Angels 5 Astros 10
It’s always a challenge to face the Houston Astros’ Framber Valdez and his loop-dee-do curveball. The Angels had their work cut out and luckily for them, they had their two-way stud on the mound to back them up.
It was at the plate where Shohei Ohtani made his contribution tonight, bonking a two-seamer comfortably past the right field seats for his league-leading 44th HR!
Jared Walsh followed that up in the next inning, becoming the first player this year to bonk one off Valdez’s beautiful curveball.
After that, not much went right for the Halos. In fact, you’ll probably want to forget what happened. Wipe it from your memory. Pretend it doesn’t exist. The box score isn’t real.
Shohei Ohtani gave up a ton of runs. Andrew Wantz followed up in relief and somehow struggled more. The early darling of a nascent outing had his story rewritten – of course, not in a good way. The Angels ended up scoring half of their opponent (not good, it’s not golf) and their best player had a mixed performance (not good, it’s not basketball). Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman both had 3-hit nights including run-scoring doubles. It was largely unenjoyable. Jo Adell tripled, though. You’re allowed to remember that.
We’ll get ’em tomorrow. Maybe.
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I woke up irate which looks a lot like irrational so I know I should call down.
Stefanic is not up because Perry says “there’s still work to do”. Since the Plumber is hitting .347 (the last I looked) we assume his fielding isn’t good. But the only reason we think that is because Perry says “still work to do”.
Does Perry know we have a pitcher on the team whose ERA is 15.00? And that the guy’s ERA goes down every time he comes in for an inning and gives up a run?
Yet that guy is on the team. Wouldn’t we say that Petricka has some work to do? And then I remembered Slegers. And then Quintana. You know all the names. I submit, ladies and gentlemen, that Perry is the one with work to do.
In short, bring up Stefanic and let’s see what he’s got
We must keep those crappy pitchers on the 40 man roster.
Agree on the Perry comments, lot of work to do. I for one am a bit surprised by the relative free pass Perry has been given on this site this year. Being near 0.500 should be grounds for forgiveness.
You’re right, he should get a free pass this year, we’ll see what happens with Trout etc back next year.
I think Perry has done an atrocious job. I also think he’s making the right call in not bringing up Stefanic.
So then who gets to play the part of Leonardo DiCrapio?
I got the role of Captain Smith…..I’m riding this season/team 13,000 feet straight to the bottom.
Is it time to maybe not play Gosselin at 3B? Are we keeping him next year (same ? with Mayfield)?
Do we need to give Rengifo more of a look (hitting .357 with a .971 OPS) since his call up? Play Mayfield at 3B and have Goose split time in the OF with Lagares, for the time being. Or see if Rengifo can also play at 3B and see if he can be our potential IF bench player next year.
(Gives us Baretto, Rengifo, Wong; Stefanic, Gosselin and Mayfield in camp next year, fighting for 1-2 spots (depending on if we sign a starting SS)).
Reading this makes me ill.
When our choices are Gosselin, Mayfield, Rengifo, Wong and Baretto, to quote Metallica:
In the name of desperation
In the name of wretched pain
In the name of all creation
Gone insane
We’re so fucked
Shit out of luck
Hardwired to self destruct
Great. Who else do you bring to camp? Who do you sign, for how much?
Sorry, I don’t get paid enough to solve Perry’s problems. I have watched exactly one more game than Lyle Spencer and have acquired the expertise to know unequivocally that Baretto, Rengifo, Wong; Stefanic, Gosselin and Mayfield are not the answer unless the question is “list 6 baseball infielders that will never be a starter on a World Series champion”
Where’s Stefanic gonna play?
SS assuming we can sign a good one in 2.5 months. I’m still a non believer in Perry’s Predecessor’s kids ( Ohtani is all he had and no pitching…..Wantz, Canning, Rodriguez, Kochanowicz are you kidding me? our 2019 draft was a disaster ). 😠 💩 
No Casey Mize there!!
Do you want to pencil him into the starting lineup now?
How about we see how he fares in Spring Training before anointing him?
Maybe he is more Brandon Wood or Jabari Blash than Mike Trout.
Shohei just had a bad pitching night, Buehler and Corbin Burnes had a similar bad outings last week. Shit happens. Watch him come out next time and hurl shutout innings. He is doing great and no worry, he’s had 3-days off in a row from his DH role. Maybe too rested?
Ohtani has plenty of gas left in the tank and he wants the home run crown. The pop tonight was very much needed. It will be good to get a full games worth of ABs tomorrow. Let’s go Shohei.
I don’t know, but post-ASG Ohtani looks nothing like pre-ASG Ohtani. The mental and physical stress of carrying the team as the staff ace and best offensive player has to be taking a toll. If he’s not gassed already, he seems to be getting closer every day.
What Ohtani has accomplished is incredible. We as fans may not fully appreciate how exhausting the sustained excellence has been on him.
As the links the other day suggest, drawing the line at post-ASG might not be completely apprpriate, but I agree he is fading off a bit (though, other than tonight, that was mostly just batting and not as much the pitching, which has been stellar).
But lets not read too much into an off-pitching night against a very good hitting ballclub. And lets hope the few days off of batting gave him some rest, and the HR sparks the remainder of the season.
1986 Wally Joyner pre-ASG: .313/.361/.543
1986 he’s a starter in ASG and co-champion of HR Derby
1986 Wally Joyner post-ASG: .257/.330/.335
But then in 1986 playoffs vs. BOS: .455/.538/.909
So are you saying that Shohei’s slump is due to him suffering from an infected shin and staph infection that will ultimately lead to his hospitalization?
Wally’s infection didn’t affect his performance in the first three games of the 86 ALCS, which leads me to believe the drop off in his second half stats was do to something other than his infection.
Do the Angels win the 86 ALCS if Grich didn’t have to fill in for Joyner at first and a second string player didn’t have to cover for Grich at second for the final four games of the series?
the Angels win the ’86 ALCS if DeCinces gets a sac fly
i.e., Rob Wilfong.
According to Wally’s own words he’s attributing his second half swoon to the Damaged foul ball off his shin right after the break
Yep. I have been saying this for awhile. That is why I believe it is unrealistic to expect this kind of season from Shohei in 2022 or going forward. It may be necessary to choose where we want him to focus; do we want a staff stud SP who gives us 18 starts a year with maybe 15-16 of those being quality starts, or do we want an everyday DH who hits 35+ HR’s and delivers an OPS of .900 +?
My guess is that we won’t be able to get both for more than another year, if that. Assuming Shohei stays healthy I would expect the overall results to go down at least a little going forward… This is most certainly as good as it gets for overall Shohei. And, there is certainly evidence to support a fatigue hypothesis within the season.
Shohei’s BA has gone down steadily since June when he peaked at an AVG of .309 for that month. Here is a look at the last four months of BA :
June : .309
July : .282
Aug. : .202
Sept. : .182
If Rendon and Trout come back healthy and productive next season and we don’t see a big drop-off in Walsh’s performance it may make sense to rest Shohei 2 days a week as a hitter. That is, let somebody else be a DH, perhaps against LH pitching for those days (yes, I know that he has slight reverse splits as a hitter). We could wait until say mid May and based upon where the team is health wise and offensively we could decide to Load Manage Shohei a bit more than was the case in 2021. This would get Shohei off the bases and provide him that little extra time to deal with mental and physical fatigue.
It makes sense to support Shohei the pitcher next season if like I say we have solid production from Trout, Rendon and Walsh (yeah, I know that is a big if considering recent injury history…). If our core position players can remain healthy and productive we should be good enough offensively to survive not having Shohei in the lineup for those 2 days per week….
I just feel like the ability to ask Shohei to go 7-8 innings more consistently and to perhaps have a version of him that provides an ERA or FIP closer to 2.00 than 3.00 helps us more than that little bit more of offense. We will need an ace who can go toe to toe with a McCullers or Cole or Sale.
I think it would be thought to re-sign him if it is clear we won’t let him do both.
I am not saying “don’t do both.” What I am saying is that in order to optimize his performance he should probably not play everyday next season.
well if that’s the case I doubt the Angels can afford to continue to roster 5 starting pitchers and 8 bullpen pitchers in addition to Ohtani. We really need to get this figured out next year,
I’m thinking some of the reasoning behind his last two months of dismal batting average is the overall state of the team and no protection in the lineup. Also think he is going up there to drive the ball. He’s not a high average hitter by any means.
Well, not really. Trout’s last game was May 17th. So he wasn’t in the lineup and protecting him in June and yet Shohei hit .309 that month. I think the lack of protection means more walks for him, but I don’t think the progressive decrease in average is due to that factor.
He’s batting in a line-up of less than stellar hitters, he’s out there trying to hit homers.
Yes, but to my point he was in a line-up of “less than stellar hitters” in June and he still hit .309 that month.
I don’t see anything wrong with Shohei this year to where things would need to be changed. It’s been a hell of a year. I’d take that 10 times out of 10. Until something comes out of his camp that indicates he is gassed; mentally or physically impaired, I’m thinking we just let the player and team manage it. He is mentally tough, real tough. Let’s keep reaping the benefits of Shohei being a two-way player.
Shohei is not a pitching horse, we still need that rotation leader.
I don’t disagree that we still need a top of the rotation guy. But there are not many of those to be had…. If we can’t sign a Robbie Ray etc then Shohei the pitcher becomes that much more important.
I think you misunderstood my longer post above too. I was not saying he should give up the two way stuff. Far from it. I am simply suggesting that he be rested more frequently, which ultimately means that Shohei the DH would not start every game he does not pitch. That’s all. I too want to keep reaping the benefits, however, those “benefits” may be diminishing returns if we are not wise about how we utilize him.
That run he had before the all star break just spoiled the appetite. Fans are now calibrated to think this is the norm when that is asking way too much. He is a good hitter but he is no Mike Trout or baby Guerrero.
If Ohtani was playing a regular 1-9 position during his off days, maybe I would be concerned. But DH? No way. This is what HE wants to do so just needs to perform. He is in great shape. If Joe thought he was dragging his ass, he would pull him.
I don’t agree that Joe would pull him. I think Joe would give in to what Shohei wants on most matters since he knows how valuable he is and the team does not want to damage the relationship…
But I think they are aware of the need to Load Manage him already; this is why you’ve seen starts cancelled where he probably could have pitched etc. We have already seen this to some extent. But I am suggesting it could even be done a bit more.
Shohei’s hitting has suffered the 2nd half. I don’t think it is unreasonable if you look at the steady decline since June to assume that fatigue has at least played some role in that.
I am now done commenting on this topic, lol.
Poop. The comeback didn’t go as i planned. Time to start sharpening pitchforks and adding some fuel to my torches … We’re gonna protest you, Mr Moron-o. 😇👎
Turned it off in the 3rd to go see Shang Chi. Which I highly recommend!!
Looks like it was the right choice.
Shohei is GASSED.
Doing both means nothing if he has nothing left for a hypothetical playoff run. Might need to be addressed moving forward.
21 more games for Trout to miss. Geez, what happened on his jog to third base?
Last I read was Joe saying they’re not ready to shut Mike down “just yet”.
Who do we play in the final series? We’ll probably get some guys, like Cobb, back for that.
As for tonight, I wish it weren’t a thing that when Shohei doesn’t have it the reliever who comes in can’t do his job.
You gotta admit, Trout coming back to put the nail in the coffin of the Mariners season would be HILARIOUS.
It *would* be hilarious if it doesn’t put the Skanks in.
ehhhh I personally think it would be funnier if Jerry + the Mariners extended their postseason streak, and I don’t dislike the Yankees that much, but I can easily see how the opposite opinion can be reached
Meh. Yankee fans won’t be raising a “we made the one game playoff” flag like Jerry and Scotty will do up in Seattle.
I bet it has something to do with growing up in the NYC area and hating the Yankees from an early age. They are the Dodgers of New York.
There are many times I wish the Dodgers were still the Dodgers of New York.
Fair enough!
Mariners, there is a good GM job no matter how much dislike Jedi. They have done more with less than what Anaheim has. Pisses me off.
Got a raw deal with us………Thanks Albert, Soth and Owner. 😠 👎 
He looks like he’s getting a surprise prostate exam.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_jgIezosVA
“Big hands I know you’re the one”
…and he really likes it.
I know. Right? Roberto Baldoquin would have been kin, Sean Newcomb would have been the next Sany Koufax and Taylor Ward would have have been the GOAT if Jerry & his BFF hadn’t got butt hurt and walked out the door.
Well since you’d put that way
Maybe if he stayed then we would’ve been spared of the trials and tribulations of the Dark Ages ( 2016-2020 ). 😠 😩  💩  👈 
What Jedi learned while with the Angels positioned him for being more successful in his next gig. Although we’ll never know for sure, Jedi did not have the gravitas to outwit the dimwits – hence he knew it was time to go.
Watching all these teams play the Asstros without Cole or Springer or trashcans and still get their asses kicked reminds me of that moment in Jurassic Park when both the people in the trams and the T Rex realize that the electric fence isn’t working.
The cheating doesn’t piss me off. Everyone cheats. The Angels cheat. It’s why cheat when you don’t have to? They’d still be WS contenders this whole time, they’re a friggin great team and they totally ruined it for no good reason.
There were people IN the T-Rex? 😇
Besides marc bolan there was a hobbit named peregrine took. So one person, one hobbit
Digestion
Ohtani looked gassed. This was a winnable game. The blowpen did its blow. Oh well, get in yer reps for 2022…
Bringing in Petricka is waving the white flag.
6 more homers for Ohtani to go with his MVP trophy would be something really cool for the Angels history books.
6HR, 7 SB and an additional 4 runs scored. That would be my ideal. Can he do that in a bit over 20 games left?
Not if the teams we are facing are going to walk him every other time he’s up.