Diamondbacks 9, Angels 8
Fan favorite former Angel Kole Calhoun suited up tonight, and it wasn’t for the Angels. Inked to a 2-year, $16 million deal by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the offseason, Calhoun wouldn’t take it easy on his former team tonight.
Clearly, no love was lost between the two as Trout and Calhoun had some pregame hijinks.
"Do you miss your buddy?" Mike Trout asks as he crashes Kole Calhoun's Zoom interview. pic.twitter.com/IOZS7f13po
— Zach Buchanan (@ZHBuchanan) September 15, 2020
First, a smasher off the starter Julio Teheran. This one looked familiar.
Kole Calhoun homered in his first AB back at Angel Stadium as a visiting player. Wow. pic.twitter.com/EqxrGyKCyL
— Brent Maguire (@bmags94) September 16, 2020
Second, an encore. This one off lefty Hoby Milner.
Kole Calhoun – Arizona Diamondbacks (11) pic.twitter.com/qvGdStJB7z
— MLB HR Videos (@MLBHRVideos) September 16, 2020
By the end, the Red Baron had driven in a whopping five (!!) runs, lifting the Diamondbacks to a massive 7-0 lead, buoyed by solo shots from Daulton Varsho and Carson Kelly.
Surprisingly, that lead was not insurmountable, and the Angels clawed all the way back to even up the score at 8-8 thanks to an all-around hitfest led by Jared Walsh’s power surge.
Jared Walsh homered again. This ball was blistered (112.2 mph off the bat). #Angels pic.twitter.com/7jwZ7YPXwD
— Brent Maguire (@bmags94) September 16, 2020
In addition to a #dinger, Walsh also chipped in two doubles and was robbed of a bloop single in the 8th by a terrific fielding play by Dbacks 3b David Peralta. A wonderful story, Walsh was a deep-sleeper drafted in the 39th round in 2015 and now has a 1.087 OPS, one of the highest such marks of any player in the league (min. 50 PA).
Unfortunately, Walsh’s heroics weren’t enough to lift the Angels tonight, as Matt Andriese surrendered the go-ahead home run to David Peralta to break a tie in late innings, and that proved to be the difference.
We will win some games.
Just not tonight.
I’m starting to think we may not win the World Series this year…
All small market WS……..Slam Diego vs Moneyball A’s
😁 😁 😎 !!!……..BESIDES I WANNA SEE MIKE CLEVINGER PITCH IN THE WS. Jeff Spicolli pitching in the WS.
Let’s Party Dude!!
Poor offense, they have to carry this poor pitching constantly. Alas, it was not enough this time.
Wonder what you even say to your team if you are Maddon?
I think Maddon probably focused on the positives, as he should.
It was a great, gutty comeback, despite the end result. Mayers looks to have found something that could make him a key bullpen piece in 2021 and beyond me.
Upton seems to have returned to the extent that he may not be the black hole in LF in 2021 that most of us feared he would be. Those are two positives.
And then there is Walsh.
So, it is not all negatives.
On the other hand Teheran is an unmitigated disaster, and he cost us that game last night( I don’t blame Andriese who gave up a single run and had been nails that last week).
Teheran is yet another example of why Eppler must go. The list of pitching failures is long for Billy and far outweigh the short list of good acquisitions.
We simply can’t have Teheran as a SP in 2021. We need to DFA him I think. He is another Harvey.
He’s 28……yep anutther Epp special just like Hansel Robles.
DFA Teheran? He is only under contract for 10 more days.
Really? Why did I think we had him signed for two or three years? Bad memory I guess.
That makes the mistake a little less tragic, but it was nonetheless a mistake. With a better starter in his stead that could easily have meant three more wins for us which would have put us right in the thick of the playoff race.
Eternal hell notwithstanding, I’m pretty stoked about Walsh right now. Everyday first baseman next year?
Looks like it to me! Now, if we can just get Ohtani “straightened out,” we should actually have a really nice top 5: Fletcher, Walsh, Trout, Rendon, Ohtani.
If, at some point, both Marsh and Adell look “ready,” then that lineup suddenly becomes one of the best ones, IMO: Fletcher, Walsh, Trout, Rendon, Ohtani, Adell, Marsh, Stassi, Rengifo (or whomever).
Well, I am HOPING beyond hope that what we are seeing from Walsh is not a mirage. Obviously he can’t keep this up.
But if we can get a say 3 WAR player at 1B over a full season that would be a huge boost to us, especially coming from a cost controlled player.
My concern is that next season teams will have a “book” on Walsh and find a weakness to attack. So far, Walsh looks solid to me; he doesn’t over swing, he is a “hands first” hitter which is a good foundation. He seems “quiet” at the plate. Both those things bode well for him.
Nonetheless, I have my Fools Gold fears that are always present when a player seemingly comes out of nowhere. After all, this is still only one really good month we have seen from Jared.
Honestly, if Walsh can just produce a 800-850 OPS, with solid defense at first, a decent BB rate (he needs to improve this currently) and a reasonable K rate (like he has now), then he’s a legit 1-2 WAR 1B. On a team with Trout, Rendon, and Fletcher, having a supporting cast with a bunch of 1-2 WAR players is all you really need.
Stassi and Bemboom, IMO, are probably decent enough to hold down the fort at C. So the key question is – can we get decent production out of RF, LF, 2B, and DH?
With Ohtani, based on his previous two seasons, I think we can bet on some improvements from what we see this year.
I think the other 3 positions, though, are uncertain. I don’t have much faith in Upton being a decent LF moving forward. Adell, based on what I have seen this year, has lots of potential but is just oh so clearly not ready and needs more seasoning.
Long-term, I have faith that both Adell and Marsh will be solid major leaguers, but next year is definitely uncertain.
As for 2B – I’d just have a big open competition, between Rengifo, Jones, even Thaiss .. and whoever is playing the best, give them an opportunity and see what happens.
Yeah, maybe a 3 WAR is too optimistic. But you are right that getting 2 WAR out of him in 2021 would still be huge.
I rather see Simba re-signed and keep Fletch at 2b. Simbas defensive prowess makes up for any drop-off at the plate. Rengifo is not a long-term option IMHO.
Tend to agree. Having a really good defensive team should be a top priority. It is crucial especially when you have suspect pitching, or flat out bad pithing. Hopefully our pitching will be a lot better in 2021.
Playoff teams usually are solid defensively.
I agree on principle, but only at a very reasonable price.
Defense certainly matters, but I suppose the question is, how long do we think Simmons will be elite defensively, and is the cost to retain him worth, likely, not signing a pitcher instead?
In a vacuum, I’d be all for it. But if you ask me would I rather have Bauer, or Simmons + Richards, well.. I’d probably take Bauer.
That’s a tough one when looking at it that way. 🤔
Given that choice I too would take Bauer and be happy to slide Fletch over to short. I am just not sure it is an either/or scenario.
It all comes down to Arte.
Ohtani is a tough one. Even when he was right and productive he never quite looked like he was on most pitches. The ball does still jump off his bat but if you look at his simplified no leg lift swing from his first year here versus now, the difference is drastic. I hope they dial him down from all the movement in the box as he looks like Ichiro with less hand-eye coordination IMHO.
can we go 11-0 the rest of the way?
I’m really shocked our pitching lost us the game. It’s only happened 22-23 times this season tops.
The spin rate rewards and the spin rate taketh away.
Watching Jared Walsh has been one of the few bright spots of this team lately.
Pain.
Doesn’t matter, this was the last game in the “baseball means something” era. If Manfred goes through with his plan, he will have effectively destroyed baseball. This more so than anything else he’s done.
What plan are you referring to?
Manfred wants permanent 16-team playoffs, and he says there’s a “good chance” they will stay.
Well, even though I don’t like that I don’t feel that would be as bad as making the automatic runner at 2nd permanent. Or even the 7 inning game.
Those idiotic moves strike at the fabric of the game itself. If those things stay next year it is the beginning of the end. A game clock will not be far behind.
Interesting, I see it much, much differently.
To me, in-game decisions don’t affect the overall game as a whole as much as roster construction does. When you have teams that basically are not trying to field winning teams and sneaking into the playoffs and the top contenders selling off pieces because they’re already in, that destroys the fabric of baseball much more than anything else.
I see what you’re saying H.T but I actually think that the expanded playoffs are good for the game because there are very few teams tanking right now. I mean look at the Angels sellers at the deadline and here we are watching them be still in the race. Teams won’t be trading away good pieces often as the goal is still to win the World Series not just make the playoffs.
I agree with Jack Frost about the runner at 2nd in 10th on, that’s a horrible rule. So is the 7-inning DH’er.
I hated the Wild Card when it was new, then grudgingly accepted it. I loved it in 2002.
I agree with you 100%, HT. This is ruinous for baseball. 16 teams make it? What. A. Fucking (July). Fucked-up (August) Fuckwad (September) Manfred is to even take this idea seriously, much less make it happen.
I mean: I get it for this insane season of DHs in the NL, 7-inning games, guy on 2nd to start extras, all that CRAP. But it would be hard to take baseball seriously were it to…become the NHL in 2021.
Rec especially for particularly clever use of pseudo f bongs.
Manfred is clearly a double agent working for the NFL.
So is this the straw that breaks the camels back that officially buries us this year?
After tonight’s comeback-into-buttercup, we have a 0.9% chance of making the playoffs. As it stands right now, the Houston Mighty Cheatin’ Assholes at .500 are the #8 “seed”, but still have a 97% chance of making it to Da Bubble, and if the playoffs started today they’d play…the Chisox, who now have the best record in the AL, humming along with a 32-16 record. The AL’s 8 teams – if I understand this year’s monstrosity – is already set, basically.
Here’s who’s going to either Texas or California (another “bubble” idea from Manfred):
AL:
Rays
Yank-Mes
B-Jays
Chisox
Twinkies
Injuns
A’s
Assholes
(Baseball brings out the Eternal Adolescent in me.)
NL: (more open, as of this date)
Braves
Cubs
Doyers
Padres
still have a shot:
Marlins
Cards
Brewers
Reds
Giants
Phils
As an Angels fan: wail/gnash teeth, or just acceptance. I choose to root for them anyway, and fuck the top draft pick. (Who knows? We may still get the #1 pick.)
I cannot root for them to lose solely for the top pick. I’m just glad we have some semblance of baseball and I’ll follow these ridonkulous playoffs all the way to the end of the WS. It’s always been the way I roll vis a vis baseball.
My gawd though: PLEASE get us some pitching for next year. Four SP who legit have a chance to get us into the 7th inning before the game’s a rout. Then: a bullpen would be nice. Imagine if we had a Top 5 bullpen this year: we’d have sewn up a playoff spot 2 weeks ago. At least!
Samesies.