LA Angels Thursday News Crash: First Place Overreact

Good morning Angels fans! You were expecting someone else, but it was me! Anyway, have some links.

Angels News

The (tied for) First Place Angels are winners again thanks to Phil not using Loup this time on an Ohtani start. Also because of actual run production this time compared to Opening day, but that is besides the point.

But, this start was historic, because Shohei Ohtani became the first player EVER to have a clock violation as a hitter and a pitcher. In the same game no less! Yeah, this new rule will take getting used to.

However, this violation may be due, not by simple human error of a player who plays more baseball than anyone, but because of an UMP Show? After all, Ohtani did steal a baseball from right under the UMP’s nose.

THIEF!

They all must just be envious of Shohei’s new ads in Tokyo. Even has English text for all the Americans who visit now that Japan is open again for tourism.

Anyway, enough about the unicorn, what about the rest of the team? Well, if you watched yesterday, (or read the Postgame) you would know that Quijada closed. (Making me right about our preseason predictions.) Well, this was due to Phil wanting to limit arm bullpen use in April, apparently.

You may also be delighted to know that it appears that our rookie catcher from the Phillies can actually rake. Yes it is early, but it is fun.

Mike Trout didn’t have as much fun as usual, though, as he did not hit a home run against Seattle, which is odd, since the last 3 game series that happened was in the before times of 2018. 5 years ago!

Around Baseball

So, every team is about 6 games in or so, how do they all stack up?

BEST QUAD

I do like that chart over this one, which shows where each MLB Stadium is compared to what they are named after… I blame Arte.

The Rays are historic. No, not the attendance, that’s the A’s. I mean the Rays won 6 straight games by at least 4 runs to open the season for the first time since the 19th century.

Liam Hendricks beat up cancer so hard that they had to ring the bell. Congrats.

In the opposite of that, Aaron Ashby will have shoulder surgery and will likely be out the rest of the year. That’s rough buddy.

You know who also had a bad day? The Marlins roof people, who failed at closing the roof.

Rain delays are finally here with the Cubs at Reds postponed. Also Baltimore, as their home opener is delayed to Friday.

r/baseball dove into the question, should reaching on error count as OBP? There is a correlation of sprint speed and infield errors…

Anything I missed? Post below for upvotes!

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2002heaven
Super Member
1 year ago

comment image
Changed from the Dancing Predators to Dancing Darth Vader & Storm Troopers
Back to You………..

GrandpaBaseball
Legend
1 year ago

40 years ago an official scorer knew what was or was not an error. After watching tapes after the game, it was not unusual for that official scorer to reverse his call or calls to get it right. Fast forward to today the official scorer is more often than not a reporter who does not want to get on anyone’s bad side so instead of charging am error a hit will result if you are the opposing team’s pitcher.

So should reaching on base from an error count for OBP, no it should not. Why is Baseball being looked at as something that is broken, in the long run all the rule changes are not going to increase attendance, change TV and radio ratings, have more subscribers to MLBTV. The average person does not care about WAR. Fixing the time of games is a factor tilting towards the better no doubt. The rest is up to the fans to consider and rule on.

2GA2Join
Super Member
1 year ago

Apparently they moved the trade deadline one day earlier to August 1st this year.

Bummer, that is one day less of Ohtani.

 😜 

tommyshalo
Trusted Member
1 year ago
Reply to  2GA2Join

comment image

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  2GA2Join

Don’t joke about trading Ohtani. Apparently ol’ CheapNevil is suddenly going to up our payroll to 275M a year and sign the man… or UnicOwner will when Arte sells.

So mentioning trade/Ohtani in the same sentence is like asking a guy how much he wants to purchase his daughter.

red floyd
Legend
1 year ago
Reply to  2GA2Join

That day does not exist.

steelgolf
Legend
1 year ago

I’m sure in tomorrow’s links we will see that Dodger fans are already in mid season form!

Twebur
Legend
1 year ago
Reply to  steelgolf

As Doyer mom screams….TAKE IT OUTSIDE INTO THE PARKING LOT!!

steelgolf
Legend
1 year ago
Reply to  Twebur

Leaving that stadium to walk to your car in the parking lot is a roll of the dice.

Marcotor
Trusted Member
1 year ago
Reply to  steelgolf

And yet, the only homicide in a parking lot was Anaheim. An A’s fan. A fight, of all things with a couple of Angel fans. You could look it up.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend

You know, here are the pitchers that are still FAs…..

Ken Giles
Chris archer
Zach Britton
Cory Knebel
Mike Minor
Dallas Keuchel

…. I’m pretty sure one of these guys will actually be fairly good for a team. Miguel Sano and Stephen Piscotty too. Question is, which of these guys is it? The Marlins and Pirates will let us know in September….

2GA2Join
Super Member
1 year ago

I was hoping that Britton could help us, but I guess it didn’t turn out that way.

Cowboy26
Legend
1 year ago
Reply to  2GA2Join

Apparently no-one thinks he can help them.

Angelz4ever
Super Member
1 year ago

BTW, new round of “How the Phillies can acquire Mike Trout” stories bantering around the interwebs again (By Phillies Nation type of sites).

2GA2Join
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to  Angelz4ever

They will probably trade for Trout and then sign Ohtani in the offseason…

Mia
Legend
Mia
1 year ago
Reply to  Angelz4ever

They’re just mad we finessed a stud catcher away from them.

ihearhowie3.0
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to  Angelz4ever

Before their hot streak I kind of considered them an East Coast version of us. Lots of expensive free agents that underachieved and not built for a sustained, multi-year run.

I wouldnt be surprised to see them flame out this year which makes it kind of funny they just assume Trout going there would be the move. He’d be transporting himself back to the 2017-ish Angels where it only gets worse for the foreseeable future.

Senator_John_Blutarsky
Legend
Reply to  Angelz4ever

Marsh for Trout?

RexFregosi
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to  Cowboy26

430 pm PDT on MLBtv

FungoAle
Legend
1 year ago
Reply to  RexFregosi

Nice, needed a baseball fix tonight

RexFregosi
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to  FungoAle

Bees play later tonight also

Cowboy26
Legend
1 year ago
Reply to  RexFregosi

And Canning makes a rehab start for the IE at 6:30 Tonight as well.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  Cowboy26

Man it makes me smile to see that so many Angels fans are following so much MiLB stuff….. Following these teams enough to know who sucked and is now getting better, etc, where our long term depth is, makes the MLB experience rich, like Columbian coffee.

RexFregosi
Super Member
1 year ago

Thank MLB. they made it much easier to watch.

previous years they were on MiLB tv but it was an inconvenient and laptop experience.

What’s also helping is that these are guys we just saw last week in Tempe winning games for the Halos – they aren’t some unknown minor league randos – they’re Cactus League Champions

Cowboy26
Legend
1 year ago

Does it make you smile that our vaunted Trash Panda Line up has struck out 6 times in row to start the 2023 season?

I wonder if they rehired Jeremy Reed to be the new Rocket City hitting coach this year.

2GA2Join
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to  Cowboy26

Were they facing a re-habbing Verlander or something?

Cowboy26
Legend
1 year ago
Reply to  2GA2Join

Whoops better make it 9 straight Ks

No some 23 year old left-hander named Andrew “Cy” Abbott guy.

Erla has 7 strikeouts himself so apparently no-one can see the ball tonight.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  Cowboy26

Andrew Abott’s a hawss. He will K some guys.

Cowboy26
Legend
1 year ago

The two teams combined for 35 strikeouts tonight through 9 innings .(currently in extras.)

Luke Murphy made his 2023 debut by striking out the side.

The Trashy 4 bullpen has been added to this year with Jose Soriano and Kenyon Yovan. So they’re even more filthy panda this year.

Last edited 1 year ago by Cowboy26
Cowboy26
Legend
1 year ago
Reply to  Cowboy26

Final count is 42 strikeouts in 22 innings . Thats almost 2/3’s of all of the games outs. Yikes.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  Cowboy26

Man… that is one musky group of pandas. Nice.

Twebur
Legend
1 year ago
Reply to  Cowboy26

Sweet 16. 16 Candles.

Twebur
Legend
1 year ago
Reply to  RexFregosi

Adell loves SL…another HR 3…5 walks in 5 games

Cowboy26
Legend
1 year ago
Reply to  Twebur

Technically its 5 walks in 6 games but whose counting.

More importantly he still has more walks than strikeouts so far this year. That is Huuuge.

2GA2Join
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to  Cowboy26

Wow, I admit I hadn’t been paying close enough attention before to realize that Maitan was our 1B. I still hope the best for him.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  2GA2Join

It looked like, last year, he played all over the corners.

2002heaven
Super Member
1 year ago

He was big enough to play all of them at the same time!!! 😂  😆 

steelgolf
Legend
1 year ago
Reply to  2GA2Join

Playing 1st but was drafted as a shortstop, if I remember correctly. Maybe they feel that if they change his position, he will become the next Ward.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  steelgolf

He was 16 when he was “drafted” by the Braves. He got bigger so not gonna be a SS. For example Miguel Sano was a SS at 16.

steelgolf
Legend
1 year ago

Hopefully he can keep improving and make it to the bigs. I have to admit to thinking that there was no way Ward was going to make it, and he proved me wrong.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  steelgolf

Yeah. He was super young when we got him and everyone decided he was a total bust at age 17. Arte still exists after all. But now he’s in his early 20s he actually needs to start showing some serious progress or he’ll get replaced by draft picks. Which is how the cookie crumbles most times.

He was the top Intl FA. I look at the list of those guys and see a lot of names that sank. And we didn’t even sign him as #1, Atlanta did. we got him cheap because Arte is cheap.

steelgolf
Legend
1 year ago

We got him cheap because Atlanta got caught cheating.

Cowboy26
Legend
1 year ago
Reply to  steelgolf

And he ate his way out of shortstop.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  Cowboy26

We’ll have to see, he doesn’t look all that chunky now. He is 6’2″ and listed 190lbs this year… which likely means 205. Pretty stout for a SS and he’s not really been fast enough to play there even as a kid.

He’s 23 now. So he’ll need to get that OPS above .800 to justify trying to teach him OF or 1B/3B “for real”.

2002heaven
Super Member
1 year ago

Pretty sure he likes cookies too!! 😂 

2002heaven
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to  Cowboy26

2010 Seattle Mariners
Farm system with Dustin Ackley…….or the 2005 Angels with Brandon Wood, and Casey Kotchman.
 💪  💪  💪  👈 

Cowboy26
Legend
1 year ago
Reply to  Brent

But can he pitch?

Angelz4ever
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to  Brent

Someone please interpretto los charges?

Brent
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to  Angelz4ever

Arrested for murder.

Designerguy
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to  Brent

The Puerto Rican https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/svg/1f1f5-1f1f7.svg Lucas Torres Vázquez, 19, had been signed as a professional with the Los Angeles Angels in 2021. Now he faces murder charges and was in a gang of gunmen

Twebur
Legend
1 year ago
Reply to  Designerguy

I guess he won’t be killing it in the minors…..should have been a Dodger.

Brent
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to  Twebur

I mean, the Angels DID sign Hamilton…

JackFrost
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to  Twebur

Can we ever get through a season without a death, a murder, a drug charge, domestic violence or whatever ??

Geez.

Designerguy
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to  JackFrost

Maybe he’s the next Ricky Vaughn.

2002heaven
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to  Designerguy

Rae Carruth of the NFL Carolina Panthers.

Designerguy
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to  JackFrost

comment image

2002heaven
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to  JackFrost

Yes, ask Chad Curtis and Tony Philips.

FungoAle
Legend
1 year ago
Reply to  Brent

It could be worse

Senator_John_Blutarsky
Legend
Reply to  Brent

Isn’t that a misdemeanor in Los Angeles County?

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  Brent

I blame Arte. he is persombally responsible for MURDER now! He should have known this kid was a killer at heart. I bet he didn’t even meet with the kid to make sure we were all safe from him. Then I bet he starved him to death so he had to go out and kill people in order to buy Pan Bimbo. I hate dad, I mean Arte. He buys me the worst stuff and my friends make fun of me.

Guest
1 year ago

I suck at small talk. It is superficial, artificial, and just plain ficial. It makes me uncomfortable to exchange meaningless pleasantries with the fleeting people I encounter during the day.

If the checker at the grocery store asks me how I’m doing and I honestly answer “not very good, how are you?” it almost always makes the situation instantly awkward.

But if I’m in line somewhere and the person behind me is wearing a baseball cap, I can initiate a conversation that can last for over half an hour as we talk about that person’s team, talk about baseball’s new rules, and laugh at each other’s jokes.

Weird.

halofansince1978
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to 

One of my all time favorite things to do is look at a stranger with a baseball cap and say to them, “Go Padres, Giants, Mets, Jays…etc,etc.” Or to a Doyer fan, “See you in October, I’m an Angels fan.”

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend

When I see a Doyer hat out there I like to ask them how hard they have to work to make their child support payments…. or how hard it is dodging the bench warrants for not paying child support… or if buying a used BMW 3 series is as costly a maintenance mistake as I’ve been told it is.

Doyer fan = person who thinks buying Apple products is a minor act of rebellion.

Angelz4ever
Super Member
1 year ago

Also an appropriate response to a Dodger fan is to ask, “You on parole or probation?”

Twebur
Legend
1 year ago
Reply to  Angelz4ever

I like to know what their record is in parking lot squabbles. Are they a Frank McCourt title belt contender?

steelgolf
Legend
1 year ago
Reply to  Angelz4ever

Why not both?

Check Swing
Newbie
1 year ago

Ohtani most likely will be the only player to achieve this due to universal DH. Only chance would be a position player stepping on the mound plus getting both violations to match

2002heaven
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to  Check Swing

That’s because it’s total novelty
I looked up some guy named George Herman Ruth who made less than 5 starts in a decade for the Yankees and won 4 World Series Championships during the 1920’s. Sorry CTPG abouth dah kriticism i gett forr nott dewing enee Reesirch, that means it’s better to have Willy Adames and Kyle Wright than one two way player.
BYE!!!!! 💪  💪  💪 

Fansince1971
Legend
1 year ago

Regarding the concept of rethinking an error and it’s impact on OBP….I think a scorer can determine the difference between an error that was not influenced by the batter (such as dropping a fly ball) and an error influenced by the batter (fast running to first causes a misplay). Baseball should consider a new stat such as a Forced Error (FE) which would not be considered an out for OBP. A FE would be neutral and essentially be neither an out or a hit for OBP purposes.

For those considering crediting the batter for a hit in an error situation (for OBP purposes), I think that’s a slippery slope.

Last edited 1 year ago by Fansince1971
Brent
Super Member
1 year ago

Went to the Royals game last night… holy crap, April baseball in the midwest is terribly cold. But, that stadium is still awesome and watching a pitch-clock game in person is so good. Game was through 5 in what seemed like the blink of an eye. Buddy in the seat right next to me caught a foul ball that bounced down from the upper deck, then had two kids do rock-paper-scissors to see who would get it. Game was over by 9 and we were back at our hotel by 11:30… after I got pulled over for speeding in Topeka. Luckily got off with a warning, even doing 73 in a 45 (it dropped QUICK).

RexFregosi
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to  Brent

saw the Angels play there on July 4th ~1983
VERY HOT + VERY HUMID

Cowboy26
Legend
1 year ago
Reply to  RexFregosi

We saw an Angel game there in 2009. it was $1 hot dog night but they ended up just giving them away to the people in the seats in the later innings ( I guessed they over ordered?)

My buddy and I went to the open bar above the right field seats for a drink in the 5th inning leaving our kids and my nephews at the seats. While enjoying our adult beverages I looked over just in time to see my young nephew catch a fly ball at our seats.

I was so happy for him since he had dropped one a couple years prior when we visited Jacobs Field. It may take a long while but the baseball gods eventually balance everything out.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  Brent

I’d really like to go to Kaufman sometime. Actually, it would be SUPER fun to go to KC and catch a Saturday game for the Royals and then a Chiefs game on Sunday. My friends have gone to Chiefs games and said it’s a ton of fun, all day event type thing.

They may avoid having home games on the same weekend in Sept… but it would be cool.

Cowboy26
Legend
1 year ago

Well you better hurry cuz Theres big talk in the KC about building a downtown baseball stadium.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  Cowboy26

I know, and it’s KC, so “big talk” doesn’t mean I still have 24 years till they actually do it.

Angelz4ever
Super Member
1 year ago

Video: Ohtani’s first steal of the year?

steelgolf
Legend
1 year ago

Oh boy, MLB Trade Rumors is looking to hire a new writer ……… to ONLY write about Ohtani, and including endorsements in Japan.

JackFrost
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to  steelgolf

F_ the Mainstream Media. They have been persistently trying to trade Ohtani for two years now. Problem is, it is not their decisions to make. I saw yet another online article yesterday saying that the Angels should trade Ohtani, and they actually made the statement that the Halos had “already lost two games” lol.

Thanks for your two cents you POS online crap writer. Guess what? The Dodgers, the Astros, the Padres and the Yankees and most of the teams in trade rumors have already lost two games. Should they trade their best players because of it?

So ridiculous.

Last edited 1 year ago by JackFrost
steelgolf
Legend
1 year ago
Reply to  JackFrost

Yes, this is becoming a hyped up feeding frenzy of what teams should Ohtani “really” be on.

Angelz4ever
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to  steelgolf

My least favorite are titled, “Why Ohtani will sign with the….” or “The _____s will make best offer for Ohtani”

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  steelgolf

There is about 14% of me that will enjoy if we resign Ohtani, even if it’s a stupid idea, because screw these people. I want to hear their wailing and lamentations about wasted opportunity for legacies and other butt stuff.

I want to see Skip Bayles have a stroke on air over this. Does that make some stranger think I’m a dick? Worth it.

2GA2Join
Super Member
1 year ago

I agree. It will be amazing to see the reaction of national press if we sign Ohtani. The fury will be crazy.
Including the sudden points of view that those teams are really better off without him, including reason X, Y and Z.

Angelz4ever
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to  steelgolf

Yep, so tired of” Ohtani to be signed by _______ as a free agent”:

A. Dodger
B. Padres
C. Yankees
D. Mets
E. Teams I forgot about

Senator_John_Blutarsky
Legend
Reply to  Angelz4ever

The solution is: “Ohtani will be signed by any team but the Angels as a free agent”

Angelz4ever
Super Member
1 year ago

No, someone enters one of the 29 other teams and they’re bound to be crowned the next nostradumbus.

Last edited 1 year ago by Angelz4ever
Twebur
Legend
1 year ago
Reply to  Angelz4ever

If the Mets can convince Shohei’s Mom, they have another issue to overcome.
Apparently the Japanese frown upon players to be teammates because of cultural seniority, which doesn’t fully explain why it’s fucking ok if they are teammates in Japan..but what do I know.

 “Some Japanese players are uncomfortable being major-league teammates with other Japanese players because of the importance of seniority in Japan’s hierarchical culture, major-league executives and agents say.”

https://fansided.com/2023/04/06/mlb-rumors-mets-shohei-ohtani-bidding/

Cowboy26
Legend
1 year ago
Reply to  Twebur

Shit . There goes my dream for us to sign Roki.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  steelgolf

Yeah…. our Jeter. At least he’s actually extremely really good at baseball.

Cowboy26
Legend
1 year ago

And so far has seemed to avoid the Herpes.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  Cowboy26

Thanks to his mom and her ick over screwing.

TrojanBoiler
Trusted Member
1 year ago

The The Angels Angels of Anaheim

Best name ever when translated to English

Angelz4ever
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to  TrojanBoiler

Technically the English translation would be, “The The Angels Angels of Ana home” or “The The Angels Angels of Santa Ana home”

Charles Sutton
Editor
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to  Angelz4ever

“The Ana-Ham Fighters” would be so much more concise.

Cowboy26
Legend
1 year ago
Reply to  Charles Sutton

The Ana-Ham Angel Fighters?

Senator_John_Blutarsky
Legend
Reply to  Cowboy26

The Ana-Ham Arte Fighters

AnAngelsFan
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to  Angelz4ever

You mean “The The Angels Angels of Saint Ana’s home.”

Angelz4ever
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to  AnAngelsFan

Yes, that

red floyd
Legend
1 year ago
Reply to  Angelz4ever

Los Angeles de Los Angeles [y Anaheim]

Twebur
Legend
1 year ago
Reply to  Angelz4ever

Moreno does mean brown in Spanish…..the color of poo.

“The The Angels Angels of Santa Ana home” owned by Moreno the “evil brown piece of poo.”

4C7605C0-AF18-4FC0-A2EF-656575E003AE.jpeg
Guest
1 year ago
Reply to  Twebur

comment image

Designerguy
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to 
Angelz4ever
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to 

“Now available for the holidays at your nearest CostCo”

Last edited 1 year ago by Angelz4ever
LanaBanana
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to 

🤣

Angelz4ever
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to  Twebur

“Hydy ho!”

red floyd
Legend
1 year ago
Reply to  TrojanBoiler

I believe “of Anaheim” was dropped several years ago

Cowboy26
Legend
1 year ago
Reply to  red floyd

Why ? did the statute of Limitations run out?

red floyd
Legend
1 year ago
Reply to  Cowboy26

Some contract expired or was renegotiated

JackFrost
Super Member
1 year ago

Let’s talk about the Tampa Bay Rays. You mention them John, so I thought I’d make a few comments:

This is another team I really don’t like… Alot of it has to with Arozarena .. The guy just bugs me. But the team in general is like a group of gnats that swarm around your face and irritate you constantly. They don’t have the stinging power of a bumble bee but they drive you crazy nonetheless… They are persistent and never give up. They keep coming after you. They always seem to find a way to win games despite the fact that they have a roster that is far from awe inspiring or even impressive.

In this early 2023 season though they appear to be getting alot of help from Major League Baseball. Let’s take a look at their schedule. To open the season it looks like this :

vs Det
vs Det
vs Det
@ Wash
@ Wash
@ Wash
vs Oak
vs Oak
vs Oak
vs Bos
vs Bos
vs Bos
vs Bos

2023 Tampa Bay Rays Schedule | ESPN

In their first three weeks of the season they have played or will play the Tigers, the Nationals, the A’s and the Red Sox. ALL of those teams finished below .500 last year and none of them are projected to make the playoffs this year. If you are looking for an “easy” opening schedule this would be the epitome of it.

Hey, MLB why the favoritism towards the Rays? And before you say that the other teams in the AL East get to play these teams too, remember we are talking about the importance of getting off to a good start. If we accept that starting well is important in terms of making the playoffs and going deep, (and it IS !) then the early schedule DOES make a difference.

SO, before we crown the Tampa Bay Gnats, let’s just be honest about what is going on here….

Last edited 1 year ago by JackFrost
gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  JackFrost

The Rays are possibly MLBs most interesting team. And here they are again, doing exactly what they should do in the situation they are in. Most of them doing their friggin jobs when it’s time for them to work. When you do that in the soft chunk of a schedule…. holy smokes! You win a lot. Apparently you can’t buy this ability.

Senator_John_Blutarsky
Legend

I agree. The Rays have a system, and the system generates wins. Watching them beat the shit out of the AL East is a joy to behold.

Guest
1 year ago

The Angels scored 13 runs in the series against the Mariners. I’m going to divvy up credit for those 13 runs.

When O’Hoppe hit a 2-run homer yesterday with Urshela on first base, O’Hoppe should get credit for 1.75 runs. Urshela should get credit for 0.25 runs.

Also, let’s say Rengifo grounds out but in doing so moves a runner from second to third and that runner then scores when the next batter does something. In that case, Rengifo gets a 0.25 credit for that run.

Anyway, here are the runs the individual Angel hitters produced during the Mariners series:

2.25 Ohtani
2.25 Ward
1.75 O’Hoppe
1.50 Drury
1.25 Trout
1.00 Rengifo
1.00 Renfroe
0.75 Lamb
0.75 Urshela
0.50 Phillips

So who would you take as the MVP of this series? Ward scores bonus points for playing excellent defense, but Ohtani of course gets the nod for his pitching. It is surprising to see Drury and O’Hoppe ahead of Trout since Trout usually eats up Seattle’s home cooking.

*******************

Now, you can do the same thing for the Angel pitching. Let’s say Sandoval walks a batter and then is out of the game. Loup then comes in, and on the first batter he faces, he gives up a two-run homer. Of those two runs, Sandoval is credited for giving up 0.25 runs and Loup is credited for giving up 1.75 runs.

When making the ranking list for pitchers, however, I like to take the total number of runs they have given up and divide that by the number of batters they faced.

Here’s what I have calculated for the whole season so far (number of batters faced in parenthesis):

0.00 Anderson (24)
0.00 Davidson (14)
0.00 Herget (12)
0.00 Estevez (9)
0.00 Quijada (7)
0.00 Wantz (6)
0.00 Tepera (1)
0.02 Ohtani (48)
0.05 Sandoval (20)
0.13 Detmers (22)
0.25 Moore (8)
0.26 Suarez (22)
0.29 Loup (7)
0.32 Barria (15)

Last edited 1 year ago by GhostGuest
tommyshalo
Trusted Member
1 year ago
Reply to 

I did wonder whether you were a ghost or guest, but these metrics seem familiar and I am glad to see your great old references are back!!

Last edited 1 year ago by tommyshalo
Guest
1 year ago
Reply to  tommyshalo

I can’t hide from you like I hide from myself  🎶 
boygenius

halofansince1978
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to  tommyshalo

Agree…is that you 5th Starter?

steelgolf
Legend
1 year ago

Post a picture of Dan Haren and that could help answer the mystery.

Designerguy
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to  steelgolf

This will usually smoke him out of his hiding spot

comment image

steelgolf
Legend
1 year ago
Reply to  Designerguy

😂

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  Designerguy

Uh oh…. heart pills for Goose Gaskin.

Senator_John_Blutarsky
Legend
Reply to  Designerguy

Damn. I’m without words.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  Designerguy

This. Years of design training…. this is the top of the mountain.

Designerguy
Super Member
1 year ago

Mount Haren has an entirely different meaning to Goose Gaskins

max
Trusted Member
max
1 year ago

No he wasn’t analytical, not like this. Boy with Apple

JackFrost
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to 

These metrics are interesting, but part of the problem of stats is that they are in many ways simplistic. Unless we are talking about something like WAR, then we need to be careful in making sweeping statements .. So, this value based on “run production” stuff can be very misleading. In the case of Trout for instance, he did not get alot of good pitches to hit in that series.

Seattle made the decision that he would not be the one to beat them… And I can’t blame them for that. He has absolutely killed the Mariners in his career. So, like he usually is, Mike was patient and took what the pitchers gave him. In the series he went 3-8 with 5 walks and a HBP. So, though he did not have a single extra base hit, he did reach base a total of 7 times in 13 plate appearances (counting BB’s in PA’s). He did as much as he could under the circumstances of each game that he reasonably could…

Last edited 1 year ago by JackFrost
Guest
1 year ago
Reply to  JackFrost

All valid points, but I like to look at the actual runs that were scored in a game and to see who made those runs happen.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  JackFrost

True. And it helps the team. 50% of his ABs are a “lost cause” for their pitchers and defense. Need to get 3.3 outs in the innings he hits…. kinda.

RexFregosi
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to 

lots of metrics have been developed for this sort of thing

just use brEF WAR?

Guest
1 year ago
Reply to  RexFregosi

I think WAR has flaws which produces in exact results.

Cowboy26
Legend
1 year ago
Reply to 

Exactly. So What is it really good for?

JackFrost
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to  Cowboy26

😂 😂

Mikeal1st
Trusted Member
1 year ago
Reply to 

WAR considered Judge better than Ohtani last year didn’t it/
That definitely didn’t pass the eyeball test for me.
I’m guessing pitching is a little undervalued because 11 wins should mean more than 25 HR’s.

AnAngelsFan
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to 

While a fun exercise, that’s a pretty flawed metric. If a player hits a 2B/HR with a guy on 3rd, the player only gets .25 for the player on 3rd even though the hit was good enough to earn .5 had the player been on second. A fast player that runs hard to go from 1st to 3rd on a single doesn’t get the .25 credit for their running contribution, and the player who hit the single only gets the .5 if the other player ends up scoring, even if there were 0 outs and the reason the player doesn’t score is entirely the fault of the next players in the batting order.

I think WPA would be a better metric for picking the series MVP. Those are as follows:

Trout 0.29
Ohtani 0.19
Rengifo 0.11
Ward 0.10
Phillips 0.00
O’Hoppe -0.01
Drury -0.01
Lamb -0.04
Fletcher -0.05
Thaiss -0.08
Urshela -0.11
Renfroe -0.19

Pitchers:

Ohtani 0.25
Quijada 0.25
Moore 0.11
Herget 0.08
Tepera 0.08
Estevez .01
Barria -.01
Detmers -.19
Suarez -.24

Ohtani gets the MVP with a total of .44 (.19 hitting + .25 pitching).

Not only does WPA give credit for what a player actually does, it considers the context of the game. Thus, while your metric suggests Suarez outperformed Barria, WPA considers Suarez giving up the first 3 runs in a 0-0 game as worse than Barria giving up the last 3 runs in a 0-8 game. Similarly, your metric says Renfroe was as good as Rengifo, whereas WPA recognizes Renfroe getting 1 RBI in a 0-11 game in the 8th inning was essentially meaningless compared to Rengifo getting 1 RBI to tie the first game in the top of the 2nd.

Last edited 1 year ago by AnAngelsFan
Guest
1 year ago
Reply to  AnAngelsFan

Psychology does play an important role in baseball. Some guys can handle the stress of a high leverage situation while others crumble. Some players let their marital strife affect their play on the field when they are going through a rough patch with their wife and other don’t.

I prefer to throw the psychological factor out and just look at the runs that were scored.

Also, in your example of Suarez’s three runs surrendered being worse than Barria’s, what if the Angels bats came alive and they came back to win 9-8. Does WPA then consider their two performances to be of equal value?

I prefer to throw all of that weighted value business out the window and just focus on the raw data.

Another thing to consider is what does it mean to WPA to “give up a run”?

Typically, if the starter walks a batter, and then a reliever comes in and gives up a home run, both pitchers are charged with giving up one run. But that is not accurate. The starter should be charged with giving up 0.25 runs and the reliever should be charged with giving up 1.75 runs.

Cowboy26
Legend
1 year ago
Reply to 

Quijada is the MVP of the last series. Which under my calculations makes him the best player in all of baseball.

Guest
1 year ago
Reply to  Cowboy26

The current champ is Trevor May of the Oakland A’s Relief Corps. He didn’t have a bout last night, but his next fight should come in the next few days.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to 

Just let me know as soon as Tucky D becomes the champion so I can get my back tattoo started.

steelgolf
Legend
1 year ago

😆

tanana40
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to 

These are interesting stats.

Angelstan
Trusted Member
1 year ago

It’s early and the Angels depth is already being tested. It’s nice to see real MLB players at 1-9 in the lineup. That helps a lot. I’m looking forward to the return of Walsh though.
The bullpen will be an area of concern until the decision-making and performances improve. When Loup was warming with a one run lead during another Ohtani start, I wasn’t happy. Nice to see both Loup and Tepera miss that contest. I’m hoping they can be effective at some point but slow playing it might be the best approach.

Fleckstein
Trusted Member
1 year ago
Reply to  Angelstan

Yeah, I screamed an f-bomb when they reported Loup warming up. But when Moore came out, I just assume all left-handlers looked alike from the booth.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  Fleckstein

Guess what. Loup’s gonna pitch at some point this year. Probably even this weekend. Gird your loins big guy.

JackFrost
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to  Angelstan

I don’t want to see Loup in any game that is not a blow-out in one direction or the other.

Twebur
Legend
1 year ago
Reply to  JackFrost

No Loup for you! The Loup nazi. 

9341A3FE-BC9A-406F-84EA-7E0D3AECFDDE.jpeg
JackFrost
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to  Twebur

That’s it. GENIUS Twebur.

We have to start calling him The “Loup Nazi.” But of course always follow it with “No Loup for You” to avoid any misunderstanding.

Last edited 1 year ago by JackFrost
Fansince1971
Legend
1 year ago

Idea for the editors. How about a WAR counter for Ohtani and Trout in the masthead?

For those who are wondering:

Ohtani has the lead right now .8 to .4 in only 6 games. Presuming they both stay healthy all season this could be an interesting storyline.

Last edited 1 year ago by Fansince1971
JackFrost
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to  Fansince1971

If Shohei pitches even reasonably well it will be real hard for Mike to finish ahead of him..

2GA2Join
Super Member
1 year ago
Reply to  Fansince1971

You editors could also hire or appoint a specific person just to deal with Ohtani this season.

They could be in charge of sorting and presenting:

  • The constant never-ending predictions of where Ohtani will be next year
  • The constant never-ending predictions of where Ohtani will be after the trade deadline
  • Why it is so obvious we should trade him or we’re doomed
  • Why it is so obvious we shouldn’t trade him or we’re doomed
  • Why we should obviously extend him
  • Why we should obviously not extend him
  • How Ohtani deserved to be on another team all these years and the Angels wasted him
  • Ways to twist every word that came out of Ohtani to create some indication of his preferences
  • What Ohtani’s mom thinks about all this
  • Ways that Arte will interfere in all of this
  • Ways we can blame Dipoto for all of this
gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  2GA2Join

I also need to know ASAP when Ohtani ties his own shoes or becomes the first player to eat sushi, ice cream, a burger and hit three home runs in the same month.

tommyshalo
Trusted Member
1 year ago
Reply to  2GA2Join

And pickup Tangsten Arm stats and reference it everytime we lose.

tanana40
Super Member
1 year ago

I really appreciate the chart on runs scored versus given up and the four quadrants. I would like to see that more often over the course of the season.