Good Morning Angels fans, how are you today? Have some links!
Angels News
Angels won yesterday with good hitting, good bullpen, and 5 GIDP turned. WOW. And Speed. Lots of speed.
The Angels keep hovering around .500. In fact, they have for months now. This is all with no Trout, Rendon, a bad second half and injured Walsh, rookies and AAA players all across the diamond and starter after starter getting injured.
Mike Trout is still not ready and even Maddon is admitting he may be done for the season. But how bad is it really? Well, it is the worst calf injury by an MLB player in 6 years. That Tulo comparison returns from the dead!
Ohtani was supposed to pitch yesterday, but didn’t. Instead Barria’s start was pushed back a day, Packy Naughton gets tonight, and it is a 3 man rotation at the moment.
ESPN is gushing about Ohtani, but put the fun behind a paywall. That’s rude. 538 doesn’t have a paywall. Be like 538.
Around Baseball
Strikeouts are getting ridiculous. Robbie Ray now has the best K/9 in MLB history (min 1k innings). This record will keep getting passed around as K rates continue to rise.
With Lance Lynn now hurt, the AL Cy young race will be very interesting down the stretch. Ray, Lynn, or Cole, who you got?
Cody Bellinger went from MVP in 2019 to being a platoon player in 2021. He has been so bad that Yelich’s injury plagued season looks great in comparison. See this is why there is no Trout rival.
Human umpires get things wrong constantly. But for once, one got it early perfect. I still want Robo Umps though. Human ones have screwed Ohtani too much.
Scary moment with a comebacker in a Tigers game. With Bassitt missing time when he got hit in the face, there really needs to be something done about this risk.
Ah the Mets. Their fan interactions these last few days have been rather intense and opinions keep flowing in. But hey, at least Baez apologized.
The LA Times are mad that the Dodgers may have to play the WC game. Yeah a one game playoff isn’t something I like, but, well, win your division?
Blue Jays make a defensive mistake that has to be seen to be believed. This seems to be more common recently, makes putting the ball in play more valuable?
Passan discusses Bauer’s future. But really no one knows at this point.
Brad Hand DFA-ed. Oh wow he has been terrible for the Blue Jays.
Hurricane Ida has devastated Louisiana. While it became a tropical storm not long after making landfall, it has impacted a ton of lives. The storm will be moving as far north as Ohio so delay in games with Reds and Cleveland may occur. As always, donate if you can.
Anything I missed? Post Below for upvotes!
2 hr’s 6rbi’s including a GS.
.319 BA 26hr’s 78rbi’s and a pretty decent glove in RF 😭 😢 😖 😠 💪 💪
https://youtu.be/deimDz96UVU
The Mets are attempting to dethrone the Angels by having the most off field problems in MLB.
https://sports.yahoo.com/report-acting-mets-gm-zack-scott-arrested-on-drunk-driving-charge-193721730.html
Well, he was drinking with the boss so not in danger of losing his job. But agree, Mets are a huge mess. They bit on the Lindor extension.
C’mon, we’re better than the Mets – we can take them!
Our worst fears have been realized. The Plumber is getting jobbed while the Angels are bringing back up this POS:
https://twitter.com/JeffFletcherOCR/status/1433163468887187458
We should start a petition!
Count me out
Have you thought that maybe he has some pretty large flaws in his game that fools like the rest of us don’t know about? Dustin Ackley, Mike Olt, Alex Meyer, Christian Arroyo, Mark Appel, Kevin Maitan, were all world beaters in the minors, HS, or college and got to the next level and then they weren’t. I doubt Mike Stefanic would’ve helped us beat Gerritt Cole yesterday had he had been here.
That is crazy! Rengifo? Why? We’ve already see what this guy cannot do. We need The Plumber. How inept.
I want Minasian’s balls in a jar on my desk, now!
Agreed . But remind not have a Rocky Mountain Oyster lunch with you anytime soon even if you’re buying.
Anthony Rendon has to get his shit together because he’s a piece that takes us from average 79- 85 win team to a 90 win team. They need bench pieces that can be bat first instead of glove first. Fletch – Ohtani – Trout – Rendon – Walsh- Marsh – Adell looks good enough to me. But no Rendon and too much gets out in Walsh and Marsh . They’re still developing. Adell is just more a bonus if he performs
Good thing we’ve already won this series. Packy vs Cole.
After today’s start…we’ll all have the Packy-Man fever!
https://youtu.be/XY_ESTnBlS0?t=38
Next year I am thinking the starting pitching staff looks pretty good with Sandy, C-Rod, Suarez, Cobb, and Ohtani in the mix. Detmers, Naughton (I like the Pack-Man), Canning (I like him better in the bullpen), Barria in the mix as well. If the Angels add one solid mid-level rotation pitcher to the staff, hopefully, that’s enough for a playoff run.
As for relievers, we need to keep Inglesias (not Jose). And, Warren, Wantz, Marte, maybe Mayers could be a good core. I left out Jr. G and Cischek, both Maddon favorites. And, we’ve got Bachman, Elvis, and Luke Murphy as possibilities. If the Halos can add two quality relievers, we could be there.
I hope I’m alive to see this team in 2022….
Go Halos
Please no Guerra next season.
Hearing Trout news and most likely being done for ’21, then hearing Sandoval & CRod being shut down i’ve accepted the fact that we are done for this season. LOVE beating the Yankees but really would love to see the youngsters get some experience and get over .500. Our pitching is still an issue (thank you captain obvious) but at least the entire starting staff wasn’t shut down come June as it feels it has the previous 5-6 seasons. Now our “A” lineup was only together for less than 10 games(i think i heard it was actually 4 w/Trout-Rendon-Ohtani together)…..can we rid ourselves of this medical staff already?
Rooting for the youngsters to play this string out and hopefully give us something to look forward to come 2022.
Every player only has so many good years, at bats, pitches, etc. They should shut down Ohtani from pitching too. Save the arm for when it matters.
Be nice to see if he can get 10 wins…..See how he feels, trust him if he says he can go. Rather he take more days of from hitting, helping in the attempt to get 10 wins.
But with your reasoning, I wouldn’t argue with shutting him down.
“Now our “A” lineup was only together for less than 10 games(i think i heard it was actually 4 w/Trout-Rendon-Ohtani together)…..can we rid ourselves of this medical staff already?”
That is a crappy stat that says a lot about next year…if we get a whole new pitching staff.
4:07 start? Did I read that right?
I suspect that Times writer would have a different take if the Dodgers were in 1st. He wouldn’t have the same sympathy for the Giants.
I just read an article at MLB.com predicting the rest of the season. The guy must be a Skankfan fan. He says one reason a Skank-Sux play-in game won’t happen would be if NYY wins the East. I guess he hasn’t noticed the standings.
4:07 start is correct, must be Yankee travel day.
LA Times isn’t worthy of lining a pets cage……
Perry working the revolving door of pitchers?
https://twitter.com/brgridiron/status/1432845974469234689?s=20
Is this real or a put on? If it’s real that’s brutal… but also probably helpful in the long run. A guy who can work hard and focus enough to get an NFL training camp invite could possibly kill it if he took a few months to learn to sell homes or write mortgages, etc and really applied himself there after.
It’s a joke…- lovely joke.
It reminds me of a time way beck in college when I auditioned to play with these two guys who were really cool sax/wind players, played on Rolling Stones albums and a bunch of famous stuff in addition to a ton of jazz.
I did not make the cut at all. They were very frank. One of them basically said, “You’re young, and off to a solid start, but you just aren’t very good, not compared to the other drummers we tried. I’m not saying you can’t be good, just that you aren’t nearly good enough now. So please, get better at the drums or stop trying to play with good musicians.” He literally said “Be well” and sent me packing. Of course, they were right, and it was cool to even audition, but they were like, “either get way better at this or go do something else.”
I know this isn’t real life in Anaheim. If it was he would show the player the door with the phone number in hand for the Rays or A’s so the released player can finally learn how to play.
I guess we’ll have to continue dealing with these 2 dickheads for awhile. Now can we start kicking their ass on a regular basis?
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/09/mariners-extend-jerry-dipoto-scott-servais.html
Wherever Jerry goes, Service follows. Scott would not be managing if not for Jerry.
Nor would he have ran our minor league system in the ground if it wasn’t for Jerry either.
Jerry and his son Scott.
Exactly! LOL They really are really tight. Jerry wanted Scioscia out so Scott could take over when they were here. The bromance started in Colorado when Servais career was coming to an end.
I misspelled, it is Servais. There was another Scott Service (pitcher) in MLB.
Oh he’s ‘servicing’ DiPoto for sure. Scotty was thrilled to get to wear the pajamas because Soth would never let him.
So true, LOL.
Come on now Bro
No need to malice and envy against our more competent former GM like that as opposed to his predecessor or Jeff Luhnow. Our Dear Owner chose the wrong side ( Soth and Albert ) and now he has to own it.
trolled ya! 😀
That Toro/Graveman matchup yesterday was really epic and made Dipoto look very good.
As far as comebackers, adding a helmet/face shield is obvious.
Pitchers also need to be free to work inside more. Guys can dive out o we the plate too easily now. Make the hitters back up a touch, maybe remove some of the body armor. Open up the inner half.
Pitchers are free to work inside, it’s just a lost art.
Dudes wearing body armor and standing on top of home plate is fairly new. You work inside now and you’ll clip a huge elbow pad on a guy who would be 6-12 inches further off the plate if he didn’t have all that protection on.
By “work inside” what we really mean is “scare a hitter a little”. Can’t do that if one of the boxers in the fight is wearing headgear. Of course, all this toxic male talk of creating a slight hint of danger for a huge athlete with a stick isn’t going to go anywhere these days. We all know the only acceptable answer is putting pitchers in foam rubber Sumo suits and motorcycle helmets.
If we go the rout that entails a sous son of manish competition, physical domination and a very slight chance of danger then someone may end up feeling “less than” at some point and the white lady/white SUV crowd will stop letting their kids play baseball and will put them in soccer or E-Sports. It’s just the way it is and it’s what we have to work with.
“High and tight” “chin music” “backing a hitter outside of the batters box” = working inside
Helmet? Maybe, if they develop one that is somehow light weight and flexible so it doesn’t wobble around on your head. Facemask? I have no idea how I ever would have pitched with one on. I am 100% sure I’d have hit more batters with one bothering me constantly. Then we’d have a “we need to save these hitters…” convo going. It’s like football. You’re a pitcher, you know there’s a small chance you can really be hurt this way. I can remember all 5 times I was hit by a batted ball (only 2 line drives, one in the ribs, one in the back) and it was scary, but you just accept it is part of the game. If you want to avoid it, don’t pitch.
Also, not to be a total old man, but all these pitchers have super dramatic follow throughs, like it’s f***ing bull fighting. One of the reasons old timey pitchers motions looked the way they did was because they had to finish in a “fielding position” so as to avoid getting killed by Frank Howard. They may want to bring that back.
Absolutely ban hitting armor. Way to many hitters dig in and just own the whole plate plus 4 inches outside. If pitchers could keep hitters on their toes a little more it really does cut down on hitters just crushing the ball, which is safer for pitchers.
What would Bob Gibson say?
Nothing. He would just pull a baseball out of his pocket and throw it at you.
In a close awards race I’ll always bet on the guy who plays for the MFY.
Brian Cashman seeking help….
I fully expect to see Hand in Halo Red within a week. 🙁
He’ll pitch a couple of times, have so-so outings, and will be ready for summer vacation by the middle of September.
Packy “Spicoli” Naughton says thats Bogus Mr Hand
Relievers fade hard, caution extending Iglesias to anything beyond 2-years. A higher AAV at 2 is better than a longer commitment. Sill like the 1-yr QO as the best choice.
Quick note on Ida. I have friends on Louisiana and was following it closely. Your comment regarding Ida quickly becoming a tropical storm is inaccurate. Ida remained a category 4 hurricane for hours, then a category 3 for another 4-plus hours and then a category 2 for hours as well.
All in, Ida remained a hurricane for an astonishing 12-plus hours over land. And it traveled only 9mph. So if you were near the eye wall it was like having an F1-F2 tornado hanging around for hours.
…and my college student daughter slept through it when it hit Jackson, MS. To be young….
The rements of Ida are dumping prodigious amounts of rain in Virginia today. It’s been dry here, so it’s absolutely welcome.
FS1971 – Mike Trout’s burner account? That was some serious weather chaser detail.
You can’t prove we have been in the same room…..
Go Angels!!
now he’s done gone and stole home too.
he’s the most loco i’ve ever seen watching 50 yrs of baseball. incredible.
Homerun #42 on a hanging curve from (now a reliever) Heaney…PRICELESS!!!
Official 50/100/100/25/150 watch is on HR/RBI/R/SB/H…all nice round numbers.
500 AB is also an easily achieved mark and basically guaranteeing the AL MVP.
Today mlb.com predicted his pitching load will be eased…a good idea IMNSHO.
30 SB!!!
OKAY!!!
I’d love to see 50/30. Nobody has ever done that.
Shohei getting the MVP is a lock, even if his year abruptly came to an end. Knock on wood.
For me, versus number chasing, I’m pulling for him to win the MLB Home Run Title. That is a cool title. That achievement lives a little longer in the back of a baseball card. His chief competitor, Lil Daddy Vlady, is a beast. He’ll be hard to hold off. Sal Perez ( what a year) is only 4 behind but not as concerned and If Tatis stays healthy, he could sneak up there.
Go Shohei!
I had to replay that steal 4 or 5 times for my wife and son, none of us could believe how he was able to break late and slide his hand perfectly right under the catchers body to touch the plate, with the umpire actually in position to see it and not blocked out by the catcher! LEGEND!
He slides are textbook. Very nice.