Today I have a link featuring bad sportsmanship. Specifically, a baseball player punches an opponent in the handshake line. What is wrong with people?
Here is a positive article about Chase Silseth. This one concerns Jimmy Herget. Reid Detmers was named American League player of the week. Congratulations!
Johnny Cueto made it back up to the majors. The Kansas City Royals just fired their hitting coach, Terry Bradshaw. Xander Bogaerts says he is open to in-season extension talks with the Red Sox. Clayton Kershaw and Andrew Heaney are both getting close to returning from their respective injuries.
Albert Pujols gave up three hits including two home runs in his first pitching appearance. Evan Longoria got the first hit and wanted to keep the ball. Robinson Cano might actually get a job with the Padres.
This guy got caught stealing home to end the game. Oops!
Photo credit: Rex Fregosi
37yr old Cesar Valdez gets called up
Valdez agreed to a minor league deal during Spring Training. The 37-year-old reported to Salt Lake, where he’s worked as a starting pitcher. Valdez has averaged north of seven innings per appearance, tossing 35 2/3 frames altogether with an excellent 3.03 ERA. He’s fanned just under a quarter of opponents while walking a microscopic 2.9% of batters faced. Valdez has induced ground-balls at an elite 58.8% clip and only allowed one of 137 batters he’s faced to take him deep.
That’s a very impressive showing, particularly in the context of a move back to the starting staff.
Duffy in the lineup at 1st base today.
1. Taylor Ward (R) RF
2. Mike Trout (R) CF
3. Shohei Ohtani (L) DH
4. Anthony Rendon (R) 3B
5. Matt Duffy (R) 1B
6. Luis Rengifo (S) 2B
7. Chad Wallach (R) C
8. Brandon Marsh (L) LF
9. Andrew Velazquez (S) SS
rhetorical question…
why is it that Trout gets days off? Ward gets days off? Marsh gets days off? Walsh, today, getting the day off, but Squid plays every game?
he doesn’t need off days. The black ink is omnipresent.
He’s naturally got more heart than the rest of the lineup.
Duffy back in the lineup at 1st
1. Taylor Ward (R) RF
2. Mike Trout (R) CF
3. Shohei Ohtani (L) DH
4. Anthony Rendon (R) 3B
5. Matt Duffy (R) 1B
6. Luis Rengifo (S) 2B
7. Chad Wallach (R) C
8. Brandon Marsh (L) LF
9. Andrew Velazquez (S) SS
https://twitter.com/Feinsand/status/1526657430410731520?s=20&t=ha__lvzpFSQm8NhVKXigSw
Lol
Apparently he’s found a new source since Eric Kay’s been gone.
This is actually due to his role in the Skaggs situation.
Matt Harvey comes to the Angels and, basically, sucks. Furthermore: he testified that he gave oxycodone to Skaggs. Skaggs gave Harvey oxy. One of ’ems daid from opiate OD, the other, continuing with the drug dealing and distribution, gets 60 days. Not jail. Suspension.. Seems..too lenient to me. I’m no “get tough on drugs” guy. Far from it. But these drugs are killing 100,000 Americans per year, according to the CDC.
I’ll say what I always say when people OD on opiates, get caught up in meth, go into rehab for alcohol: Would it kill ya to just smoke a little pot every now and then? No, it wouldn’t.
He was given immunity to testify.
I get it. I’m thinking: how about suspension until 2023?
I don’t see the point in putting people in jail for things such as this. The war on drugs is a failure.
You’re right. But suspended for only 60 games? How about the rest of the season, with mandated drug rehab?
For dealing drugs?
Why wouldn’t you put them in jail for dealing deadly, addictive drugs?
(For a moment we will put aside the debate of whether or not prisons/jails should be abolished completely).
Okay guys, I’m finally going to eat my hat and say that Harvey is finished.
No Dark Knight Rising?
Maybe he could do another nude photoshoot for Sports Illustrated. Ya know, “The Boys of Bummer” er something.
https://twitter.com/LAAngelsPR/status/1526344126576222208?s=20&t=_FuMVmR8CoxJX_DISe_Kbg
Absolutely no excuse for that behavior in the handshake line. I know the teenage brain is still developing and prone to erratic behavior, but that can’t happen.
As far as what is wrong with people, generally the answer is a lack of father in the home. Take a look at poverty, arrest rates, high school drop out rates, teen runaways, teen pregnancy, and a host of other problems and the biggest common denominator is lack of a good dad.
Not saying that’s the case with this kid. But I wouldn’t be surprised.
Hard to know the backstory here, gotta be an explanation- another side to it. I’m too GA to look it up
Good news: Angels pitching only allowed 1 run after the 1st
Bad news: So did the Rangers
LA Times reporting Mayor of Anaheim under investigation related to Angels land deal. Don’t have a link, behind paywall. This looks bad if you are a senior Angels employee that doesn’t particularly want to testify before another grand jury.
Yay more good Angels FO news. Never a dull moment.
https://voiceofoc.org/2022/05/fbi-corruption-probe-into-anaheim-mayor-sidhu-stalls-the-angels-stadium-sale/
Or from latimes:
https://news.yahoo.com/state-attorney-general-asks-hold-225858664.html
Maybe Terry should just stick to football. He might want to give up that acting gig too.
Positive: There’s going to be a game in which six runs are given up in the first inning and it’s a loss. Move on and win some more.
Negative: ##$@%^!& Thor!
I mean, it happens to the best of pitchers 🤷🏼♂️. Let’s see how his next start goes
I’m ready to turn the page, as long as Thor doesn’t end up on the IL in the next day or 2. Then it would be TrAdition!!
That’s what scares me the most!
Speaking of TrAdition, it kind of reminded me of a Matt Harvey start.
Please no 🙁 😪
Wasn’t it last year that Ohtani just coming off of TJ had that bad outing in NY where he gave up 7 in the 1st? Just a bad outing, Thor will be fine
So where was the Walsh game changing grand slam? I waited all night .
I saw they scored four runs. I assumed he did, even though they only counted three in the first inning.
I guess I’ll just have to relive the past myself then.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Y2IJpM0HyY
Exactly
Of course they fired Bradshaw, he’s an NFL guy, not an MLB guy!
Age discrimination. 😐
👌
Not a REAL baseball guy.
here’s a real baseball man!
Grady Fuson from Moneyball movie
Yeah and how did that turn out for him?
This is Terry Blake Bradshaw, not the well known NFL personality of the same namesake.
Terry Bradshaw isn’t even Terry Bradshaw. He’s Ben Franklin
Same guy…..
Bees 🐝 to have Robo Home Plate umps starting tonight.
Let’s see if I can link this thing…
Nope, too hard to do from mobile on this site
Can we just post the link in and hit okay? That would be easy. Looks like I need to hit the /link button afterwards 🤦🏼♂️ Hard to edit that from mobile
I think just type the URL, and it autolinks.
https://www.ksl.com/article/50406205/meet-the-new-home-plate-umpire-at-smiths-ballpark-its-quietly-all-around-you
Yup. Old guy teaches younger old guy how to insert a link
Thanks Red!
No sweat.
💪
👌
This should be interesting.
Good morning to all on this terrific Tuesday of sun and fun. Tough loss for many reasons last night. I hope all things are well for Thor and he is able to take his next turn.
Wade vs Duffy seems to be a hot subject around here during game threads. Neither is going to go away because they do different things. Wade is a backup SS-2b, Duffy plays 3rd, 2nd and 1st. Wade is fast, Duffy not so much. Duffy has a little more power. Wade can bunt better. They both have roles on this team, roles that are similar yet different.
For years while seeing the potential in Rengifo but now seeing it happen I have not cared a bit if he was here. But I am now taking notice of patience at the plate and certainly can tell that he worked on his fielding while down at AAA. So with Squid taking over at SS and Wade as the back up, and Wade/Duffy at 2b, where does that leave Rengifo?
Barria looked sharp last night and held Texas down while we hoped and prayed that we could have pulled back into the game, but to no avail. It is strange having pitchers that get the job done instead of making matters worse.
Wade/Duffy…meh. How about Stefanic? Watched him in SLC a week ago, his glove is good and he gets on base.
There was a ball hit up the middle that hit second base, he went to his right, made the adjustment in mid-dive and threw the guy out at first. Handled several other chances well. No errors
I don’t see PTP releasing Wade or Duffy just to carry another infielder. When Duffy went on the IL would have been the time to move the Plumber up and PTP passed on doing that then. Squid, Fletch, Wade, Mayfield, Duffy, Renny, means just too many. The Plumber will have to have patience for the time being.
On top of that, Wade/Duffy/Rengifo are combined for 1.2 WAR right now? I think? It’s not fantastic, but it doesn’t scream “REPLACE THESE GUYS WITH THE UNPROVEN GUY WITH DEFENSIVE ISSUES.” The Plumber will almost certainly be seen at some point this year though if his defense has really gotten better and he still hits over .320.
That’s fair
The ‘Squid, Fletch, Wade, Mayfield, Duffy, Rengifo, Plumber, Rojas’ dilemma
-Ride Squid until he’s either shown have sold his soul to same devil as Ward, playing way above his paygrade…..or confirm and bask in the glory that we found another David Eckstein from the AL East.
-Fletch, hope he come back healthy and becomes the everyday 2nd basemen
-Mayfield, Rengifo, Rojas. Seen all ! need to see, fine with them staying as is, Salt Lake AAAA life’ers, trade, release, keep, what ever PTP wants.
-More Duffy less Wade Ikemen, More AB’s from Duffman, more defensive replacing, pinch running for Ikemen.
–Give the Plumber a try, call him up, send down Rengifo today. If we keep Wade and Duffy as is, utility INF’ers, both play some OF, Wade as pinch runner, Duffman pinch hitter. See if he can hit, its not like the bottom 3rd of our lineup is doing anything (other than Squid lately), we can use another bat. Have him start at 2nd base 4 nights a week, pull him in the 7th for defense, see if he can pitch hit. As good as our offense is most nights we need another bat.
Yeah but does the plumber have any grit? or does he have a trap for that?
Not just any Grit, true Grit…..Plus he has both a S Trap and a P Trap and knows the difference.
Even has his own extra large drain snake.
That’s what SHE said….
Why all the hate on Rengifo? He has the highest average and OPS of any infielder on the team. I’d be inclined to play him more to see if he really has figured it out.
In his whopping 20 PA’s this year? Did you see his stat lines from the last 3 years?
Definitely a small sample size. Still think he’s earned a few more at bats.
I also see that at SLC Rengifo and the Plumber had basically the same average, while Rengifo’s OPS was a hundred points higher. While the Plumber is worth a look at some point, he has no power.
Rengifo isn’t likely going to surprise us at this point.
Let’s see if this Angel Witch Craft with Ward, Velazquez and several pitchers continues with the Plumber.
Strike while Karma is good.
Additionally, while power is nice, later in the order its not a big deal if he doesn’t have it. Just need to get on base, and so far he is doing that in AAA.
Rengifo and Stefanic BA and OBP are in line with one another fairly closely, but like you said, he’s not going to surprise us at this point.
Although we said that plenty of times about Ward too.
Exactly. I say stick with Rengifo till we determine he is not on the same steroids as Ward…. or has not been snatched by the same alien pod people.
I doubt Rengifo will ever experience long term success at the Major League level. Every time I have seen him play he seems to swing from his heels leading to a lot of medium to shallow fly balls. With the advent of this years deadened ball, this very well may be even a larger detriment to Rengifo’s game. Stephanic on the other hand has always seemed to be more a line drive hitter and probably would fare better with the recent changes in the ball.
And strikeouts. 🙁
Sorry . I failed to mention My Lylin’ eyes recorded alot of Rengifo Strike Outs as well.
Lylin’ eyes, haha.
I about forgot Lyle & his 4,000 games, good times!
Oh yeah, well I think he now swings from his hips, with a sassy sense of adventure and hits line drives with the crispness of a November apple. The dead ball will help him fly out less.
And how many actual at bats of Stephanic have you actually been able to find on tape? For that matter.
Microamateur scouting aside, there just isn’t much to lose letting Rengifo play out his string, especially since he’ll be a roster spot decision soon.
And not you specifically, but holy f***, someone on this site should have to kneel down and gut themselves if Stephanic doesn’t turn out to be really good when he gets his shot cause this site reeks of his cologne and the guy’s accomplished squat.
And I actually like him, but some of you guys on here need to get a Real Doll made of the man.
You might go look at last years OPS from the Great Salt Lake for Rengifo & The Plumber before making any player comparisons.
Rengifo .946… Mike .909? Not a huge difference. Rengifo’s more than 100 points higher this yea.
See, your common sense is stupid. It doesn’t matter that Stephanic and Rengifo were pretty much interchangeable at AAA last year accept Rengifo could play more positions better. It doesn’t matter that the same is true this year. It doesn’t matter that many players need around 600 ABs before you see them settle in. It doesn’t matter that Rengifo was pretty good his last call up and doing well now. It doesn’t matter that Taylor Ward is currently fisting every “real baseball man who has been hurt before and has seen enough” guy.
CtPG guy has decided Rengifo sucks, he made errors that we saw with our eyes, he will never have plate discipline (which doesn’t matter for some guys he loves, but is really important for players he doesn’t) and the guy we’ve never seen before must be better…. cause that’s how it always works…. until Stephanic isn’t that good for a ten game stretch…. then “seen enough and I have PTSD” guy will turn on him too.
Get with the program my man.
Taylor Ward and fisting? Is that the same as being pitched inside, in on the hands and fighting off the pitch?
Or is that more about ‘being hurt’ the Steelers drafted a QB with baby hands?
If it’s come down to hand size and strength, similar BA-OBP-OPS, let Rengifo and the Plumber arm wrestle each other, winner gets the MLB roster spot.
Free the Plumber!
reminds me of the Fister-Furbush trade from years ago.
Gold.
Because so far Rengifo has always regressed to the mean, which in his case, is about a 68 OPS+, .217 hitter with average fielding skills at best.
He is just 24 now. It is not unheard of (or even unusual) for players to figure things out at this age. It is down to our weaknesses and injuries that we have seen him at MLB so soon – but after his call up at the end of 2021 and so far in 2022 he has been a different (better) player. No sense not seeing if he can stick.
You mean his September 2021 99 PA call up where he hit a whopping .250/.299/.386? I mean thats a lot better than his first 90 Plate appearances from 2021 but come on, thats not even replacement level.
“So far, through age 23, this guy has not been a solid major leaguer…. he has to go!”
Cause as the saying goes with all great orgs, if you’re not a star by 23 then you’re not for me.
so they should set him free?
I was noticing Rengifo a little bit also. I didn’t check in on his stats but it seamed I was hearing about something he did well now and then. Fingers crossed.
He does get walks. He got another one last night in a pinch-hitting appearance for Romine.
So did Eddie Gaedel.
You bat Gaedel in a bases loaded, two out situation.
would you intentionally walk him?
Does it matter? IIRC, the dude had a strike zone of about 1/2 inch.
any time you IBB with the bases loaded you win. Garon-teed.
Also, Wade can throw a football over them there mountains
“If coach just put me in during the 9th, Ida turned that single into a triple.”
Also, if Coach woulda put me in during the 9th, we would’ve been state champions. No doubt. No doubt in my mind
-Uncle Wade Ikemen
“Gone on to meet my soul mate.”
Give Lafawndah my best….
And during football season you scored four touchdowns in one game!
“Scored four” or “threw for four”?
The latter is not as impressive as the former…
Rengifo will break your heart. If anyone else is interested in him, trade him for a lottery ticket!
Fool me once shame on you. Fool me 12 times? well you know…
How long do you think we have even had Rengifo?
CJ Cron trade to TB.
Too GA to look…seems like 25 years ago.
February 2018
Wait. Didnt we trade him away for about a week back in February 2020?
He’s now played in over 200 major League Games. So theres been a lot of foolishness.