It looked as though the Angels would suffer a 4th consecutive loss as Michael Lorenzen threw 24 pitches in a rough first inning. Appearances were not, in fact, deceiving, but the starter could hardly be faulted by anyone who looked past a cruel and unforgiving box score.
What those who stayed actually saw tonight was a bulldog buckling down after that concerning start to deliver 6.2 innings of 2-run ball. Archie Bradley prompted relieved him by charging him with a 3rd run, and a very solid quality start was in the books.
For all the headaches that Bradley induced however, whatever was afflicting Barraclough, Loup, and the defense in the 8th inning must have been degrees upon degrees of magnitude worse. Following a 7th inning 2-run go-ahead homer from Mike Trout, Kyle Ballaclough as he will probably be known from now came in with a 4-3 lead and threw almost nothing over the plate. 9 pitches and 0 swings into his appearance, the Jays had a man on first and second with no outs and people were livid. A deep flyout to left that Vladimir Jr. screwed up taking third on later, and Aaron Loup was in to try and save the day.
The ensuing strikeout earned loud cheers from the attending crowd bef-oh god
On the other side, the Halos lineup continued to string together solid knocks with hard hit outs in a continuation of the offensive woes since the loss of Taylor Ward to injury. Yusei Kikuchi was not exactly masterful in his 5 innings, but he was a far cry or at least a few lucky shifts from the total tire fire he had been in Anaheim in his Mariners days. He worked around baserunners in every single inning before the Angels managed to scrape up 2 runs in his 5th and final one.
Matt Duffy, who probably had more hits in this one game than the rest of the season combined, and Mike Trout came to play tonight. 3 RBIs on 7 hits between the two of them went a long way toward putting the brakes on the losing streak and lighting up that halo. Almost long enough to succeed! Juan Lagares also turned in a two-hit night.
Oh well, turn the page again. We have another game against a blue team tomorrow. Let’s try and avoid dropping 5 straight, yeah?
Okay so to recap:
Raisel broken
Loup broken
Archie Bradley broken
Austin Warren IL
Quijada IL
Barraclough broken
I mean, who tf is left besides Jimmy Herget? Might as well use Barria to bridge the gap for now, me thinks. Rough out here.
Quijada is back and Warren coming back. Bradley just came back so give it some time. Not sure if Loup has been overused. Tepera has had some spells. Raisel has been a huge concern. Ortega has been great. Surprised you didn’t mention the recently departed Mayers. I’m hoping Sandoval goes deep and Halos only need 1 or 2 innings of relief. The upcoming match-up vs Yankees will be a huge test.
I would put Quijada in the broken category until he actually gets guts out.
Ortega had a bad outing but he’s been a winner this year.
Barria is having his best season ever coming out of the pen.
We all knew and said this season would depend on health. When healthy this team can play with anyone. Even injured, this team has challenged a hot, young, talented Blue Jays team. The difference between winning and losing is so small that losing a small advantage to injury makes a big difference. That has been the difference in the last 11 games.
Again, the team has gone 3-8 but had a significant chance of 7-4 but for bullpen failure. The guys are fighting but overcoming key injuries is tough work.
Just read on ESPN that Tender Tony’s hand has actually been hurting all year and flared up on Thursday when he swung at a pitch. No explanation from Aching Anthony why it was hurting in the first place. Now he says it’s a “waiting game.” I wouldn’t hold my breath while waiting, but it is a full time job keeping track of all his injuries.
Looks like I picked a pretty good week to work 3 double shifts in a row. I’m not liking this.
Thought you were gonna say …
Ward back in right, Quijada activated and Junk optioned
Lagares to the Trash bin?
Bench
So he can put on more weight? Thats not helping us.
Have to think that if Lagares doesn’t work out, we will see Adell back up (after he recovers from the bout of flu).
His D isn’t that bad – as we have seen with the combination of Wade, Lagares, etc.
Adells defense was bad, bordering on embarrassing, so don’t kid yourself. I think it was also affecting his plate performance, but I just can’t believe we don’t have better options somewhere in our system .
Heck, The Angels would have even been way better off signing Kole Calhoun for 4 million. At least we’d know that the ball is going to be caught and thrown back in if its hit to right field.
Well, Calhoun is already under contract (for 5.2M with an option for next year). That wasn’t ever an option.
We could have kept playing Upton, I guess – but it would have likely meant playing Upton instead of Ward (no one wants that, given Ward’s performance).
If we are talking about the real world, what are the current options?
I think, given the play of those who have replaced him – given Ward’s injuries – we need to bring Adell back up. We don’t have another OF on the farm – so either Adell or we find another FA OF to cover (Lagares doesn’t seem to be the answer).
Rendon- medical waste?
Bearclaw and Loop are examples of why I don’t like the 3 hitter minimum rule
I like Squid at ss and would love to have the T-shirt but someone needs to take him aside and tell him he is not a power hitter. we have several players with speed including Squid who could be a much better player by cutting down on K’s becoming contact hitters
He’s a career utility role player. He is what he is. We went into this season without 2 SP’s and a SS. Now it’s catching up with us.
Yes but if he wasn’t always swinging for the fence, making more contact using his speed he would be so much more than a utility player. Marsh could be another one to cur back on his swing to make more contact
Squid’s problem isn’t swinging for the fences. Squids problem is plate discipline. You don’t swing badly at the first pitch that is well out of the strike zone after they had to make a pitching change with the bases loaded. I would think Wade would have at least given us a more quality at bat.
Squid, Wade and Marsh all have a problem with pitch selection, they are all similar with speed and would be better with better contact
Squid vs RHP’s 2022 .169/.239/.277
Wade vs RHP’s 2022 .231/.281/.325
Who would you rather take a chance on in the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded?
I guess this discussion becomes academic since Joe pinch ran for Taylor Ward last night after his Base on Balls. I’m not sure how Wards impinged shoulder affected his ability to run though.
Squid has been hitting much better the last three weeks or so. That is a factor, I would think.
And guess who struck with the bases loaded to end the game. I outthink this room all the time. I’d want either one of those two above than Velazquez any day, oh don’t forget about Frankie Montas will be traded too.
💪 💪 💪 💪
You realize DeJong has an OPS of .417 this year. Squid is out hitting him (by a lot).
Also, Squid is in there because of his glove – which is why he has twice the WAR of Andrus thus far.
(And he didn’t strike out – if that is what you were trying to say).
But sure, Montas would be nice.
Oh and by the way, Squid is now slashing .286/.313/.429 in his last 18 games & 76 PA’s. With his defense I’d take that any day of the week.
Don’t give a shit either. He’s a career journeyman utility guy.
Guys like that usually fall apart when they have to play more in any sport.
If really knew WTF you’re talking about then you’d know this…….MR STAT AND HISTORY NERD. I remember the late Chet Forte used be annoyed with former KLAC radio personality Steve Hartman with his buffoon numbers and useless facts. INTANGIBLES DO MATTER.
You can’t even outthink your mommy in the next room. You better not be late with her rent check this month
You’re jester who can’t make a real-time decision and you need 3 wks worth of data to make a decent gutless decision otherwise. Talk about Captain Hindsight buffoonery.
Why don’t you go find Denny McClain’s numbers from 1967 maybe that’s enough stat porn for you to ingest.
Not again!!! 😢 😢 😭 😭
A synopsis of each player has been covered already so, I will forgo being redundant at this point. Our player’s are not so much the issue or problem as much as they are played. I am aware that on Friday’s line up Joe’s options were zilch and so I did not point any fingers at him. Already mentioned here is this mess is to be blamed on Arte Moreno, Perry, and Joe, so maybe all have something to do with the last 2 weeks.
The players have to be also accountable at some point also. Arte for not using cable monies to raise the team’s self imposed cap, PTP for not having foresight when building the roster to have another capable OF’er, Joe for being unable to change his asinine ways that are the definition of stupid and the player’s not making adjustments at the plate.
I posted here about a month or so ago that we needed GG back, little did I know he was done and sitting at home watching TV. I was inpatient with Redone not aware that he was not 100%, and felt really stupid for posting something stupid and ignorant about Canning not knowing of his back issues.
Injuries are part of the landscape, and how the team handles these situations is part of the same, just ask the Yankees, Dodgers or Mets. Yankees started to pitchers in the last week that never started a game in the majors prior. Player’s not performing at their expected levels is always a part of the game. Surprises to every single team take place every year as some players show up and play great.
While the Angels may have been playing above their collective heads up until recently they still do not get a pass in this losing streak. Each player can make adjustments to raise their success rates at the plate. Each pitcher knows what needs to be accomplished to succeed out on the mound. I see the word “unacceptable” frequently used here and it is used properly in most instances, but not being open to being better and making changes is, well, unacceptable at this point.
I am going to single out a couple of things here. Marsh needs to learn how to pull the ball and increase his making contact to cut down on his strikeouts and being more successful. RF’ers now play rightcenter against him and leave all of RF open. Shohei needs to learn the strikezone and resist swinging at low and away pitches as he just can’t resist swinging at what he can’t hit. both he a Marsh need to tighten their swings up and stand closer to the plate and learn to watch the pitch and keep their heads in on the pitch.
Joe Maddon seems like a cool guy and not doubt that he is. Wearing out your welcome in two cities that he was very successful in work seem pretty tough. In Chicago it was for doing the same crap that he is doing here. Crazy lineups, poor feel for pitcher use and not being aware of how to motivate his players. We all know the definition of stupid, trying the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Case in point, Aaron Loup’s use in the same situations two consecutive nights in a row. Maddon and Sosh stay with pitchers coming out of the pen to long. On Friday why stay with a pitcher who has just given up two hits and no outs who clearly is off his game.
This season I hope we are buyer’s as we need some roster help.
Wow, GP. What a well-stated message. I am onboard with what you say.
Joe had no choice but to bring in Loup. Bearclaw couldn’t even find his seat in the dugout let alone the plate last night. And if our defense first right fielder hadn’t eaten too many bear claws during his down time we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now.
These are Perry’s players ( that he signed) and Perry’s development system ( that were rushed to quickly to the bigs) and for the most part Perry’s coaches (Montgomery, Kevin, Gil, Mashore & Chiti. to name a few) Perry should wear last night this and last Fridays meltdown with dishonor.
I certainly blame Soggy Joe for letting Squid make the last out last night with Uncle Rico Suave on the pine, but you cant make chicken salad out of 9 innings of chicken shit because eventually you have to eat it
Do you mean Wade? He used Wade to pinch run for Ward – to avoid a play at second.
(Not sure that is better, but he used everyone on the bench).
Didnt catch that but why? the bases were loaded his run was meaningless. Theres no indication that ward couldn’t run.
Agree on all of that – but that is what Maddon did.
Agree. I’ll add that the comment about bringing Loup in, after multiple failures, in a close and late situation seems a very poor choice as there were other options. Let Loup figure things out in a game where there is more of a margin for error.
I think you are way overboard and off-base in your critique of Maddon. While one could reasonably argue for the “poor feel for pitcher use”, especially if you are using the last three weeks as your barometer, nobody was saying that about him in April when our bullpen was mowing down batters.
Saying that Maddon is “not aware of how to motivate players” is way off-base. He was very well liked by his players in Chicago and you did not hear negative things coming out of the players in Tampa Bay about him. This is your projection. As far as fans in Chicago, this is typical fan behavior. Fans pretty much always blame the manager when things don’t go well. This is what fans do. The manager is the easiest target since he is one dude and he is high profile. It is much easier than blaming a series of underperforming players. I think you are falling victim to this GP. It is just easier for you to blame Maddon than to think deeply about what players are not coming through lately.
All that said, I too have had various problems with Joe’s decision making lately, especially in this Toronto series. But I am not ready to throw him under the bus because of this. Managers make hundred of decisions during the course of a full-season, and perhaps even a couple thousand if you include lineups and rotation etc. It is a mathematical certainty that a good number of those decisions will not work out.
Unfortunately, it is the nature of the fan (and this would of course include all of those supposed Maddon hating Cub fans in Chicago) to remember the “bad” decisions or ones that don’t work out and to forget the good ones when the player succeeds and the result is good. It is the curse of the manager in a sense that players get the credit when they win and he gets the blame when they lose. I guess it comes with the territory.
And like players, I do think managers can have “slumps” for lack of a better term. We will typically forgive good players when they go into a hitting slump, so why not managers?
If I am going to be hypercritical of a manager it is usually going to be because he has shown stubborness in patterns and blindness to game context and situation over a LONG period of time; so not just a month, but a season, or really multiple seasons such as Scioscia did.
So, in conclusion I think you are being short-sighted in your angry rant at our manager. Coming off the series win in Boston you were not saying these things, nor were you after we took the first two from Tampa.
Joe’s decisions this past week have not been great, but in his defense he has been given a very hard hand to play with the rash of injuries that we have been hit with lately.
,
Loup is broken.
I was just going to say the same exact thing after reading through the comments. Obviously I agree.
I said this in yesterdays postgame
Loup is Poup?
And a two year turd to boot
Mike Trout hitting a home run was cool. Nice fireworks show too. 😍👍
Silver lining II: Matt Duffy
Wasted HR and part of painful Buttercup.
Not Trout’s fault we got buttercupped however. 😣
I was frustrated and a bit drunk last night. This resulted in some frustration which I focused on $245 million Tony.
Woke up this morning and realized it’s just another baseball season in which I have invested myself too deeply. Time to take one of those healthy steps back for some perspective.
The reality is that this team has hit a bad stretch in which they have lost 4 in a row twice with 3 wins sandwiched in between.
While the injuries to Ward, Rendon and Fletch are very frustrating – the team would have won 4 more games during that stretch (including last night) had the bullpen held leads. So instead of 3-8, they would be 7-4 over the last 11.
So while the injuries are frustrating, the team is still playing well enough to win. It’s been mostly a bullpen failure – which happens to every team at times. The really difficult thing is that usually reliable Loup and D-Cell were primarily responsible for those bullpen failures.
So, I’m gonna chill and hope they win today. Hopefully Loup can turn things around. D-Cell will be fine.
Start a winning streak today. This team is still good enough to compete even with 3 key injuries.
I focus on Tony too. His impossible salary and declining skill set and body cripples our future. It’s not his fault management has no viable plan, but here we are. We can’t cobble together a viable roster under the current circumstances.
Drunk or not – Tony sure seems like a horrible deal. Hope he gets well and starts mashing.
A hope is what it is. It simply can’t be expected based on his recent injury history.
My one week old long comment about him seems prophetic right now…
Hopefully there is some urgency to shake the roster up a bit.
I also don’t understand why we can’t plug Walsh into RF or LF and let Ward start at first until his shoulder is better.
No. Don’t f_ with Walsh. He is a very good 1B and if you throw him in the OF it might f_ with his bat etc.. I don’t like it. Lagares is normally very good defensively — his head/heart were not in the game last night. He should have made that catch.
We’ll win some more games before the season is over.
The team was not as good as they played in early May; the team is not as bad as the have played the last 10 games.
I still believe they will make the playoffs.
If they don’t, heads need to roll.
.500 was my preseason prediction and that seems about right still.
“HACHA…HACHA…HACHA!!”
This team is mediocre and always will be.
Sounds like a fan.
If what you say is true—wouldn’t that make you an idiot for sticking around and paying attention?
Just let the team go, bud.
I’m happy when they win, but the last seven years have taught me not to expect it.
Boo fkn hoo.
I’m still pretty certain we will win some games this year. Maybe even this next month. Till then, let the cold wind of misery strengthen us while it carries away the weak and sad of sack.
We aren’t nearly as boned as we were last year. Ohtani still kind of sucks but probably won’t all year, Rendon was doing well and will likely do the same if he makes it back alive, Walsh is still solid, Marsh hasn’t fallen off a cliff, Trout’s good just slumping a little, Squid’s actually good at SS and has 1.3 WAR already, Rengifo, Duff and Wade are fine for bench pieces, Ward will likely be OK too. On top of that we have some good SP. we just need some hitters to get back on track and Loup/Raisel to either get right or go on the IL.
There will still be plenty of season left, even on July 1st. We still have a good shot at being the worst best team ever.
Houston goes 5-5 over their last 10 while we go 3-7.
Could be so much worse.
But if we’d have just fired PTP last week we’d certainly be 5-6.
You didn’t see nuthin
Problem is Mia, you are only looking at the AL West. We have lost massive ground in the Wild Card the last week and over this homestand. Not only has Toronto ripped away our cushion over them and moved ahead of us, but the Rays have picked up ground and passed us, now sitting on top. We are in the very precarious 3rd position where we are in danger of falling out of the playoffs completely — there is a big difference between holding the top slot with room for error and sitting on the bottom where we are now being threatened by Texas and Chicago who are both only 3.5 games out.
This would be my concern as well… in August.
**BREAKING NEWS**
Just heard on the Trent Rush post-game comedy show that Jo Adell is still a “work in progress.”
That does ring a bell..
Is it pathetic?
Barraclough had NOTHING going on, and I was glad to see Joe pull him after that deep drive that Marsh caught. (That I was sure was gone off the bat.)