Good morning Angels fans! How are you today? Back at .500 again, have some links!
Angels News
The Angels swept the Marlins to get back to .500. Rendon hit a home run and the Angels walked off Miami in a speedy way.
It was not all good news, however, as David Fletcher was placed on the injured list.
He wasn’t the only one with a bad day as Kyle Tyler is on yet another team. The Angels DFA-ed him (again) and he was claimed by the Padres.
MLB Trade Rumors review the Angels offseason. Yeesh, they don’t hold back.
Remember to claim your free fries from McDonald’s! Oh and one more thing… no game today. Again. The third Wednesday in a row. Can you believe that?
Around Baseball
Injuries are piling up for the Mets. Taijuan Walker is now on the IL. Seriously, the Mets and Angels are the same.
Not to be outdone, the White Sox lose both Lucas Giolito AND AJ Pollock. Yeah, that sucks.
Meanwhile, the Rays lose 2 pitchers as well. See, a shortened spring training did increase injury rates.
While that is happening, old man Pujols is back hitting bombs for St. Louis again. Maybe Anaheim is cursed…
Sometimes, when getting blown out, even routine plays can go horribly wrong.
Hey, remember Randal Grichuk? The guy taken by the Angels at 24 in 2009 right before Mike Trout? He is on the Rockies now, and robbed a home run. However, Mike Trout did it better.
When you think Arte Moreno is bad, remember, it could be worse. But, he is still bad, just to be clear. Just that the Reds, well, they have a history of truly awful owners.
Steven Kwan has broken David Fletcher’s record of most pitches not swung and missed to start a career. Kick him while he is down, huh?
At least Mike Trout still has the best OPS in MLB over everyone’s last 162 games. That’s something, I guess.
On the other hand, Andrew Heaney pitched well for the Dodgers in his first start. Yep, the Angels are cursed.
Meanwhile, SF has a female first base coach, history is being made!
Anything I missed? Post below for upvotes!
snakes!!!!!!
Don’t worry unless they rattle…… ☠
It’s not a problem unless they rattle, if they rattle then run like hell.
I thought the MLB Trade Rumors analysis of the off-season transactions to be unfair. They just didn’t do enough to become a legitimate contender.
makes $800K Meanwhile The Oligarch is paying Joe $4M.
Why?
You’re right, if we had a manager that made less the ticket prices would fall and the beer cheaper. SMFH, why do you give 💩 .
inflation?
I will take 3-3 after the Astros series. Really don’t know what to think of Adell anymore. That home run yesterday looked catchable. At least make an attempt Adell.
I think we are going to have to change the name of this site to Crashing The Prolific Grandpa!
Thanx Pal.
Ha! You are prolific in your content. It’s impressive! 😃
Dodger announcers are boring. Glad we have controversial Patrick.
Joe Davis and Eric Karros. Karros is no Gubi, but who is? Right? These 2 sound alike. They don’t change modulation either. Patrick can get excited.
Karros sucks. When he was allegedly a neutral announcer for the Four-Letter-Network, he made it clear while broadcasting Angels games how much he disliked them.
He dissed the Halos on national TV? Very unprofessional and he paid the price, now on local TV.
Dodgers beat up on the Twinkies 8-0 and home discount FA Clayton Kershaw is perfect through 7 and ‘pen hitless in the last 2. Kershaw strikeouts 14 in 7. Dodgers hit 4 HRs.
13 K’s
It’s a off day so, let’s have some fun. Shirley Ellis had the “Name Game” and Chris Berman made a career with nicknames. Guby likes to put nickname handles on our player’s so, I thought instead of trying to solve problems let’s see about taking a break and try to be a little creative.
Mike Trout………Trouty or The Kid……..Mike brought both of these with him.
Jared Walsh…I offer up Lefty…………….Gubi came up with Walshy.
Duffy………………Duffy?……………………I don’t know that he has a nickname.
Mayfield………….Captain Jack…………..One of us here I believe came up with this one.
Wade…………I offer up “Speedo”……….I do not know if he has one.
Fletcher…………..Fletch……………………I think he came with this one.
Velazquez…. I offer Velcro………………..Good fielding SS with a glove?
Rendon…………..Rendone………………..Somone here came up with this during a slump.
Kurt Suzuki…………?……………………….I do not know any nicknames
Stassi………..I offer up “Popeye”………..He does workout and his arms certainly show it.
Marsh…………..Swamp Thing………………Gubi came up with this one.
Adell………….I offer up Dr.Strangeglove.. A take from Dick Stuart from the sixties.
Rojas……………Doubles Machine……….Gubi uses this.
Shohei Ohtani…Shohei or Ohtani……….I have never heard any nickname, Mr. MVP?
Syndergaard…….THOR……………………He arrived with his.
Sandoval…….I refer to him as Sandy….Sandy seems to fit.
Suarez ………………?………………………..I don’t recall hearing any nickname.
Lorenzen I offer up Loren…………….I don’t know of any nickname.
Detmers……………..?………………………..Did Gubi come up with one?
Iglesias ………….Iggy………………………..He arrived with this one.
Loup………………Loupy………………………I do not know where this came from.
Mayers……..Scary or Halloween………….Made up here?
Quijada………………”Q”………………………I don’t know where it came from.
Warren……………….?………………………..Unaware of any nickname.
Ortega………………..?………………………..Not sure of any nickname.
Herget………………..?……………………….I don’t know of any nickname.
Diaz…………………..?………………………..I do not know if there is a nickname.
If I missed any I’m sorry as I did this off the top of my head. Change or add nicknames and see what you come up with, have some fun with being clever or obvious or creative.
Suzuki — Samurai (by me from the old site)
Trout — Fat
Rojas — The other Red
Trout also Fatboy. I like Samurai. Who would the first Red be? lol
[looks around innocently]
Marsh = Caveman or Baseball Jesus
Stassi = Secret Police
Shohei = Shohei-hei Victor coined Ohtani-san (I think)
I like your names for Marsh and both for Shohei, but how did Stassi get Secret Police? German name?
The secret police in East Germany were called the Stasi.
The “Stasi” were the German State Secret Service. Started in 1950 and disbanded in 1990 but were notoriously one of the most effective and repressive of State police agencies.
This is the perfect name for Max and should not change.
I came up with that nickname, and as BruinsAngelsKings and JackFrost noted, the Stasi were the East German secret police.
Ohtani-san is simply the name “Mr. Ohtani” in Japanese.
Secret Police is great.
Horrible piece of history, but great nickname.
Shohei is “The Show.” It is perfect. Phonetically it is his name!
For Marsh I think we had Gump or Forrest.
We all love The Simpsons here, so I propose the nickname “Beer” for Duffy. As in Duff Beer.
We could also call Shohei “Showtime.” It has either got to be “The Show,” or “Showtime.”
I like Showtime the best, although all his nicknames are good. Ohtani-San is respectful and that is relevant to their culture.
When I am hanging out with myself and my other selves we call him BAMIES
Biggest Asian Man I’ve Ever Seen
Marsh is Teen Wolf
🤣
How are you feeling Lana?
I love Velcro, Anybody know if that’s ever been used before?
Kershaw took a perfect game thru 7 and they pulled him. Like, I get why, but come on.
14 K’s in 7 innings in first game since last July. Perfect thru 7. WOW!
Just a joy to watch him pitch.
13 K’s
Kershaw perfect through 7 in Minnesota
Along with back to back to back, how perfect.
7 perfect and Roberts pulled him as this is his first start this year. I understand, but……
Hey, remember the other day how we were talking about old commercials and discussing how Jack Stephan owned Adeedoo? Saw this in the drive-through today.
Jack and Adee had a daughter? Who knew?
Well, I was born a Plumbers daughter
Yeah, I’m proud to be a Plumbers daughter
I remember well the well where I carried PTP’s water
The work he done was hard
At night we’d sleep ’cause we were tired
I never thought I’d hear Mike Butcher Holler
Free the Plumber!
But do you know what dangers lurk in your plumbing?
Adee-Do
Re Heaney – the Angels aren’t cursed.
They are poorly analyzed and coached due in part to low budgets. Dodgers on the other hand have fantastic analytics available and superior coaching. The best money can buy.
This is a game of inches so small little improvements can mean a lot.
Good example of that is the Astros and their defensive metrics. Supposedly they have a very extensive team doing computer driven analytics. In the just completed series with them we saw that difference as they had guys positioned perfectly in their defensive to rob our batters of hits (I am thinking of plays made on Ohtani and Fletcher in particular…)
They probably could have saved alot of money and just asked CTPG where position their fielders . For the right sum, we could have told them the same thing.
I like Heaney, hope he does real well.
For years we watched as Heaney went through his ups and downs, even when using multiple pitching coaches. I do like him as a person but the inconsistency’s he has displayed were disheartening. Even after trading him to the yankees he was so bad they put him in the bullpen, so no I am not going to get excited over one good start for Heaney. Let’s check back on him in June.
To be honest, we have seen enough of Heaney’s upside, along with his downside, to know how well he could pitch IF someone fixed him–i.e. employ him so that he doesn’t often fall into situations where he sucks and make sure his good side shows up as often as possible. It’s not just coaching, but coaching, FO, and manager working hand in hand harmoniously (or, FO running the whole thing and micromanaging coaching and managing). It’s gotta be pretty hard to pull that off properly, though….
F*** I love you guys….
Till 2021 – “Heaney just doesn’t have what it takes to be a major league pitcher. I was a middling high school coach for years. I can see that he just doesn’t have the skills. He doesn’t announce his presence with authority or breath through his eyes. He pitches with a weak heart and watery blood. He doesn’t pronate his clivicus miximus nor does he claim his half of the plate and fill it with pie. He his dead, fish like eyes and his flat fastball moves too wildly towards where the bat is swinging…. fire…desire… mambas… Weaver…. Nolan Ryan.”
Less than 5 innings with the Dodgers in 2022 – “Awwwww f***! We’re too cheap to have the bleeps and bloops that have made it clear that Heaney is a true ace! I knew it all along!”
And please, tell me more about how we need to put Justin Upton on an ice flow… then complain that we put Justin Upton on an ice flow.
CtPG = Shitty girlfriend.
Ha! Classic!!
that’s perfect!
I have not changed my mind. I posted back in November that I thought that getting a top-of-the-line SS was important and of course was met with resistance as most felt that pitching was more of what was needed. It wasn’t that I disagreed so much as that I was not a fan of switching Fletcher to SS.
Fletcher can play SS very well, but I had two reasons that were not taken seriously. First was I felt that David was the best fielding second baseman I had ever seen in the field and remembered a few years ago when we didn’t have Fletch or Howie and it was a nightmare
Secondly was I did not think that Fletcher would hold up for a full season at SS physically.
Playing SS is really a lot tougher than playing 2b on the body. Tougher on the legs, shoulder and arm, which in turn means the whole body.
David is my favorite on the team, we all have favorite players other than Trouty or Shohei and I have David and Marsh. So, I believe Fletch will return and do just fine, but I also believe we need a SS so Fletch can return to 2b.
Pitching was the priority, as it always is with this team. I think there’ll be opportunities during the season to get a SS. That SS may be a defense-first SS, but I’d take that at this point so that Fletch can go back to 2B where he belongs.
Defensive first, yes. Defensive only, NO!
Agree, right now we have neither. All the talk Perry had at his intro presser about run prevention was just fodder. Defense matters.
I’d say that with this team in its current makeup, improving the pitching would help run prevention waaaaay more than a better SS. And we’ve seen Perry focus on pitching more than getting a legit SS. So I’m in agreement with his priorities thus far.
I think the improvements he’s made “top to bottom” with pitching are a good start. But to your point, it appears we already need to replace 3 or 4 guys in the pen, start with F’ing Mayer, today, please. Cross our fingers a few down at AAA can help, another surprise like Warren will go a long way.
agree – i love Fletch at 2B but skeptical the Angels are playoff club with him at SS.
if the club believes we can get by on offense with a defense-first (only?) SS, then Velazquez is the guy.
seems the plan though is go with what we had in March and mix/match all over the IF.
With Fletch out, I’d put Captain Jack at SS every day. Ride him, see where it goes. His bat, with all its limitations, might be the best bat/glove combo we have outside of Fletch.
Try to get Conforto on a 1 year deal to show he’s healthy. Let Adell spend the year in AAA
Conforto isn’t great but he’s an available veteran with at least a history of production. Adell looks like he needs a sports psychologist for the defensive yips.
I disagree about the need for a guy with not much better a glove than Adell and who is injury prone. Adell will improve as the coaching staff is aware of his defensive liabilities in the field. His bat will improve, and he will most assuredly be a better play than the ex Met.
Conforto turned down a qualifying offer and thought he was worth a lot more. So no teams wanted any of that and now you think his payroll demands will fit in the budget?
You think Adell is that much of a problem and I believe he will improve as a major league Angel, but my way fits the budget a whole lot easier so, Perry will stuck to keeping Adell around a little longer.
Rendon made an error that was more costly yesterday, should we put him in SLC too?
We already have one full time DH. we don’t need another.
Dude, Adell looks lost in the OF. Meanwhile, Rendon has been a legit All-Star 3B for years. That comparison isn’t even close to rational. Next time Trout makes an error will you surmise he’s now the same as Adell?
On Trouty’s next error he should be shipped immediately out to the Trash Pandas, and he should take Rendon with him.
I think we need something between starting Adell all the time and signing someone like Conforto at too high a salary. A good defensive veteran on the bench (hopefully with a serviceable bat) who can slot into the starting lineup often enough, but not as a full time starter. Unfortunately, we don’t have one of these either (and I suppose people like these are a hard find these days…)
Should have kept GG around another year.
There are still FA Vet OF out there. Then again, Ward is due back from the minor groin injury this week – so perhaps not all doom and gloom so soon?
What do you think of the idea that Umpire review calls be made at the stadiums instead of New York? Require each team to have 5 or 6 cameras recording the action on the field and have the TV Director post the plays for the Umpires to help make better decisions. The weight times will not change, but the outcomes could be more honest and accurate. What do you think?
I think wait times would absolutely get longer for reviews. If the guys on the field are the ones making the decisions then they’re going to be extra careful and take their time. With some no-face guys in NY making the calls it gives the on field umps less accountability as its not them making the calls, while also absolving the replay officials in NY of facing any scorn. I also think the advantage of having huge screens to view the replay on is helpful. Not sure they could make that happen on an MLB field in the middle of a game.
Good morning gang, all is well in Angels Land. 5-5 start is not bad at all as the arrow is pointing up. And what a finish to the game yesterday and even more surprising is it was us who came out on top!
We have the pitching! No not Arby’s, we do, the Angels. 2 weeks ago, all that was posted was gloom and doom for Lorenzen as a starter, guessing everything is cool now though.
If you were to graph the comments about Adell it would go way down to way up and to down again. A roller coaster ride. Give the guy a break for Pete’s sake or for Joe & Perry’s sake. Jo-Jo will be fine in the long run.
Doom and Gloom runs rampant here and it’s every day. We all want the same things, like making the playoffs, Mike and Shohei to battle for MVP, Fletcher to hit .300, Rendon to be consistent, Walsh to hit lefty’s, Thor to win 20, and Maddon to learn how to make a lineup card. But to find fault in just the bad and not see the good is just defeating the reason we are here, and that’s the love of baseball, the Halos and to share that with others.
Enjoy the day off and stay positive my friends, It’s a great day indeed.
Adell better start hitting or his defense will earn him a one way ticket to SLC.
Even Upton was more reliable in the outfield.
IMNSHO we let Upton go about a month too soon.
Nope.
…or 3 years too late
I don’t know. I’m not really arguing that they should have kept Upton, but I’m just worried about Adell. He just seems off to me. Hopefully he puts it together.
I’m following the concern and agree too. From what it looks like in hindsight, Perry knew he was cutting Upton and Perry knows Adell’s defense is and has been poor. Why didn’t the Angels acquire or sign a FA OF during the offseason? Our back-ups are Ward and Rojas with their own defensive shortcomings while playing out of position?? This is, Angel Front Office malpractice and they should not be in charge. Just no foresight.
Fansince1971 made a great comment above that I think gets to the heart of the problem. Sadly, our Angels is a poorly run organization.
*Was
I hope you’re right.
Brandon Marsh is a keeper and I am really intrigued by Seiya Suzuki. I think he’s a complete outfielder. I’m not sure how the whole Shohei dynamic would have worked but this would have set up our outfield for years while developing some trade capital to fill other needs.
As Adell continues to struggle I doubt this will help his value there by forcing us to work through his inherent deficiencies
Love Seiya Suzuki but did not think the Angels would pursue him to the Shohei dynamic you mention. I don’t’ think Shohei would want to share the spotlight or overshadow another Japanese player. I was hoping Seiya would end up in San Francisco 1st or San Diego. I read where he wanted to sign with team that plays in a hitter friendly confines. Wrigley offers that.
Are we back to this? Two Japanese stars can’t exist in the same clubhouse because of ego? Do we have any evidence whatsoever that Ohtani is that ego-driven?
I think if it is a player that helps the team win, Ohtani would be all behind it.
And I never hear that about other players – have we shied away from someone because they were from New Jersey (Trout), or failed to sign local talent to defer to the Weave? Can there be only one Japanese, two Dominicans, and three Floridians per team, or something – or else they ruin the dynamic?
Agree, Upton may not be as bad as Adell but Upton is just not good. Glad that dude is gone.
As ugly as that was, when I saw it my first thought was “I did that at least once when I played”, of course I never did it in a MLB game. But, I do know what he was feeling and saying to himself “#$%#S%Y^$%%$% ^&!!!!!”
I want to believe in him, however I’ve got that nagging feeling we should have dealt him him when his prospect hype was through the roof.
He just looks like a “deer in the headlights” when he’s in the field…
Oh dear, that’s not a deer as the cost of a picture of a deer may be too dear.
He needs like 2 more seasons in AAA solely to work on his defense. It won’t happen, but that’d probably be what is best for his longterm play. He’s young, so if he could work on his defense to the point where when he’s about to hit his prime he’s at least an average defender, it’d help all parties.
Except for the times his eyes appear to be completely closed.
Can’t get back to .500 if they were never there previously. ::taps temple meme::
0-0?
Maybe Brent’s comment fell into the Chasm of Sar?
Meant as hiking buddy down in the deep Chasm.
I have a feeling we will have a lot of .500 records this year. 3-3, 9-9,
13-13, 22-22, 47-47…………….probably end with 81-81.
it’s from 2019 but nonetheless…
https://www.theringer.com/mlb/2019/6/21/18700398/mike-trout-los-angeles-angels-playoffs-war-mediocrity-500-record
A great recommendation and an informative read.