There are injuries galore in Major League Baseball right now. The good news is that half-price tickets are apparently back for the upcoming Rangers series. It looks like Elvis Peguero will be joining the Angels Major League club. Also brought up is Jake Petricka.
Now For The Injuries
Reid Detmers and Austin Warren have gone to the injured list for no specified reason. Dylan Bundy is also on the injured list for a shoulder strain and Kean Wong was recalled from Salt Lake City.
The Cardinals have placed Jack Flaherty on the ten day injured list for a right shoulder strain.
Zack Britton is also on the ten day injured list, although he is seeking a second opinion about just what is going on with his apparent left elbow strain.
The Indians placed Triston McKenzie on the ten day injured list due to shoulder fatigue.
The Reds Tejay Antone came back from a two month stay on the injured list and only threw five pitches before experiencing elbow discomfort that may put him back on the injured list for an extended stay.
People Coming Back From Injuries
The Astros finally activated Alex Bregman from the injured list.
Jacob deGrom has resumed throwing.
Meanwhile, Noah Syndergaard has begun his rehab assignment.
Other Links
The Phillies have done a major shakeup of their front office staff. I’m not sure what’s really going on here. Maybe Dombrowski just doesn’t like those guys.
The Dodgers just designated reliever Neftali Feliz for assignment.
Caleb Smith of the Diamondbacks was suspended for ten games due to sticky stuff. He was also fined an undisclosed amount.
Photo credit: Rex Fregosi
2021 World Series $104M vs $140M team payrolls…………..
I’m curious why that pitcher Gausman on SF was put on the DL for a bad reaction to a Covid vaccine. Why wouldgetting one now? Is it a booster, which he shouldn’t be getting because I doubt he has an autoimmune condition that would allow him to get one. If he was getting a #1 or a #2, they were available to him many months ago. Maybe he was one of those people who was waiting for FDA approval.
It was his booster. Allowed in SF right now for J&J
the Pfiser & Moderna boosters are available already at your local pharmacy. I wasn’t aware that the J & J is available in the Socal yet.
A bunch of people I know that got the Pfiser vaccine are getting the COVID including my daughter so its probably just a matter of time before they mandate the booster for everyone.
Makes sense.
What is it with the Angels and “calf strains.” Not that I even want Upton to ever play for us again, but couldn’t they just tell the truth for once.
They have a form, it has 5 choices to check the box.
Calf Strain
Forearm Tightness
Flu
Quad tightness
Undisclosed (Covid)
Man, that HR derby really jacked ohtani up. Dude is trying to crush every ball and striking out at an alarming rate.
I think he’s just tired. He’s had an unbelievable season but he seems worn out to me.
Which underscores my Ohtani skepticism (or Ohtani paradox, or whatever.). Despite being unbelievable talent both ways, Ohtani cannot be both a full time pitcher and hitter and still be “available” consistently, for full season. No roster that slots him as “the ace” or “the key run producer” is viable because he will wear down down the stretch. You still need to plan for a “real” top of the rotation starter and some good near full time reserves who can hit to supplement Ohtani (and to back up Trout, Rendon etc who are proving to be unavailable also with an alarming frequency.)
Crazy cuz we might only see one more full season of this. We HAVE to win next year.
And my IIWP will reflect that =)
I fully agree. 162 games of 2-way Ohtani is too much even for a stud like him. He’s been amazing and it’s fun to watch. But the realities of the grind are beginning to reveal themselves.
His first half might be the greatest of all time.
You could be right about the two-way role wearing Ohtani down to where he can’t be both a top of line pitcher and full time DH. But, I think we need to wait a bit more and see how he does the rest of the season. Look: until yesterday, his pitching has been better compared to earlier in the season, especially in terms of control (fewer BB) and efficiency. This runs against your theory that he is wearing out due to overuse. It is his hitting that has fallen off. Is it fatigue? or overuse? or simply a slump that ALL hitters go through. He is still having a monster overall season at the plate. Looking at his overall performance as a pitcher and a hitter for the entire season to date – he is proving you wrong.
In today’s broadcast they are saying he’s getting a lot more breaking balls lately. So his hitting may not be due to fatigue, but rather pitchers are changing how they attack him. And he needs to adjust, which hopefully he has based off his 1st inning HR and walk.
WRT breaking balls, I’ve heard various versions of that that too. I do wonder what kind of mix of pitches Ohtani the hitter has been getting as the season progressed (a bit too lazy to look up, although I think there must be some site that catalogues that for every hitter).
WRT Ohtani the pitcher, the thing that was esp hopefully to me (after the start before yesterday) was how he has become extremely economical as a pitcher, but, the downside is that he pretty much has to be. I think 90 pitches (with only a handful of fastball in upper 90s mixed in) are about the maximum we can expect in an Ohtani start as long as he stays a two way player more or less every day, and he needs to make most of it. That he has adjusted his pitching strategy in this direction suggests that he is evolving and adapting very rapidly, which is a great thing going forward. BUT it also does underscore that there are limits to what Ohtani the pitcher can do as long as he pulls double duty and yesterday indicates that there will be subpar starts.
Yeah, the guy isn’t perfect and is still human. He isn’t going to pitch lights out every start. Remember how bad he was against the Yankees a few months ago? It sucks that this stinker was against the awful Orioles, but I’d rather he give up some HRs to them then Houston or Oakland. My fear for him was giving up so many walks, it looked to be that was his vice as a pitcher. But he seems to have solved that, which is extremely encouraging. Giving up a few dingers to the Orioles hasn’t changed my perception of him as a SP one bit.
In the broadcast they said Ohtani had been seeing 22% (I think) breaking balls, but recently it was up to 36%. Blaming Ohtani’s struggles on exhaustion seems to only focus on Ohtani, and not give any credit to opposing players adjusting to him. He could be tired and breaking down, or it could be more nuanced than that.
Yeah, he probably needs a few more rest days sprinkled throughout the season.
I think Ohtani is fine. He seems to lose his command whenever he pitches in high humidity. He was regularly missing Stassi’s target by a foot or two last night. The same thing happened when he had that terrible game in New York earlier this year when it was terribly humid. He will bounce back.
I do think that is part of it.
Maybe it’s time to give Shohei a calf injury too.
Time for him to get a hitting lesson from Babe Marsh.
Syndergaard is going to be a free agent, depending on price could be a decent investment…. If you need sticky stuff to pitch, you can’t pitch…. Patricka is not a MLB pitcher….. Yesterday’s loss was tough to watch as we just are more surprised when the Bullpen works and some teams are more surprised when their Bullpens fail……Marsh is showing what was expected and Adell starting to come around and both are playing and hitting like MLB players…… We will win tonight…. This is just me, but I would like to see a Fletcher, Marsh, Shohei top 3 line up, that is a lot of speed at the top. Maybe even put Adell #4.
It’s a morning get away game. Tune in around 10 AM.
I kind of like the idea of putting the future at the top of the lineup and sticking the rest at the bottom.
Ultimately, I prefer Ohtani hitting 2nd or 3rd.
I kind of get it right now with all the injuries; Trout out, Rendon out etc..
I do still like Fletch as a leadoff hitter. Yeah, I know he doesn’t walk alot, but he DOES do all the other things a top of the order guy needs to do. He has one of the lowest K rates in MLB and he can execute both the bunt and the hit and run. He can hit the other away and usually sees alot of pitches.
In 2022 I like the order to look like this:
Fletcher
Ohtani
Trout
Walsh
Rendon
Stassi
Adell
Marsh
ss (???)
I’ve been thinking that I don’t like Ohtani batting 1st and I’m not sure he likes it either. He is not walking very much anymore and his OBP is dropping like a stone in an Osaka lake. I’d bat him 2nd or 3rd.
Once again, he does not see a lot of pitches. At 3.22, lowest on the team.
Hmmm. That surprises me.
Here’s the thing; with Fletcher we need to stop nitpicking and instead look at all the things he is really good at…
1) Fletch is 2nd in ALL OF MLB in lowest K rate/%. He strikes out only .086 %. Only Kevin Newman strikes out less. Translation: he puts the ball in play. This is what you want out of your lead-off man.
2) To follow up on the first point, Fletch is Top 20 in MLB in batting average (.293). Thus, it is not like he is making alot of weak contact that is fruitless.
3) In fact, HE LEADS ALL MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL in hits with 147 !
In short, it is time to start appreciating Fletch for the great player he is. Not sure where or how you developed this animus against Fletcher, but you are really being unfair to him and failing to see how good he really is.
I don’t need to nitpick. I can look at all the things he is great at. Finally, I did not even mention his defense, where he has been fantastic. He has made numerous plays to rob opponents of hits, and in addition he almost always makes the plays he is supposed to make.
All that points you make are true!
And none of them are what I value in a hitter, much less a leadoff hitter!
Those two facts, which can be reconciled, explain why he should hit ninth.
What if a guy like Marsh develops into a lead off? Fletchers skills would make for a great “move em up” #2 hitter.
I was envisioning Marsh in that role as well.
Stealing that many PAs from Trout, Ohtani, and Rendon would be a crime straight out of the 80s.
Just place him 9th next year and don’t think twice, please Joe. He’ll do really cool stuff and we’ll still love him, I promise.
The lack of appreciation for Fletcher on this site has been a real problem. If only someone around here would show some Fletcher love.
You’ve gone the opposite way. For some reason you have chosen him as a target of your derision. Not sure what he’s done to earn it.
Hey, I like David Fletcher. He’s seems like a solid guy from what little I know and he’s also a good ball player. I just don’t act like I have a personal relationship with him nor do I overrate goodness as greatness.
But yeah. He’s good, and it’s nice that he’s a fan favorite too, better him than a lot of guys and we’ve got him signed through I think 2026, so all good. I’m just not desperate to take our team’s Mark Loretta and try to make him into Craig Biggio just because he reminds me a little more of myself than Aaron Judge does.
I agree, although I’d probably put Stassi after Marsh and Adell in that lineup.
I like Fletcher lower in the order. He doesn’t see many pitches and very rarely walks. But he does put the ball in play a ton. Put him in a spot where runners are likely to be on base and he’ll move them over or punch them in.
He leads all of baseball in hits Jeff. A single is just as good as a walk my friend.
And you don’t bat a guy who is a top 20 hitter in AVG like that 7th or 9th. I would also not want him 5th or 6th because the SLG is admittedly not at a level that you want from middle of the order hitters.
I say keep him at leadoff.
Not when he is only getting on base less than 33% of the time. Thats hideous as leadoff hitters go
Would I like it if he walked more? Sure. Hopefully that will be one of his main goals for 2022 — to improve his OBP by drawing more walks….
It is somewhat surprising to me that a guy like Fletch can lead the whole damn league in hits and still have only a .324 OBP. And he IS capable of having a higher OBP; in last years admittedly shortened season it was .376, which is pretty good and I think you take it… And in 2019 he was at .350. He drew 55 walks in 2019.
I choose to believe that the low OBP this year is more of an anomaly and next season we’ll see something quite a bit higher.
This year has been the tale of the 3 Fletches:
4/1 to 5/14 Batting Leadoff .256/.278/.282
5/15 to 6/26 Batting 9th : .333/.376/.419
6/27 to Today Batting lead off or 2nd .297/.329/.384
I vote anywhere in the lineup other than first or second.
Fletcher is not a leadoff hitter. A sub .330 OBP is a joke
It is not sub .300 lol.
Okay, you changed it/fixed it I see.
Okay, let’s do a little comparison shopping.
Would you say that Tim Anderson of the White Sox is a good leadoff hitter?
I mean, Chicago is leading the AL Central and will sail into the playoffs as one of the best teams in all of baseball…. He is setting the table for them, right? Guess what the OBP of their leadoff hitter is?
Yeah, it is .330.
Tim Anderson. Should the White Sox bat him at the bottom of the order lol?
According to you that is horrible. That is barely better than Fletcher who you call a “joke” as a leadoff hitter. But Chicago is WINNING with him batting leadoff.
It must not be that much of a flawed strategy.
To be fair, Fletcher’s OPS is 100 points lower than Anderson’s (.689 vs. .783). Fletcher’s OPS+ is 87 and Anderson’s is 113. They are not the same leadoff hitter, like at all.
Slugging is not usually considered an important trait for a leadoff hitter however.
Well Anderson’s offensive WAR is 3.4 while Fletcher’s is 1.5. So you may think slugging doesn’t matter, but professional evaluators seem to.
I didn’t say slugging in general does not matter. It does.
What I said was that it is not typically considered important for a leadoff hitter. That was the topic of the discussion.
I agreed with you above that I’d be cool with Fletcher leading off. But if a manager had the option for their leadoff hitter to hit more doubles, triples and HR’s, meaning they had a higher slugging %, I’m sure they’d love it. To discount slugging from the leadoff spot seems like you’re just defending Fletcher at all costs.
typically considered, as in previously typically considered. Personally I’m in favor of whoever the leading OBP guy being up first unless it’s the highest OPS ’cause I want that guy up second.
[edited]
ok, looked it up, as of this morning because I don’t see anything updated. Shohei is the active player with the highest OBP but, as mentioned, I want him 2nd because he’s got the highest OPS. Trout has him beat in both but yeah, Trout’s not active.
the next best OBP is Stassi. In my crazy thinking I’d have Stassi lead off. Marsh is moving up, though. His OBP isn’t as high but it’s not far off. Marsh could lead off. Let’s say Marsh because he’s got the speed. Then Ohtani, then Walsh or Stassi. Very close in OPS+. I’d put Fletch at #9.
In stats class many moons ago we did a bunch of baseball stuff. The guy who won had a solid method for batting order based on rank on the team. He did…
OPS Rank Place in Order
#2 – hits 1st.
#3 – hits 2nd
#1 – hits 3rd.
#4 – hits 4th.
#6 – hits 5th.
#5 – hits 6th
#7 – hits 7th.
#9 – hits 8th.
#8 – hits 9th.
I can’t remember what his math reasoning was, but he could explain it back then and he had the best statistical outcome in the class.
I don’t care enough to find out where Fletcher’s OPS is on the team. I know it’s not #2 because he can probably throw a ball further than he usually hits it. But I wonder if this’d work well…
1/2 off tickets are only for limited amount of not that good seats. Still good to get 1/2 off
I continue to be frustrated by the lack of transparency from the Angel organization. Why not tell us why.Detmers and Warren are on the DL? Is it better to have us speculate?
They can’t say because it’s COVID. Anytime a guy is gone and they can’t say why, it’s because of the rules they established around that.
I get it but haven’t we generally been aware of Covid outbreaks on teams?
Yes, other teams have been more forthcoming. As one of the reporters mentioned, it’s not required.
And therein lies my point. I feel like this whole Organization needs to get more transparent.
COVID is a sensitive subject. Due to HIPPA requirements I don’t believe the teams cannot state that a certain player has the dreaded Rona unless the player himself approves it. So the transparency on this issue may not be allowed.
It’s what the MLBPA union wants…..
Eh, does it really matter at all or change anything?
No – obviously- but I just prefer transparency. Maybe it’s my hyper-active brain but I prefer having the information. I like to say I can deal with anything I know but I have a tough time dealing with what I don’t know.
Secrecy reminds me of growing up in a house where we knew things were F’d up but no one discussed it. Very VERY uncomfortable.
Yeah but this isn’t like the injury situation. We’re all 95% sure they have COVID. There honestly is not much speculation going on here.
Well if we all know it – why not just say it? See what I did? 😎
We can go in circles! If we all know it, why do they have to say it! 😎
Ha!
Because of hippo laws this info can only be released with player permission
So only Angel players don’t give permission? And I think it’s HIPAA not hippo 🤣. I like hippo better though!
Geez does everyone on this blog suffer from AMOS? (Angels Medical Obfuscation Syndrome) Other teams have also talked in riddles regarding some of the infected players. Their beat writers (Do we even have any of those anymore?) probably do a better job spelling out for the fans.