Slow down, guys. It is a Friday afternoon. No need to breeze through half the game before most of us get off work.
But that is exactly what happened. Patrick Sandoval was looking like the young gun we’d hoped he’d be, cruising through 5 innings on 54 pitches with worm burners galore. He allowed a couple of base runners over that time but did induce two double plays and nearly a third.
This game started as being all about the return of Trout and he delivered a knock early.
But the night would end with Sandoval as the hero and Manning as a tough luck loser as he also dealt.
Matt Manning was the guy I wanted to trade Adell for in every off season piece for the last few years, mowing through the Angels lineup early. Of course it helps when that lineup features Adell, Rojas, Suzuki as a bottom third.
Offense? Yeah there was one play.
That was it until the late stages of the game. One run on one swing of the bat to make it 1-0 Angels in the second and that run held for the rest of the game.
Manning left after seven with the solo shot to Walsh as his only blemish. Be only gave up 3 hits total.
But the man of the night was clearly Patrick Sandoval. He was mixing his pitches well, throwing strikes, and getting agead of nearly every hitter.
Normally the change up is Sandoval’s best pitch. Tonight the slider was nearly unhittable. And he used it nearly a third of the time.
Hats of to the trio of Tigers who combined for 9 innings of 3 hit ball. But the three of them combined were no match for Sandoval tonight.
Complete game shutout. 4 hits with 3 of those base runners erased by double plays. 10 times he got ahead 0-2.
Dominance.
Is this the Saturday day game thread?
I’ve been really impressed with Sandy this season. Even on those games where he didn’t have his best stuff, if the offense had some semblance of competence in them, he could have easily won those games, or at least take a no-decision.
If reid and sandoval continue to pitch well, shouldn’t they pitch every 5 days next season? Less games pitched = less opportunity for wins. Just a thought.
Sandoval fits in very nicely as a #3 or #4 starter. Detmers projects as a #3. Ohtani is a solid #2. Lorenzen is a #5. Suarez is a #5.
From a pitching perspective I think the team is pretty well set in the #3-#5 spots.
What is missing from a playoff team perspective is a true #1 and a #2 (unless Ohtani stays).
And of course the bullpen is somewhat of a mess.
Hopefully some of that young pitching in AA can fill the bullpen holes and Perry can focus on finding one FA pitcher who will make a significant difference.
Team just needs to get a little luckily and have some of these kids in the system evolve into productive major leaguers.
Sandoval and Detmers probably have higher upside than #3, but yes, it’s not wise to get carried away on “upsides.”
The bullpen picture is depressing. We’ve gotten burned by dumpster diving, free agency, and, at least some of the in house candidates. But what else is there to do?
Ummm, I don’t know what you have been smoking but Ohtani is a # 1.
He is an Ace my friend. He is in the top tier of SP in MLB. Have you been watching this season at all ??
Yeah, that was some take. Maybe if Ohtani was exclusively a pitcher, then some people would appreciate the ace #1 pitcher that he is more?
Ohtani is #1 ability wise (and results, too, actually for this year) but can he reliably stay there if he is also a full time hitter? I think that’s really where all “Ohtani’s not really #1” takes come from, I think. If he’s one thing or the other, he is either one of top five premiere power hitters (or even 3) today OR one of top five (or even 3…this is a bit tougher call) starters today. But one can’t really say he is definitely one in either dimension knowing that he is “distracted” by the other.
ACE yes, Top Tier needs a check in with the Hulu Girls to verify.
Again – maybe we just need a definition comparison. I don’t consider a pitcher an Ace until they have shut down a team in the playoffs such as Verlander or Scherzer.
Until then my maximum is 1-2 which I’m willing to bend to give Ohtani.
Kershaw was not an Ace to my definition until he started winning in the playoffs and put the team on his back.
It depends upon how many pitchers you would put in your Top Tier. For me that constitutes the top 5 or 6 starters in baseball. Ohtani is definitely in that group. Top 3 would be a different story…
Hannah here
I’m not sure Ohtani is quite there – I’m willing to say a 1-2.. until I see him pitch in a playoff game and shut down a team for 7 or 8 innings in that setting, I can’t give him the ‘Ace’ designation.
But yes he’s been impressive this season. And add in his bat and new words have to be considered to describe him.
But being in the playoffs isn’t quite in his control. All Ohtani could control is how he pitches. And he’s pitched so well this year. If that run of 5 games of 10+ Ks and sub 1.00 ERA in June-July wasn’t ace-like, I don’t know what is.
He could have had 2-3 more wins if the offense was competent enough in some games.
But yes, that’s your take.
I get what you’re saying. My definition is just a little bit different. To be a true ACE pitcher to me, you have to have put your team on your back and win a playoff game. Again though, everybody’s entitled to their own definition.
I have a different definition for a #1 than I have for an “ACE”.
As I said, I’m willing to designate him as a 1-2, which is calling him the lead of the staff. But I’m not willing to use the “A” word unless he single-handedly put a team on his shoulders and wins a playoff game.
As an example, a pitcher who goes 18-2 with a 1.2 ERA who chokes in the playoffs might be a #1 but is not an ACE in my book.
If you are using that as your definition of ace then there would not be many guys in that group. For example, what about guys who have been dominant at times in the last few years, but have dropped off? I mean what would you say about a guy like Blake Snell of the Padres ? Is he still an ace?
Stuff-wise Ohtani is Top 3 in ALL MLB. The problem with requiring that he have “proved” it in a playoff game is that he would be punished for the organization and the team around him being bad. That is not a fair way to assess his status as a starting pitcher.
It’s a good thing we were playing one the worst teams in MLB. Crappy tigers and we could only manage 3 hits!! This offense is as bad as I’ve ever seen.
Okay, so you will completely ignore the dominant pitching of Sandoval ????
The Angels now tied for the team lead in the AL with the completion of their 14th shutout of the Season.
If only we could hit the ball.
So that’s supposed to mean where not as bad as we think.
Once again to quote Bill Parcells “You are what your record says you are” We don’t field, hit or pitch well, other than that, were pretty good…….LOL!!!
*we’re
Another 2 way player finding his way on the mound…
https://www.milb.com/player/kenyon-yovan-668719
I think hes done with hitting.
A 27th Rd pick………By Us No Less!!!
Not the Dodgers, Guardians, Astros, Rays or A’s.
Sorry, but I’m not his Mom and Dad.
Sandy decided keeping the BP away from the game was for the best.
St. Patty’s dealin’!!!!!
Angels starting pitching is pretty decent.
That is all.
Yes, against the A’s, Tigers
The Mariners really liked our pitching too.
Yes, and the umpires had nothing to do with the outcome of that Mariners series, especially the number of runs they scored, lol.
Really? Because the last time Detmers & sandy faced the vaunted Mariners offense they only gave up only 1 ER in 12-1/3 innings. If that’s loving a pitcher they’re in for for a lot of broken hearts.
I suspect that Sandy said, “No F***ING way am I going to let Loup or Tepera throw this away. I am going the distance!”
Don’t leave out our Tank Commander closer, Jesse Chavez!
Oh a CGSO, well, there’s always tomorrow… wait, WHAT? WE did the shutting out????? Is that allowed?
Other than a comeback win when scoring 3 or more runs in the 9th inning to win it, this kind of game, namely a 1-0 pitchers duel is the best way to win. You cannot be sloppy and win 1-0. You have to play clean and obviously you have to pitch great. The Angels did both of those things.
Here’s to those wonderful 1-0 wins !!!
After going nearly 4 years without one, the Angels now have 2 complete game shutouts this season. In some ways I think Sandy’s game tonight was more impressive than Reids no no back in May. Sandy was on the road and he had to know that he had absolutely no margin for error just to get a win. Reid only had 2 strikeouts while Sandy struck out 9 including a stretch where he struck out 5 in a row.
Our pitching future is very bright. When was the last time we could say that? But we got a lot of work to do with this offense.
Crazy to think Sandoval was obtained by dealing Maldonado around deadline. But shrewd moves like that make you feel better during tough times
Maybe Billy didn’t get enough credit for parlaying suspects and lessor talent into quality acquisitions. I show Andrelton, Yunel Escobar, Machete, Rengifo, Stassi, Tommy LaStella and of course Sandy were all really good trades for us.
I know I sound like a broken record but his downfall was free agent signings and drafting/player development.
calculated moves definitely. Looking back you’re talking about hitters, when the Angels lacked pitchers. Now they have pitchers and lack hitters. The org has done a terrible job at stabilizing both sides and investing their payroll appropriately. This year they were a team that resembles, death by a thousand papercuts. Losing games by little here and little there. Consider that had borderline major league players and went through huge offensive dips, and were still in games. So go back and consider if they tinkered here and there and brought in er scouted properly like players you mentioned who could factor then yeah. But that’s the mess that this org is in.
That is why the mob/torch mentality rarely makes sense. Moves require hindsight for meaningful evaluation. .
We never had a winning season on his watch, besides we’re down to Reid Detmers and Shohei Ohtani as the only players of substance.
Where’s 2002 when we pull a steal?
Angels Win!
Wait…….. what??????? An Angels pitcher pitched more than 4 1/3 innings?
A great birthday present
Happy Birthday JHW!
The future is not completely bleak for the starting core next season, Shohei (May be?), Sandy, and Detmers and Suarez along with Lorenez.
And Davidson
Best suited as a low leverage RP. But we’ll see soon enough. Will need to bring on one more talented FA SP not named Syndergaard.
Yes we will.
Would we even want Lorenzen next season? Pretty underwhelming stats. Pass.
When he went down, he had most innings pitched and wins, so do we want him? We have him signed and do we ever have our selves enough quality starters? Thor for 8-9 mil would be a great addition.
Great outing again!
He’s been really effective despite that 4-8 record that doesn’t look so neat.
We really need the bats to provide more support especially for him so that he doesn’t need a CGSO to finally get the first W in three months.
That 4-8 record is due primarly to the fact that the offense has done practically nothing for him in games he starts. He did have a couple of bad games, but over the course of the whole season having only two or three bad games is really excellent pitching.