Ryan Tepera tried his best to give it away in the sixth inning but the Angels offense came alive to save the day. Werner Blakeley made a questionable defensive play but made up for it with a double and eventually a run. Patrick Sandoval was OK but not perfect. Taylor Ward had two RBIs and Mike Trout had one.
The split squad lost to Texas 7-5.
Photo credit: Rex Fregosi
#JakeLamb
Nice surprise
The Rangers beat our scrub scrubs. Trouble is, they beat on Suarez, who apparently wants to help Tucky D launch his Cy Young campaign as the 5th starter. Adell…. Lord help this young man. I want good things for that guy so much, but jeez he just looks like he’s been told he needs to land the plane or we’re all gonna die every time he steps to the plate. So Moniak it is, enjoy SLC Jo.
Ohviously Jordyn Adams will be AL ROTY while Rendon wins MVP and so does Jake Lamb. Half our team will go to the WS while the other half finishes in 3rd place.
Aren’t both Moniak and Adell ending up in Salt Lake (unless Philips is the odd man out)? I can’t see us carrying 5 OF.
Still curious about C and the IF. We need all the depth we have, but we have too many for the roster as is (right?). Thaiss, Stassi, O’Hoppe (do we have 3?). Urshela, Rengifo, Fletcher, Walsh, Rendon, Drury for 5-6 spots before we talk about Soto, Velasquez or anyone playing well in ST.
Yes . There is no way the Angels carry 5 outfielders. And I doubt they carry 3 catchers especially with a 9 man bullpen (incl 6th starter) without sending Rengifo down to the Lake. So thats really a Thaiss vs O’Hoppe death match. Thaiss is out of options so he has to be DFA’d if he doesn’t make the opening day roster.
Also, Considering that all 3 of out top infielders who could play Shortstop this year ( Fletch, Renny & Gio) are playing in the WBC starting this week, you’ll see alot of Squid, Soto & Neto.
A word of caution though. Watch out for Gitcho this spring.I believe His 2023 Manic and vacillating commentary are being influenced by the Angels spring training game wins & losses and individual performances to illustrate the irrelevance and inaccuracy of spring training stats. Even though I find it very entertaining, try not to fall into his Chasm of Sar. It’s really deep this year and can be very hard to get out of.
Ben Joyce is making a case to be on this team.
Wantz has options and at this point looks to be the odd man out.
Big Ben definitely going to make the team if he keeps this up.
I was hoping though that Tucker D will be the odd man out. I actually like Wantz.
Actually, you know who has me at hello so far is Kenny Rosenburg. It’s still the worlds smallest sample, but he has seemed really in command when he pitches. He’s kind of dark horsing.
I thought he was a baseball writer that loves Bow ties
Might be a little early on both counts. 3IP for a NRI in the first week of ST.
Wantz has had a couple strong outings as well, and is building on a generally effective 2022 season, esp compared to the alternatives.
I have little doubt that Joyce and Ingram will see time in the majors this year – but I’d like to see if Joyce’s command holds up against tougher competition in two or three weeks. Velocity is often going to beat hitters early in spring.
Yep. I’d actually like to see Joyce do an inning at the heart of the order in the Freeway Series at the end of ST… or something similar. Just to gauge how he handles three or four actually scary MLB hitters. Does he lock in or does he hit the mascot? Does Freddy Freeman have any trouble with that fastball? Does he sit on it or does he have to worry about the secondary pitch?
It would just give Joyce/Coaches a good sounding as to where he’s at.
I doubt the Angels would be trotting Big Ben out of the bullpen in the 3rd or 4th inning to face the regulars if they were at least considering a big league spot for him.
There alot of of other relievers that they need to make decisions on including those NRI’s that signed minor League contracts ( which I suspect all have of some sort of opt out ) like Devenski, Webb or Holder.
Rosenberg, who is more of 6th starter/swinger type has 2 options left so the Angels can stash Him in AAA if they want.
In fact Devenski might have an edge on the others because of his big time leverage experiences with the Trashstros and the reports now that his lost velocity has returned
Either way any of these guys will need to be added to the 40 man roster so there would be another move coming irregardless.
I like O’Hoppe and am hopeful he’s our long-term catcher. However, I don’t want him on the ML roster to be the second catcher. If the plan is to have Stassi still play most of the time, then I’d prefer Thaiss to be the backup while O’Hoppe plays everyday at AAA for a little while. If it’s a true jobshare, then I’m ok with O’Hoppe being on the ML roster. Injuries will happen, so O’Hoppe will get his chance.
Ward looks good and locked in.
Trout looks like he’s working on something when he’s in the box. Whatever it is, he’ll ditch it for the WBC and will be results oriented again by opening day.
Well, if he is batting .333 with 3 walks in 15 PA while ‘working on things’ I think we are in pretty good shape.