All Star Shohei Ohtani continues to make history. Specifically, he is the first player selected as both a position player and a pitcher to the All Star Game. I hope he doesn’t end up with dead arm after the home run derby. Happy belated birthday to Shohei, by the way.
Jared Walsh was also selected to the All Star Team.
Andrew Wantz was OK in his MLB debut. (video link)
Patrick Sandoval has the best whiff inducing changeup in baseball right now.
The absence of Anthony Rendon and Taylor Ward from the lineup card “should not be something elongated” according to Joe Maddon.
Links From Around Baseball
Aroldis Chapman’s meltdown last week was not a one-time event. He is apparently in crash and burn mode right now. Here is the homer Pete Alonso hit off him.
Ex Dodger pitcher Dave Stewart won’t go to a 40th anniversary (World Series) celebration with the team because the Dodgers did not discipline Trevor Bauer.
The Cubs signed Robinson Chirinos to a major league deal. I thought he had retired. It must have been somebody else.
Sixto Sanchez of the Marlins will undergo season ending shoulder surgery because of a torn posterior capsule.
Tigers third base coach Chip Hale is leaving to become the head coach of baseball at the University of Arizona.
The Blue Jays submitted a proposal to return to Canada by July 30 which seems to have been met with initial approval by the authorities.
The Dodgers and Astros both got snubbed in the voting for All Star Game starters. That feels good.
Photo credit: Rex Fregosi
Shouldn’t we get a PreGame post as soon as the lineup is posted so we can complain about it
Aye aye captain, we’ll be on it
Ayyyy
https://twitter.com/RhettBollinger/status/1412549547125997568?s=20
Back on the IL for Tony.
If we weren’t paying him so much it’d be freaking hilarious.
And Jack Mayfield to the Rescue!
Man, I am bummed for him. When he’s not hurt I really like him, totally steady player with great hair.
He seems like a really great dude, i’d love to become a fan.
I became a fan watching him with the Nationals in the playoffs.
the milkman always rings twice…Milwaukee Milkman pitcher #2
https://twitter.com/TaylorBlakeWard/status/1412479643307765761?s=20
Hopefully these guys don’t turn out to be milk duds.
stealing from the Brewers while everyone is distracted with the Bucks in the NBA finals.
Trying to determine if I should applaud Perry’s efforts scouting the dairy lands vs MILB.
OT: I have a new favorite player on the A’ss.
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/31739206/the-inspiring-story-oakland-outfielder-stephen-piscotty-cardboard-cutout-fan-living-als
Wtf is up with Rendon and injuries. His 4th injury of the half season and 3rd stint on the IL. Is this a lack of stretching and pregame warmups? Lack of strength and conditioning? Bad luck? Or what?!
If anyone “saw this coming,” please let me know, because I am fascinated by the whole discourse. Would like to know if you thought he was injury-prone, thought he would just be bad, etc.
Here, here……
but we do have a trAdition to uphold.
yes, of course =)
I definitely made jokes when he first signed about how anyone that comes to Anaheim just breaks. Because we have so much evidence of it, but he has fallen off so quick that there has to be an underlying injury that isn’t being treated properly, or that he is playing through.
It’s just hilarious that we always go through this with our biggest names. If he hasn’t turned it around by the end of the year i’m going to be quite worried
Yeah for sure. If someone says he’s “injury-prone” I’m not sure how to respond to that, because I personally have no way of telling how injury-prone a player is or if it even exists, so there’s nothing I can do but say “I respect your opinion.”
So if he is injury-prone, guess that sucks for us and I wonder how/if the FO should have known (I don’t think so, but maybe they have some fancy metrics there).
However, I think this season has continued to reinforce my belief that Rendon starts hitting after he’s had a number of consecutive games under his belt. Obviously, it’s the consecutive part that’s getting him this year.
similar to his 2015 season
“However, like most of the Nats’ key regulars, Rendon’s 2015 season was filled with injuries that caused him to have to switch positions and go back to second base. In turn, the 25-year-old just could not get into a rhythm at any point in the season.”
but looking at his Washington game totals we see he played between 136 and 156 games every other year. Does this sound familiar? In 2018 he fouled a ball off his toe and lost time. He still led the league in doubles ’cause that’s his thing.
By the way, his .915 OPS last season was higher than anything Albert ever put up for us.
I’m with you, H. I think he’ll be fine.
You picked the only year out of six (6), but as you allude, dude got 600+ ABs every year except 2015. He has not been injury prone in his history. Took a rocket off his knee cap this year, he should not have swung I guess. It’s been a pesky year for him for sure.
My guess, and it’s just a total guess, is it’s the old “real injury” with the hit knee cap followed by a bunch of muscle problems stemming from the injury, down time, etc.
What I don’t understand is the Angels army of med workers over the years. I am an old fat man. I have a trainer. When a part of my body hurts he is very good at stretching out the injury, or avoiding using the injured part until it heals. Then he slowly brings that part of my body back into heavy use and, magically, with time I am working that part out hard again and it doesn’t result in more problems.
Why can a 25 year old with a community college degree pull this off with a sack of potatoes like me in a garage full of weights and TRX straps but the Angel’s staff of experts with facilities can’t seem to grasp bad knee = bad legs = bad backs etc?
Yeah, it likely is just him being dogpiled by severe bad luck.
I think it was you who said that you won’t be concerned unless he looks exactly like this next year, and I think that’s fair.
I always think of Kirk Dressendorfer when I read “biggest names”. But seriously for different reasons: Mo Vaughn (fell on the dugout steps), Cokehead (was/is a cokehead), Lyman Bostock (sad…), Albert Pujols (57 years old when he joined the team).
He was fine last year. Played and produced. He has been here less than 1-year (due to curtailed COVID year). Maybe a little more time is needed until we arrange the funeral.
It just so frustrating. And that can lead to bad takes and overreactions
Nobody has ever overreacted ever. 😆
Not a once
That doesn’t make any sense at all. It’s time we start demanding they trade him for starting pitching and that we sign Teh Bess Turdbaseman or Arte hates winning.
Did not see this coming and loved Rendon as a National. Always a gamer and rarely injured. So wtf is wrong with Anaheim. Is it lack of a proper strength and conditioning program? I simply don’t get it.
Burial Ground
Eerily quiet on the Rendon front. You know what that means!
With the Angels, no information is better than a crazy some
Well there you go – 10 day IL. Dude is made of glass.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/news/angels-anthony-rendon-lands-on-il-with-hamstring-strain/amp/
3rd trip to the DL and the season is barely into July? Yeeesh. On the other hand, trAdition.
Ohtani is Player of the Week aaaaaaaagain.
Time to wake us up!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8rOUYS-RYTY
translation, “I sucked tonight and got lucky ’cause that ball was roped. Woo-ee, glad that’s over”
Typical bahstun “class”
Shohei gets player of the week, Ottavino gets asshole of the week.
I just read what Ottavino is supposed to have said. That’s the kind of sigh of relief comment that a guy will make when he throws a lot of pitches, gets himself into a bad spot and barely escapes. Its not like he pitched well.
I wonder. If Ohtani heard Ottavino and charged the mound, would he have been suspended for inciting violence like the players before him, or, since Ottavino plays for the Red Sox, would Ohtani have been the one to be disciplined?
moot because, as you know, Shohei Ohtani is too respectful, too decorous to do that. But you’re probably right that he’d be suspended and Ottavino, whose ERA for the 9th was 9.00 and WHIP was 3.000, would have gotten off, at least more lightly.
By there way it may surprise but I am thinking we will win tonight with Shohei pitching and are ability to score on the long ball and our AAA players coming through. I would like to see Joe find a replacement for Rengifo though. I may be asking to much to get rid of Daron Sutton.
Daron Sutton is the answer to our pitching woes.
Why not put Gosselin at 3rd? He played 2B/3B during his tenor with the D-Backs.
I thought he was a Soprano in Arizona.
tenure..damn autocorrect …LOL
No worries … this kind of thing is Alto familiar from you. 😀
I guess he could play 3rd bass
I am sure that Maestro Maddon could orchestrate such a thing.
He hung out with Tony?
Last night’s game was fun, Looooonnnnnggggg, frustrating. Also was hit up multiple times to ask if I would sell or give away one of my Ohtani pillows. Apparently only having 14k to give away at a game with 30k people leaves some without any, especially if they show up late.
Hey – were you on 3B side? I thought I saw your rug rat once. He was wearing a camo Halo cap.
I had some dude offer me a whopping ten bucks for an Ohtani pillow outside. I lol’d like honestly OUT LOUD.
Yep, that was him in the camo Angels hat.
I was next to him in a red Angels 60th hat and wearing dart board shorts with red high top converse. I try to embarrass my kids whenever possible.
Joe needs more O tonight which will probably necessitate a roster move. With the Ohtani Pitching/Hitting Conundrum , Unless Rendone & Pinky Ward are ready to return & hit, we will have no pinch hitters for the later innings.
You can buy Joe’s O’s at Trader Joes
Oreo rip offs? No Way Jose Mota.
Nope, Cheerio rip offs.
I don’t know about Pinky, but I hear Brain Ward is ready… NARF!
Heard he was busy doing the same thing he does everyday.
Last night’s loss was as tough as any loss can be. But what a game it was, oh sure there can plenty of fingers to be pointed but that did not stop the game from being entertaining. Exciting right to the last second. Tonight promises to be just as fun but with a win attached to it.
Yu Darvish wants to face Ohtani in the All Star game They have never faced each other.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.mlb.com/amp/news/yu-darvish-wants-to-face-shohei-ohtani.html
That sounds like the perfect match up.
It’s nice to think that the JW selection knocked yuli gurriel from the All Star game.
Kool, that is a pleasant thought. I dislike all of the former and Astros that took part in cheating and yes that includes ALL. I just do not condone cheating. I do not like the Red Sox for same.
There are lots of reasons to not like the Chowds.
Marwin Gonzalez got a nice solid dose of boos in last night’s game. my son asked why and I reminded him that he is a former Trashtro.
That is great. Yuli is a cheating, racist asshole. The fact he did the racist taunt at Darvish after cheating told him the fastball was coming is a sign of true character.
There are few players I actively dislike cause really, what do I know, a few 5 second chunks of their life and a bunch of internet comment BS? For all I know a kind of jerky guy like Madbum may be a guy who I’d love to just be friends with. But I just plain can’t stand Yuli Gurriel’s ass face.