There are games every season that are hard to watch. Not just because of it being a blowout loss or anything, but the players playing so horrendously that it is ugly.
On April 29th, 2023, the Angels played such a game, making stupid mistakes on defense while being incredibly un-clutch and hopeless at the plate. I mean really, back to back plays to third being botched, flyballs that should have been caught, and doing the opposite of helping your pitcher out really stings.
Which is even worse when the opponent is doing the so well, making those hard catches, and making those heads up plays. Really, the only thing the Brewers did wrong was arguing with the ump up 7-1 in the 6th. That was also hard to watch with how awkward it all was, even if it did have some benefit of having multiple Brewers ejected.
This was an MLB game, yet felt nothing like one at times. Seriously, the only scoring for the Angels through 7 innings was a sac fly, and the best highlight would be Detmers getting 6k.
At least a Trout Home Run in the 8th made it not as bad of a blowout as it could have been.
Oh and then an other one in the 9th to make it a 2 run game.
Nothing else was of note except maybe that Neto had multiple hits heading leadoff… and got HBP again. Whatever, Angels lose and are at .500 again. By losing. Next game tomorrow morning at 11 AM. Drink responsibly.
Suarez really needs to put it altogether today if he does not want to be replaced in the rotation, although with that said, I would have dropped him even before his last start. Today with Rengifo, Lamb and Thaiss in and batting higher up the line up, I get the feeling here that there is no urgency to this game. I mean Thaiss batting 6th, is that the best line up we can produce? We really need to win to keep everybody’s head straight.
you negative nancy, you.
The good news after the first month is we have dodged the bullet on injuries, sort of. Our catching core has been hit hard, with that said, we still have Trout and Shohei along with Rendon and Renfroe. Dury is hammering the ball with the starting pitching staff not in need of TJS.
Our total of the numbers by O’Hoppe, Thaiss, and Wallach have been surprisingly good, except for the defensive side has been weak.
Renfroe and Ward have shown that they can play “D” and Rendon and Neto can glove the left side. Drury is just fine at 2B but Renny is just a nightmare at 2B.
So why are we just at .500 and not doing better. For 3 reasons;
No team other than the Rays, has a line up that is hot in every game. But with this being the best line up in a long, long time, the Angels are not making adjustments to who the pitchers who are in against them.
Bullpen is just a bit above average at best right now. As a group they are working to many innings and that will catch up to them by July. As a group very little consistency, you never know what you’re going to get when brought in.
Fielding is so bad that it does upset me more than anything. Almost all this team’s errors are just not being prepared for the ball, whether thrown or hit. There is no team player that is showing leadership maybe, at least when on the field. Someone needs to call a team meeting and call their hitting and fielding to the carpet so to speak. It could be the manager showing leadership and not fearing feeling being hurt. It could be a player’s only meeting and several respected guys calling out bullpoop that is happening and getting everyone to air out their issues.
Get it fixed sooner rather than later, and then a winning team chemistry will develope.
My neighbor said he had a new brew for me to try out, well since he is from the beer capital back in Wisconsin I said “why sure I’d like to try a new beer, what’s it called?”.
He says “Brew Sticks”,
OK, I give it a try”,
And then his says come on down to his deck and when I arrived he handed me a broom, called a Brewer’s Stick he says,
Smart ass I said, and he said my Joke was dumb ass. 
Ha! Wisconsin folk love their Brewers!
As a kid I used to love watching Bernie Brewer slide down into a huge beer when they hit a HR or won a game. Kind of hilarious.
Do they still do that? We haven’t seen Bernie, maybe that was discontinued, but that was fun. Although those Brat’s and Dogs racing is fun too.
Bernie has a dugout now not a chalet. And he doesn’t slide into a beer stein anymore 😩
Neto
Trout
Ohtani
Renfroe
Drury
Thiass
Urshela
Lamb
Rengifo
No Ward or Rendon??
Any lineup with Thais and Lamb is automatically not my favorite. Add in Suarez pitching….
But this could be a game where we presume the Halos will lose and we end up pleasantly surprised.
I hope you’re right…we need this one!!
That’s the hope with us and our manager is thinking the same thing, throw shit on the wall see what sticks
Add a Thaiss seasoned Rengafo Lamb.
Oh well, at least the Kings lost… The Ducks may be crap for the last couple years, but they also have more playoff series wins than the Kings do over the last 9 years (4-0).
This guy just sucker punched us in an alley and then kicked our ass !!!
I am not going to lose faith.
I say it’s World Series or bust – 2023.
Go Halos…..
Oh Ye of so little faith… who give up Hope with so much baseball to be played.
We’re at .500.
What counts is what happens going forward – not where we are now, or where we’ve been.
.500 ball is not bad – all things considered.
I’m hoping for the best tomorrow, considering Suarez is on the mound.
Sure, I would prefer Nevin give the ball to Tucky D tomorrow. But, still hoping for the best for Jose S….
If we were the White Sox or A’ss or something I’d be like “Yeah, I don’t think it’s our year…” but it’s not quite May and we’re .500… or as I like to call it poised to launch a possible assault on the league.
Well under .500 in July. Then I start losing hope…. and then I just hope to see some prospects and trade Ohtani away. Always some type of hope.
See – I can’t get behind the WS or bust thought process- I just think it’s such a long shot for a team that won 73 games last year. It’s setting us all up for disappointment.
Being the third wildcard – maybe. Winning a playoff game or two maybe.
But honestly if the team could win something around 84 games that would be an 11 game improvement which is substantial year over year.I’d be very happy with that even if the team missed the playoffs.
World series or bust never make sense. That’s 2 teams. I think people just say that to say it. Hell, 85-90 wins and I’m jiggling.
They don’t say it just to say it. They say it because they are stupidly naive rainbow-farting dreamers.
They actually believe it.
A jiggling 85-90 will do it for me…huge added bonus if we are in contention headed into September. April is saying we will need to win the division, AL East will likely have all of the wild card teams, maybe April is a liar, May sometimes is more realistic, but she can lie too. Now June, she is honest, we can believe what June says about us.
Except we weren’t really a 73 win team, we really underperformed. If you look at the history of teams with 14 game losing streaks you’ll start looking at the Boston.. Braves, Philadelphia.. Athletics, Saint Louis.. Browns, you’re honestly going back to the dead ball era and mid century, truly historically bad teams, which the Angels weren’t. Something else was going on. The only modern team besides us losing 14 was the 2021 Orioles who went 52-110 again a historically shitty team but by 2022 the Orioles won 83 +31.
So even if we rolled out same team we are better than 73. Then you add, if healthy, a full year of Gary Mathews Jr I mean Rendon, if healthy 40 more games of Trout who only played 118 last year, the addition of Neto, and the FA acquisitions of Renfroe, Drury, Urshela all playing very well plus Tyler Anderson who hopefully pitches more like last night. And Detmers and Sandoval are at the age they should improve every year so they aren’t the same as last year.
So the last team to lose 14 straight increases their win total by 31 the next year, we can do it by 17. Unfortunately we have honestly had a half seasons worth of wtf deflating losses in just the first 4 weeks, the up 8-6 one to the A’s at home in 9th last week and the up 6-0 blue jays one couple weeks ago just to name two. It’s not the talent; this team just expertly knows how to lose and play below their potential, never have all 3 phases play well at same time. That’s finna change, hopefully it does. I don’t think so bc I’ve seen no signs but i can hope.
I’m a believer that you are what your record is. So the Angel’s were a 73 win team last year. It’s possible to spin it any possible way but the same problems existed last year (bullpen) as this year. Yes they likely would have scored some more runs last year if healthy. But the thing that resulted in disappointment was the bullpen giving up leads just like they are doing again this year.
So I’ll stick with the Angels were a 73 win team in ‘22. We will see what they are in ‘23.
To me record isn’t a clear indicator of who you are. Teams play above and below their potential all the time especially in the nba where they only care about the playoffs. Same for some teams in nfl. In baseball just off the top of my head the 21 Giants were not a 107 win team while some recent Astros teams were actually better than their already really good record. The pirates are playing above theirs so far. For most the past 8 years i do think we were our record as the angels had so many holes it didn’t matter who the manager was be it Scoscia ausmus Maddon or Nevin, but now we have some decent talent and are playing below the sum of our parts. And while last years team wasn’t a playoff team it was def better than 73. Teams in baseball history with 14 game losing streaks are teams with truly no talent like the 62 Mets or the a’s back when they were in Philly during the First World War, yet we lost 14 with trout and Ohtani? Once that streak happened they essentially gave up, can’t recover from that. Also bullpen arms are the hardest to predict, great one year suck the next and vice versa so you’d think the BP would have a decent year finally.
I do agree the same problems exist that contributed to losing as last year so while I think we have talent to win 90, I predict .500. We’ve already had about 6 inconceivable deflating losses in 4 weeks. Idk what it is but when we have huge leads or the occasional great comeback the bullpen blows it, when the BP does great we can’t get a clutch hit, when a starter pitches a gem we can’t hit. When the brewers pitch a 1 run gem their offense musters a 2nd run in the 8th. We have yet to steal a game when like 6 have been stolen from us, and lots of our wins so far have been struggle sessions by a run or 2 against the lower tier teams in league so damn maybe we do suck again. But looking at the players this year they shouldn’t.
I hear you and agree. There is something weird about it all to be honest. This team SHOULD win consistently- but they don’t and haven’t for basically 10 seasons. So how can that be? On paper they look really good. I mean how many teams have a Trout, Ohtani, Renfroe and Rendon with Sandoval, Detmers and Ohtani starting pitching? Not to mention a young shortstop with skills?!
But that’s all on paper. It’s different on the field. I have always believed there are intangibles in baseball that make a difference. Some teams are luckier than others with balls that would be double plays being hit a few inches to the right or left and scoring runs. It’s such a game of inches that intangibles can make a difference. The Angels seem to have made bad luck a part of their culture.
One thing is for certain- when a team has a lead in the late innings, the bullpen has to lock it down to win with consistency. The Angels had that in 2002 – any late lead was safe like 95% of the time. That was a major part of that team’s success. That bullpen was nails – and a lot of it had to do with Percy’s infectious attitude. Percy would rather eat glass than come in and walk the first batter he faced.
A guy with a similar infectious attitude was Weaver. He provided the team with some of that intangible magic sauce that made the difference between winning and losing. Same with Torii.
For the last 9 seasons the Angels have not had that intangible attitude. Bullpen guys come in with a late lead and walk the first batter etc. There seems to be a lackadaisical and lackluster quality to the team. I can’t put my finger on it but, again, it seems to have become part of the culture.
I agree with all that and idk what it is either
Oh no. Jacob DeGrom to IL with elbow unhappy. Who knew?
Actual bummer. Corbin Carroll is out with a bruised knee. I like that guy. I like the Sneks playing well. I like the Doyers being surrounded by hungry enemies.
Friggin frustrating Angels. The Brewers are good, but they aren’t beating the snot out of us. Over all the team’s far more competitive than most of last year. It’s always just one bad inning for Pitcher X or a game or two of all our hitters shitting the bed. That’s gonna happen to every team. Even the Pirates. Guys will have bad innings, errors, etc. It’s why I laugh when CtPG guy cries like he got shanked with a dull knife about every mistake as though every team isn’t stocked with screw ups.
But our boys just have to make it happen about 1/2 as often as it does now. It’s frustrating cause it’s just not THAT hard or out of reach for them. Rengifo, gaf a couple, I don’t give a shit, just have some RBIs to go with it. Detmers, bad innings will happen. Just, you know, do it every third start. Bullpen. You’re gonna bullpen. I know. Just do it less. Sure, sometimes we’ll leave the bases loaded, but do we have to do so every time they get loaded? You make me want to get loaded. Fix the Poop and Suarez issues, maybe get Walsh back soonish, but over all just stop blowing it so often. All of you, Trout, Ohtani, Anderson and the scrubs.
Soon guys like Jock Frost and Marine Layer and the other sad donkeys are gonna start being critical of this team, they may even declare they’ve had it with them, and then where will we be?
Around 1/6 th of the season has beenplayed and Rendon has zero homers and has made several costly errors. He is on pace for a 0.6 WAR season. Do we think he is healthy and just getting older or do we think he is still injured and trying to play through it?
He doesn’t seem hurt. But who knows? He may also be rusty AF. He was never a guy with ungodly power and he’s spent a lot of time on the shelf the last two years.
Plus he has historic slow starts
How long can people keep using the “rusty” excuse? It reeks of being an apologist. In a sense rusty can be applied to your timing at the plate, say when you’ve just come off the 60 day IL and it is the first two or three games facing big league pitching. That is rusty.
That is not the case with Rendon. He has played a month’s worth of games getting steady AB’s. And he cost us the game last night, and it was not “RUST” but rather not having his damn head in the game. No other reason he makes not one but TWO key errors in the same inning! I was at the game and you could see Detmers look up to the sky and roll his eyes. He was not a Tendon fan in that moment after the 2nd error, I can tell you that.
I can overlook the Mr. Zero HR’s if he is driving in runs and doing little things like getting runners in from 3rd with less than 2outs ( he’s not!!) and especially PLAYING SOLID DEFENSE. But there is no excuse for mental laziness and not making plays that any MLB 3rd baseman would be expected to make.
that A’s fan got into his head
I’m at the point now, where if the Angels are down by a whole bunch of runs, no matter how late in the game, I’m expecting this offense to pull off a great comeback.
And then, of course, Angel relief pitching will lose the game in extra innings
Sunday Toronto game is a case in point..:
Just for the record, my IIWPM had the Angels trading Ohtani and Ward this last offseason while Ward’s value was highest. 😎😵💫
Very frustrating to see the Angels scoring runs as they are yet having the albatross that is Rendon plus terrible pitching drag this team down.
I have a lot of Drunk Angles. Over couch, hanging off chair, down face dog, toilet hug and the classic fully dressed in bed under the covers.
I hope Devenski runs away with a roster spot. And what is going on with Ward? He isn’t driving the ball at all.
Rendon is Gary Matthews Jr style
This team despises being anything other than a .500 ballclub.
Just as long as we don’t go on a 14 game losing streak
will exceed my expectations if we end up at 500.
BONUS
I would have to have a cigarette if we ended the season above. 500.
I still think this team has another gear of possibly two I’m not negative at this point.
We’re competitive with a reasonable expectation for improvement.
If we are .500 at the trade deadline, say goodbye to all our minor league pitchers.
We will going for it. May fall short or may fly in hot, which is what you need in the playoffs.
I agree 100% and they are all but compelled to go for it for obvious reasons – TrouTani.
I haven’t seen anything in writing but I’m pretty sure the way it’s done around here is there is no such thing as improvement. Even if a guy does improve you ignore it and just talk about him like he never got better. At the same time, make sure to mention that anything going well has nothing to do with the Angels themselves. And DON’T EVER let some of these guys catch you thinking a guy or a team that’s got a couple issues may actually sort those issues out.
No. See, Arte reads CtPG just like he was always on Halos Heaven. And if he sees you say something positive or hopeful he will not be held accountable. And we hate our dad, I mean Arte, around here. Never let him think you aren’t miserable, not for one second, or he might decide not to sell the team to Ted Unicorn and he’ll never publicly sink to his knees and beg us to assplain how wrong he is to him.
This is seriously the pathetic way some of these losers around here think.
But you are right. Only a few tweeks need to be made. Unfortunately the list of players who need a little step up in any given game is pretty long right now, but there are 5 more months in the season and we’re only eight games under .500 and ten games back or something right?
If we wish hard enough we can get them under .500. Just keep working at it.
Someone please tell me Suarez isn’t starting tomorrow ? It’s a forfeit if he does. How stupid is the franchise?
I could tell you that or I could tell you the truth. I can’t do both.
And we will win the game we think we will lose.
I’m actually interested to see if the whole tipping tip helps Suarez. If it does I still want Canning in his spot, but it would be a boost for us.
Hopefully Trout is getting hot. That would help greatly!!
Yes and Neto looked solid at leadoff.
I think Renfroe will be heard from tomorrow. If we can get the win tomorrow, the overall damage is minimal.
Nice hat👍
And Ward wakes up!
That is a BIG if.
4-5-6 went a cool 0-15 with 2 Rendon walks.
Are we supposed to crap on Trouts performance tonight? Haha
As for the missed catch, that’s not an easy catch at all.
Let’s get one tomorrow and this doesn’t look “that bad” on the whole.
That’s all I got.
not his performance … but his weight is totally fair game.
on a serious note, imagine if Trout’s other hard hits found the grass. He’d have had a massive night. He was mashing tonight.
He was power drilling tonight. Yelich made
a +athlete play on that gapper.
If Trout wasn’t set in stone about not driving forward the last few years, he might have had a more aggressive jump and pursuit of the ball.
I think the era of Trout in LF is ticking closer and I’m fine with that.
I’m leaning that way. Even more when Marsh was here
Speaking of Marsh, his current line:
82 AB
7 – 2B
4 – 3B
4 – HR
14 – RBI
.341 / .426 / .671 / 1.097
Long season, he likely regresses, yada yada, but it really stings with O’Hoppe out for the season.
He won’t regress. He’s no longer an Angel.
wow, 4 triples! Good on him