What a brutal road trip. The Angels went out east and simply gave away 2 games with defensive miscues in bahstun, had a LOBster fest in the Bronx on Wednesday, then simply got beat down yesterday. It was all the pain of being a fan compressed into one brutal trip.
Hopefully some home cooking gets the team back on track. If a home stand of Oakland and Kansas City doesn’t produce a lot of wins, stick a fork in this team.
The big storyline this week was Ohtani vs. Judge. The media ate up Judge robbing an Ohtani bomb then hitting one himself. But Ohtani had his moments too.
Keeping Ohtani is a huge priority for the Angels. Is that mission behind the rapid promotion of Zach Neto?
Oh, yeah, it was such a whirlwind week the Angels promoted their top prospect and that gets second mention behind Ohtani.
Neto has looked solid at the plate and smacked two doubles on Wednesday night.
The Angels front office called Neto “an easy choice” in the first round of the 2022 draft.
To make room for Neto, fan favorite David Fletcher was sent to AAA and outrighted off the 40 man roster.
The Athletic did a nice piece on what this all means for Fletcher, and the challenges he’ll face getting back to the big club.
In more fun NY news, Logan O’Hoppe once threw back a HR ball he caught in Yankees Stadium. CC Sabathia talking about it is great.
It was a foregone conclusion but still shocking and sad the A’s will be in Oakland much longer. The team entered into a land sale agreement in Las Vegas.
That makes a full trifecta of sports teams leaving Oakland within a decade. And while I don’t think the Raiders or Warriors really wanted to stay, I think the City of Oakland really dropped the ball in not allowing the A’s to pay off the City’s debt and redevelop the existing lot. That proposal was years ago.
The news this week was like a late night infomercial: but wait, there’s more.
Mad Max Scherzer was ejected after an inspection for the sticky icky. Max claims it was only rosin but the umpires discussed the ejection and said his hand was the stickiest they’d seen since inspections started.
This is really interesting:
Max is getting hit with the mandatory 10 game suspension but plans on appealing.
Woman beater and cheater Domingo German should be facing the same. His hand was sticky, the umpires took his glove, and one ump clearly said “I told you to wipe it off” then let him go back on the mound. Coincidentally, his spin rates all dropped after he washed his hand.
A little further south, Fernando Tatis Jr. is set to return to MLB and says he’ll be better than ever.
I’ll be having the most fun I’ve ever had in my life tonight, coaching my son’s tee ball team. The organized chaos is just amazing and puts a smile on everybody’s faces. Giving my son a high five when he reaches first base is priceless
As is this video that keeps circulating around social media.
Enjoy your weekend. Head out the Big A if you can. And please link anything I missed.
Remember this guy? Don’t recall seeing his name in camp this spring. Officially on the 7-day IL… maybe the Halos have him in a conditioning program or some such? Was looking forward to seeing him play in 2023.
https://www.milb.com/player/sonny-dichiara-800685
Yes I’ve been wondering too, he seems not to be in the 2023 picture?
Odd choice to sit Trout entirely. I expected Shohei to not bat tonight because of the funky schedule. Would have preferred to see that with Trout at DH.
And ward at CF too.
Wait a minute. I just realized we’re tied for 2nd place behind Texas? I seriously thought we dropped into 4th or something…..
besides winning tonight, my hope is that Kelenic starts his slide back to .190
Trout having a day off again already? Surely to keep him healthy during the playoff push come September, right? Right?
::Cries in working 3 weeks straight and not having a day off until next Saturday::
lolz I remember those days
https://twitter.com/Sarah_IsabelVee/status/1649559532283256832
Rengifo as our starting centerfielder tonight. Sure why not?
.
Hole EEEE Shit! Can anything be more golden than this? CtPG guy the shirt?
Little late for an April Fools innit?
What the hell? Trout bobble head night ……. and no Trout? I’m sure Shohei will appreciate a non defensive fielder playing center field.
At this point I don’t care what Shohei appreciates. Soon I’m gonna start rooting for “Oh no, Shoe unhappy!”. Shohei will just do his job.
Yikes, roster construction is well below average to cause that.
Maybe Trout is handing out his own bobble head at the main gate?
I typed “Shohei as Mr. Spock and Mike Trout as Captain Kirk” on Canva’s AI image generator, and this is the best it could do:
Very odd…but I saved it.
This what I got with my AI Mr. ChatBot.
I have 2 extra tickets tonight. Who wants them?
And tonight is sold out!
If the Rays lose tonight they will be 16-4…hmmmm!!!
but 3-4 in their last 7 games.
It reminds me of 4-16…they’re doomed.
Herget optioned. Loup not far behind.
Wallach and Warren added.
Glad warren’s getting a look.
O’Hoppe put on IL. No other updates.
Here they are.
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/04/angels-select-austin-warren.html
Jimmy not wearing Angel red right now.
The A & W boys are reunited one again.
We are going to have to find another catcher most likely. Wallach is fine as a back up and we don’t know about Stassi.
We just signed a guy like last week. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/04/angels-chris-okey-agree-to-minor-league-deal.html but he ain’t the Key and I don’t even think hes Okay
Welcome to the Show, Edgar Quero!
Trout out of the lineup. Rest day hopefully.
Yeah likely.
Halo Honk just said…only a scheduled day off.
Presuming it was a shoulder subluxation that O’Hoppe sustained. That seems to be the general consensus.
Spoke to my orthopedic surgeon buddy. He says problem is that once it happens, tendons stretch and lose some of their elasticity. Even if no real damage, the shoulder will keep coming out of joint until the tendons are tightened back up which usually requires surgery. Repeated subluxation can cause a labrum and/or tendon tears.
Absent surgery it’s a 3 week injury for the area to heal well enough to play – but again the risk remains on every swing that it happens again with more serious results. With surgery he’s probably out for the season.
Per my buddy, the Boston injury likely was minor but caused enough laxity in the tendons to result in the more serious injury in New York.
RE-LAX
Nice word play.
O’Hoppe has been a bright spot for me so this bums me out a lot
First Gavin Lux and now O’Hoppe. The baseball gods don’t want any rookie sensations in SoCal this year. What can be done to keep Neto safe?
The baseball gods love veteran grit
Grit, love me some grit, my grandfather had it, my father had it and my brother has it, now if only I had some grit. But I am clutch and wear big boy pants.
Yep. 100% agree. Very concerning. Big word with that lax thing made me think of that old HH même
Made me think of Frankie Goes to Hollywood.
Sorry to hear that.
Hit me with your laser beam!
Which in turn reminds me if Mugatu
Had this problem and ended up tearing whatever the name is for one of the top tendons on my shoulder. Couldn’t hold a 2 lb weight without my shoulder coming out. Took me a year after Bankart repair surgery to get back to 75%. Hopefully he’s better off, but the way that he would’ve dislocated his shoulder on a follow through is probably the worst direction to dislocate (from my understanding forward and down = possibly ok; toward your back = real bad).
I don’t know what I did to my shoulder, all I know is if I’m in left and the ball’s hit to me, the shortstop has to come a long way out to get my throw
Love that Zach Neto leg lift before the swing.
On the other end of the spectrum, Sho’s lead leg is quiet before his swing but he can still generate tremendous upper body torque.
Neto’s leg action is a kind of dynamic version of what Mel Ott and Sadaharu Oh used to do.
Really enjoying watching this kid play.
And, here is hoping that O’Hoppe’s injury is not a serious one and he gets back on the field soon
I love how he quiets that leg lift way down once he has two strikes on him. Having a two-strike approach used to be fundamental.
Total side side side note….
You know who deserves a kudos for being a total pro instead of a pick me assclown with a “I’m a reporter” t-shirt on? Brodie Brazil… the guy with the A’ss Youtube channel.
I’ve been watching him for a while, enjoying all the convoluted stadium piss going on up there. When the A’ss Land Deal leaked on Wed night, and also on his clips Thursday, you could tell the guy loves the A’ss and is pretty unhappy that the nail just went into the coffin. You can also tell he’s pretty unhappy with the A’ss. BUT HE DIDN’T SAY ANYTHING. Not the way a fan would. He had questions, etc. But he didn’t dissolve into being the lead bitch in an angry mob in hopes of making that his new niche. He avoided any type of drama and just gave out facts and analysis.
It was admirable because you could tell he just wanted to yell his head off about this, but he kept his cool and did his actual job instead of friend farming. Journalists can be fans, but when they are being journalists they need TO BE JOURNALISTS. Their personal frustrations aren’t part of the story and I don’t give two shits about their feelz, nor am I the kind of weakling that needs a reporter to validate mine. Brazil totally walked that line this week.
Let’s Give him a trophy.
Overall bummer but it’s been doomed for a while.
At least feral cats and possums will have a home.
One thing is Vegas has less market size than Oakland- tv sets —A’s will be more revenue limited – nice.
And they say they’re keeping their AAA team in town too. Really? For such a small market? Let’s see if that works.
I heard Oakland is looking for a Triple A team
I had a poli-sci professor who never tipped his hand as to whether he was left, right, or in the middle. I admired his professionalism.
😄 perfect through 7
Incredible, just not right
…and then it ends
☹️
Smyly could only smile about it.
32.9 mph scorcher off the bat
The Doyers are down 13-0 . My joy and adulation is far from ending.
Tar & Feathers for you!
I didn’t tackle my pitcher when he was about to get get a perfecto.
you mentioned a perfecto during a perfecto.
So is O’hoppe destined for surgery? I doubt this is a byproduct of roids like Tatis but why are we seeing this injury more and more ? Swinging mechanics or a congenital defect?
https://www.mlb.com/news/fernando-tatis-jr-has-left-shoulder-surgery
The curse continues….
The baseball gods hate us. 💯❌
Same reason we see peanut allergies more, right?
Not sure but here’s another recent left shoulder MLB Sub laxation injury.
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/04/garrett-mitchell-will-likely-require-shoulder-surgery-putting-season-in-jeopardy.html
I suspect O’Hoppe’s gonna See Dr. Neal next week and has got surgery in his future and a lost 2023.
Good thing we got Eli or Thaiss as our starting catchers
That’s my guess (surgery) and be ready for 2024. That said – 💩
Well, The A’s are moving again. First in Philadelphia, then Kansas City where they floundered, then to Oakland where they enjoyed the good to put up with the bad, up and down. Now to another location with limited fans and too hot a temp for get away games.
What stupid foolish leaders in Oakland and selfish Giants to not work something out. Oakland lost the Warriors and A’s to their way to proving you can’t fix stupid.
I know it just is what it is and it can’t be helped but fk me do we have to go full Jeter on Ohtani? Wow Brent McGuire, guy who is supposed to have watched some baseball over the years, 116 MPH and 391 ft? It could be a couple days till we see that level of greatness again from some guy no one thinks of very often. Zomz, that’s a relatively large home run. Cool.
7 games in two series. A sweep in one and one loss in the other would rock, but reality bites you in the arse when expected. The Angels will not pull this off and if we come out of it 4-3 we will just have to cross fingers that we start a winning streak in May, which is highly unlikely. PTP did his job over the Winter with B grade, we did need another starter, 2 more relief pitchers and a proven Catcher to share the duties behind the plate.
If the players want to go to Post Season Play, then they need to start getting it together. Hopefully a real clubhouse leader shows up soon.
4-3, 5-2, 6-1 or 7-0, whatever happens in these two series we need to have a winning record to keep on – keeping on.
Our pitching is showing wear already and very seldom does our lineup put it altogether, but we have a chance to prove we are a team in the here and now. Go Angels.
Sure hope you mean an Angels sweep when you ask for “a sweep in one.” Gotta be specific when praying to the God of Baseball
I really hate playing teams on a losing streak. Things are bound to turn around a bit at some point.
KC just got swept. Big time. This series scares me.
The reality seems to be that the Angels play up to the competition, so you are right to be concerned with these two series.
Why do the Angels always seem to do this? I feel like aside the years from around 2002-2009 they always played to the level of their competition. Weird stuff man.