Max Stassi is the American League Player of the Week. Shohei Ohtani is getting a lot of All Star votes and that, in turn, earns him some attention.
Mike Trout is making progress, but still won’t be back until July.
Links From Around Baseball
Here is a relatively deep dive into what is going on in that All Star Game lawsuit.
The Texas Rangers placed Khris Davis on unconditional release waivers. Another one bites the dust.
Shane Bieber is now on the ten day injured list with a right shoulder strain.
Ji-Man Choi is back from the ten day injured list. He had sustained yet another one of the ubiquitous groin injuries that are going around this year.
Jim “Mudcat” Grant passed away on Saturday at the age of 85.
For all the complaining we do about Angels pitching, at least we are not the Red Sox. On that note, the Red Sox acquired Yacksel Rios from the Mariners for cash considerations.
It looks like the Cubs might never get to the 85% vaccinated level it would take to relax protocols. It’s not like COVID-19 is gone now. Steven Matz just went onto the COVID IL.
I guess it’s like they say. Keep your eye on the ball.
Photo credit: Rex Fregosi
Code for 10 IL eventually
https://twitter.com/JeffFletcherOCR/status/1404950768432472069?s=20
So when is surgery scheduled again?
The dreaded Tricep-TJS
https://twitter.com/JeffFletcherOCR/status/1404941415143010306?s=20
Why Slugo? Why not this guy? He’s killing it at SL
https://www.milb.com/player/tim-peterson-623402
as you frequently point out, 40 man roster issues, maybe?
Thats right. We wouldn’t want to lose Jack Mayfield
Right? I mean just imagine if Jerry wants him back in Seattle….can’t lose him again.
Thought you were joking about Mayfield being on the 40 man roster…….he’s on it, would love to know the reasons for that.
TrAdition?
Slegers…….good god
Yeah, when have we heard this before ?? Fowler ?
I have no sympathy for these cheating pitchers. It’s not about UCLs or mid season changes or anything else they want to say. This is about one thing – money. Pitchers have been cheating their way to higher salaries a lot like hitters did in the early 2000s. MLB has to act and I really like the rule that a player who is caught cheating cannot be replaced for a period of time. Let’s see who is really good and who has been cheating and let the chips fall where they may.
https://twitter.com/JeffFletcherOCR/status/1404946338689650691?s=20
Glasnow blames not using substance on fingers for his UCL injury. Says he can’t use sunscreen and rosin. Also Bauer us suddenly mad that MLB is implementing tule change midseason. I don’t think you can have this both ways. If you outwardly break a rule… aka take that inch and take it a mile, then shut up instead of openly flaunt. Bauer may have a point but you lose credibility . Bauer and other cashed their checks so what more does he want?
That being said, the real culprits are the front office guys encouraging the use of the sticky stuff. With all of their eyes, machines and analytics, of course they know and encourage it. It’s going to break the system.
I don’t get how players don’t see they are just pawns in the corporate plans of efficiency and cheap labor. The players that crack the code have no problem cashing checks at the expense of everyone else being totally replaceable. You think Bauer cares about anybody other than himself?
Let’s tune didn’t these 100mph bullets and bring back actual pitching and batting. I got high school students with blown elbows already and broken dreams.
I want to believe that the reason our Angels suck was because we weren’t cheating good enough.
or pitchers could look at it as the new way and realize they’ll give up more hits and runs. Theoretically all ERAs will rise and the better pitchers will still have relatively low ERAs.
For Every Action there is a Reaction – Isaac Newton
I don’t think this applies to feelings and emotions, but I’m not a scientist.
Hope you’re right about the Angels not cheating effectively. Who knows, maybe we are a team that wasn’t cheating as much…After Bubba got caught, the team stopped pushing its use, doubt it, but it helps us if that is true.
With the sacrificial scapegoat for the sticky stuff being an Angel employee, tutored by an Angel legend relief pitcher on the recipe, I find it highly unlikely that Angel pitchers were “cheating less”. Rose colored glasses cannot hide the many Angel pitchers who had tells to where they had the stuff, to ANYONE who was paying attention. More like they weren’t as good as others in application of the sauce, but only a fool would believe any competitive advantage available to a professional, particularly when there was no enforcement, wasn’t taken to the limit.
Seems some are offended with my being positive, that is OK as I am OK with that. Yes I am aware that the Angels are in a uphill battle, but it does no one any good the be consistently negative about what we cannot change, right? I do believe we will win or make a comeback. I believe that ever batter is going to get a hit. If a guy K’s it bothers me but I move on to the next batter. I’m am to negative about Sutton and well I just do not care for the way he broadcast’s games.
Well, we’re all dealing with a lot of shit right now GPB….
https://youtu.be/diX4myfR6vU
Not sure who you are referencing in your first sentence here, but just in case you might mean me, I can assure you that your cheerleading does not “offend” me. In addition, I should clarify that I am not “negative.” That is your terminology and I don’t believe it fits our discussion.
As far as I am concerned our comments (unless they are purely an emotional response to something which is simply what it is) here are either accurate or innaccurate. The term “negative” is a value judgment and thus, I try to avoid using it.
Cy Rookie to start on Thursday.
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/06/tigers-matt-manning-to-make-mlb-debut-thursday-matthew-boyd-to-il.html
Damn CY-Rookie…..hate’em.
https://twitter.com/TaylorBlakeWard/status/1404893341905342464?s=20
https://sports.yahoo.com/tampa-bay-rays-tyler-glasnow-suffered-partial-ucl-tear-will-try-avoid-tommy-john-surgery-injured-192809527.html
Full MLB release on foreign substance enforcement.
https://twitter.com/lindseyadler/status/1404835410694520834?s=21
So anyone caught doctoring the ball, whether that’s the pitcher, position player, coach, or clubhouse attendant will be subject to punishment. And a vague “progressive” system for repeat offenders.
The peer pressure method. Might just work. Get the teams to enforce it themselves.
peer pressure method. Might just work. Get the teams to enforce it themselves
Agree with that. I’ll add that we might see someone possibly within the rules, not cheating, a sacrificial lamb, get accused of cheating. Likely by an overzealous umpire or opposing bench with a vendetta trying to nail a pitcher.
Jose Guillen says hello as he walks past Brendan Donnelly.
Wait. Jose Guillen had a bad burrito too?
The voice is different but the breath is the same
Damn you pork burrito…..
The only teeth in this thing is that suspended players can’t be replaced on the roster. So a couple of relievers getting popped would really screw a team for 10 days.
That’s the part that might make teams police this themselves.
Not to mention a couple of starters.
I’m really excited to see how this shifts the hierarchy of the league.
Maybe our own pitching will look better stacked up against a clean game, or they may look worse.
Will be fun to watch.
Mudcat was a fixture at Spring Training, generally signing with the crew Fergie Jenkins brought around to sign autographs. He was a very nice guy and I greatly enjoyed a couple of innings listening to him and Fergie joke around one day.
I have an autographed Mudcat baseball in my home office. RIP.
Circa 1993 I played in a golf tournament and Mudcat was the celebrity assigned to our foursome. Soooo many great stories and a great deal of fun.
Reading that piece on the ASG lawsuit I get the impression that the first reaction of real lawyers reading it is hysterical laughter. Where do they find these people? Did they go to law school in a strip mall?
If somebody waves enough money in your face, sometimes dignity or even sanity can go right out the window.
In other news, biotech researchers are switching from lab rats to lawyers… It turns out there are some things that lab rats just won’t do for any amount of cheese (money).
This numbskull did click a button when he filed his complaint saying that his complaint was filed against “all plaintiffs” (his own client(s)), which is unusually bad.
Ha ha. That is awesome.
Lionel Hutz needed the work.
So – with this team’s luck – Rendon out for the season with a torn tricep? He’s likely headed for his 3rd stint on the IL in the first half of the season. 🙃
I missed this part, did Rendon get hurt last night?
Yep – dove for a ball at third and is hurt again.
I saw that play. It was a half hearted attempt on a ball that he had no shot of getting.
What Is with this guy? Is he made out of glass?
Aging 31 year old on a long bloated contract. Can you see what’s coming, long time Angels fans?
Time to bring up Mikey Stefanic? Although this would require a 40 man move.
Or maybe another promotion for the hot hitting Matt Thaiss? Every team should have 4 catchers , right?
How bout just move Ward to 3rd and bring up Adell??
We need an offensive boost anyways.
I like your idea or whatever other prospect is the most ready. I prefer this approach to retreads. RenDone wasn’t contributing much anyway, and the short winning streak notwithstanding, we need a refresh with younger players.
The way Adell has been playing the last week (.276 BA, only 2 extra base hits and NO walks in 30 PA’s while accumulating 14 strikeouts), not to mention his base running blunders ( A CS and a pickoff in last Saturdays game) and less than stellar defense ( His error in CF last night led to 2 unearned runs), I would vote for more seasoning down on the farm.
After watching Taylor Ward run around the outfield , I think I’d rather put Kurt Suzuki at third base than Ward. Suzuki might even start catching the ball if was using a conventional glove.
The lineup card is out. Kean Wong is playing third today. He’s young all right.
We’ll be fine after the Angels get his salary off the books.
Right after they get Pujols salary off the books.
Then Hamilton.
Followed by Matthews Jr.
Really? Gosh dang, totally missed that. You’d think with all the amazing conditioning and health standards these guy maintain that they’d be a little more robust. I mean, of course they are tougher than me, I’ll readily admit, but compared to folks back there in the day? I have no stats to look at, and probably there is some major availability bias going on, but just makes me sigh. Wonder if everybody just goes more all out now.
Looks like Perry’s best move as GM was not rushing into a Bundy extension in the offseason.
I love how inaction was Minisian’s best move.
Wasn’t it Stoneman that said sometimes the best trades are the ones you don’t make?
You mean Standpat Stoneman ?
There’s no way Quintana goes back to the rotation, right? Sandoval has been too good. Oh wait, this is the Angels we’re talking about.
If he takes Bundy’s spot for a start or two?
Bundy is throwing his FB and Curve more in 2021; and the Slider and Change less than last season. His walk rates are pretty much the same from 2020, his K’s are down, and the “hard hit” rates are up. Given that his FB sits at 90-91, he’s just not fooling anyone this season.
Suggestion for Joe, lead off with Upton and put Fletcher in #2 hole with Ohtani and Walsh at 3 & 4, then Stassi and Rendon at 5 & 6 spots.
RRLLRR ? That would never happen with Joe.
It just may work, but keeping Rendon at #3 is just costing the team imho. If a pitcher facing two RH followed by two LH, etc just may throw him off.
The keystone combo had 8 hits last night, Go Iglesias and Fletcher.
Good morning, stay cool today and watch the Angels win tonight.
Last night we out hit the A’s but the defense and pitching came up short. Feeling bad for Bundy but he was keep in to long last evening and the Pen pitched their normal. Maddon pulls Pitchers who have not got close to 100 pitches, and follows that up with staying with others way to long. Hard trying to figure him out but as we move forward confidence in Joe has been dropping for me.
Hey Grandpa; I thought you said Bundy was going to pitch well and win last night.
What happened ????
Stop it Jack
Stop what? I am only asking that he take ownership of what he says here.
Everyone else here takes ownership of their commentary, why should Grandpa be given special treatment??
Because unbridled optimism, despite it being considered unhealthy by some, is extremely lacking at this site
The “unbridled optimism” is one thing. That is one way of putting it. You could also call it naive, mamby pamby cheerleading.
Frankly, I would not have a problem with his naïveté if he didn’t call out others for being “negative.” But because he accuses others of being negative (when in fact they are mostly being realistic — 2002 being an exception here; I think he simply likes throwing cold water on everything — and basing their critiques of the team on recent performance and using facts to back it up) I think he opens himself up to being called out when his constant, reflexive, pie in the sky optimism is not supported by what happens on the field ; i,e, does not pan out.
BTW I think we have a decent chance of winning tonight.😉
We win a well pitched game, or we get blown out. Nothing else is possible tonight.
Agree. If we get “good Heaney” we should be in the ballgame and have a chance to win. If we get “bad Heaney” the more undesirable outcome you mentioned comes to pass.
In the end, I have more confidence in Heaney than Bundy so feel a little bit more confident tonight than I did last night. But I of course would not be surprised if “bad Heaney” shows up.
WWWG!
I don’t understand
We Will Win Games.
Heaney was absolutely nails last time out.
So you know what that means…
☹️ Yes, this is what scares me!
OK Jack you again are failing as usual to read what I type and to
who it is a reply to. Yes I will call you out if everything you post is negative especially if you offer no reasonable alternative. Being negative all the time is not realistic, sorry that you see it that way. If one wants to jump on the negative wagon that is fine, but just not every comment. Being optimistic might be a character fault to you , but my life is fuller for it. You get sick of it? Well then stop acting like a child and ignore me, move on, maybe learn to look at the positive. There is a lot less stress and sinking down a hole because the Angels are just not as good as you want.
Grains of salt my friend
I don’t believe that I receive special treatment, but it’s clear you do. I think you have some type of understanding issue with me rather than someone taking ownership of a prediction. So either you take ownership of your issues with me or just grow up. Take ownership of a predication, really?
That is not what I said, lol. My original response was to eyespy who asked me to “stop,” to which I replied that I was merely asking you to take ownership of your commentary….
Did you not predict before yesterday’s game that Bundy would pitch well and win? I was merely calling you to task on that. That does not make me “childish.” This community is about expressing opinions, but also about being able to back up what you say. This community (going back to HH) has always believed in and supported making intelligent comments that make sense. If you don’t make sense you can expect to be called on it, and not just by me!
There is nothing childish about engaging in appropriate debate in an online forum such as this. That is why we are here. If you can’t handle it perhaps you are the one who should “stop.”
Jack, Its seems pretty clear you have an issue with Grandpa, as I don’t recall you attempting to make anyone else take ownership of their optimistic posts when they don’t come to fruition. Its honestly kinda weird man. I think Grandpa’s above recommendation to you would be beneficial to both of you and the rest of this community: “stop acting like a child and ignore me, move on…”
Who made you the moral compass of this site ??
And btw, I do call out others on their misinformed posts/comments (see recent responses to “2002heaven” among others). I have nothing against Grandpa personally but I do tire of his hypocrisy. I will disagree with whomever I choose to here, whether or not they are “optimistic” or not.
Wait, you missed when I was decreed the moral compass of the site? That’s on you, not me. You along with everyone else was invited to the ceremony. I got a velvet sash and everything. Me and grandpa had a few coirvoisiers laughing at your expense after I was indoctrinated. Now chill out and quit acting like an ahole.
I have spoken.
Also, it’s not hypocritical to make a prediction that doesn’t come to fruition. Just FYI
Over zealous optimism.