it while it lasts, and if it ever ends, there will be no hard feelings against Stassi again. He earned his Halo with me.
see, now he’s sometimes “Max”. While we waited for the season to begin it was all “Stassi”.
I’m trying to look smart by mixing my subjects pronouns up.
Dylan “Give me the ball” Bundy
PANTHER
Is this the real life or this is just fantasy?!
Great job, Bundy!
I didn’t realize it was a day game. Excellent job by Bundy! Glad our bullpen was benched today. Hope to see some more performances like this from our starters.
Wut izz a Compleat Gain?
The opposite of completely lost, aka the blowpen.
A real live genuine all purpose, full fledged, heavy duty, handy dandy, guaranteed 9 inning pitched complete game, Wow Howdy. Who is this Hammerin’ Hank Stassi?
I see in the game thread that Jo had some sort of quad issue. Or maybe it’s just giving Upton and Goody some playing time.
In any case, Rendon, .133. 4 for 30. Not a worry. 8 straight hits and he’ll be at .316
Ace Bundt Cake: 25Ks, 2BBs in 21.2 IP.
WUT?
This won’t embed for some reason, but I called it! Lol.
https://imgur.com/0CdHvrr
Not a shutout, but close enough
Celebrate the win!
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more manly GIF in my life.
There are definitely men in this gif.
Lies! You don’t wear pants.
Angel food Bund(t)y cake anyone?
https://images.app.goo.gl/UZGfia89fMGMWZPWA
https://twitter.com/CrashingtheG/status/1291508696699158528
Nice! That ranks up there with the Brandon Wood entering Jerusalem on the back of a donkey image
dude was dealing. I could almost complain the game was over too quickly, but I won’t. Light up that halo.