It’s not just the Angels who need to keep their heads in the game. This high school team snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Liam Hendricks is back from cancer just in time to close games against the Angels.
The Rays released right-hander Chris Muller. They also placed right-hander Pete Fairbanks on the 15 day injured list. The Athletics just designated first baseman Jesus Aguilar for assignment. It’s a rough day for first basemen. The Brewers just DFAd Luke Voit.
Lance McCullers Jr. appears to have had a setback.
The Reds outrighted Silvino Bracho. We’ll see if he refuses his outright assignment.
Cover photo credit: Rex Fregosi
I can’t figure it out. How did Arte manage to get the Angels training and med staff to work on McCullers?
https://www.ocregister.com/2023/05/30/man-sues-angels-after-being-blinded-in-left-eye-by-ball-that-player-allegedly-hurled-into-crowd/
The ball wasn’t merely thrown, mind you, it was dramatically HURLED.
This is Arte’s fault
Ohtani’s slump at the plate is hitting epic proportions (.125/.192/.250 -0.2 WAR in the past 7 days, .140/.218/.320, -0.3 WAR over 14). Hopefully het gets a needed day of rest after being hit in the leg.
Fortunately, Trout, Drury and Urshela have all been hot during that same time frame (although I’d like to see Trout strike out less).
I don’t know if I would call Trout Hot right now. For him its more like slightly above room temperature.
Matt Thaiss, on the other hand, is 6 for 18 with 2 HRS and Zach Neto is 5 for 18 with 2 2Bs 1 HR 2 BBs and 3 HBPs
I was judging Trout by the same standards I judge others. You are of course correct that his 1.032 OPS over the past 7 days is merely average for him.
Today. Give me Thaiss at the plate…over Trout and Ohtani, in all situations.
Isn’t it nice having an actual roster? Where players getting hot can supplement the production from the players that are slumping at the same time?
I love having an actual shortstop playing the shortstop position.
You mean you didn’t enjoy it when Trout struggled mightily last year and then eventually got injured and was out for a month, that the team had to rely on Velasquez/Wade/Mayfield/Rojas/Sierra/Aguilar/Ford/Mackinnon and the rest of the scrap heap from the Salvation Army?!
Although I didn’t expect major contributions from unexpected sources, such as Thaiss, Wallach, O’Hoppe (when he was playing), Moniak and Neto. Even the very rare part-timers such as Phillips and Jake Lamb also had some good moments, and the fact that they didn’t have to play regularly at that was a bonus. And I also did not expect Gio’s offense to be this good, so far in the season. I mean, Perry was even able to option Fletcher, and this team was actually better off of it. The seeds were planted and they’re finally blooming.
He swung through a couple of high fastballs in his last at bat last night. Pitches he usually crushes.
Something isn’t right.
He’s clearly performing at a level to lock down that $600m contract
If he keeps this up he will probably cost himself at least $100 million
Credit to Matt Thaiss for being aware of the moment and staying well clear of the batters box last night so the fans could give Hendricks that standing ovation.
I saw Hendricks touch his chest and gesture thanks to Thaiss as he stepped in the box.
That was incredible to see. It went so far beyond baseball.
Getting the W was also great. Let’s get another one today.
That’s something Liam will cherish forever regardless of how his career goes from here on and it was a class move by Thaiss as well. I was also impressed with Thaiss’ post game comments. I previously viewed him a someone who carried himself with the swag as if he had arrived despite not having accomplished much in the game. Which I guess could be attributed to “fake it until you make it” false bravado. He appears to now be comfortable in his own skin and I hope that means we can count on his production continuing.
An astute observation. I totally missed that. I guess I was too busy typing to respond to some posts. I will go back to watch the scene. Love to notice those little things that baseball players do to pay their respect for fellow players.
Which makes me wonder if Kopeck apologized to Shohei in person for the wild pitch to his right calf in the first inning.
https://youtu.be/cXZ0q7h3noE
Now I have a movie to watch tonight. I did not know this movie had something to do with baseball in Japan. Thanks for the “tip”.
I don’t know that I would put it in my top 10 baseball movies list but it did have a few things to offer. I had several teammates/friends that played in NPB or with guys who did and the stories were always entertaining. Trying to teach 25 year old alpha male Americans the honor code seemed to be the central theme along with comments like “Man the Japanese can REALLY drink!”
“Major League” featuring Charlie Sheen, who I understand was a pretty good baseball player, had a Japanese guy doing silly Japanese things (probably not politically correct in today’s standard) in that movie. He was a famous comedian in Japan. I also remember couple of ground keepers who spoke poor Japanese.
Bull Durham is probably on top of my favorite baseball movies. Susan Sarandon was amazing in that movie. In my mind, her acting deserved Oscar nomination.
https://youtu.be/vRppAMGQrhg
That almost looks like the famous homerun that Kirk Gibson hit against Dennis Eckersley.
You mean Major League II? Takaaki Ishibashi’s character was not in the first Major League movie.
You are absolutely correct. I may have to take extra medicine to prevent further deterioration of my memory for the remainder of today.
Yes, it shows class and, as you say, an awareness of the situation. That’s shows a lot of maturation at his tender young age.
Here is a video of that moment from the Chicago broadcast. Credit to the announcers for talking about Thaiss’s consideration for the moment. The thank you from Hendriks is really cool.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QywydbbKIG4
Another pitcher to watch.
very nice.
More HOPE and CHANGE.
https://twitter.com/SamBlum3/status/1663575669261860865?s=20
It’s a good read. Cliff notes version is – Team needs to make playoffs to have any chance at keeping Ohtani and the GM is willing to roll the dice as his career is on the line.
If we can’t have Moore… than Moore of this will work.
https://twitter.com/MLB/status/1663382046549454850?s=20
Is this legal? A pitcher coming out of the bullpen and immediately throwing 100mph strikes! I guess it could be some sort of illusion, but it sure impressed the hell out of me! More Joyce, please.
I guess Minasian would be more than happy to pay for the “alleged” speeding ticket.
I love it it. The only thing that scares me is any young pitcher that throws 100+ is bound for tj surgery if he’s an angel.
He’s already had one, so at least he knows how to rehab…
Good to know he’s got that nightmare over with
I think it was kind of like Rookie of the Year. If my understanding is correct, his fastball sat in the mid-90s before his injury. In the process of rehabbing it, he added another 5+ mph. Probably mostly due to just getting bigger and stronger as a human, but its interesting how it played out.
Maybe if he tears it again he will come back throwing 110! (kidding, of course)
The high school game in the links brought back horrible memories.
https://youtu.be/qJJvqyPUArA
Thanks a lot, Charles!
Yeah ugly memory and we’re playing the White Sox now too.
if you’re an Angel fan, your eyes are zeroing in every single move the umpire makes.
We often get supremely crappy umping but I will never forget Game 6 where the ump gave Glaus a ball call on the 1-1 count, and I will always believe that forced the San Francisco pitcher to come in with a lollipop that Troy nailed for the go ahead runs.
F*ck this. Please remove immediately.
May exact thought. However, this was a clear in-the-dirt, and the umpire didn’t give mixed signals
Baseball Reference has been a gold mine of intriguing information. I may have come across a key to some of the Angels wins this season. When Rengifo starts and is replaced in the 7th inning or earlier, we are perfect 5-0 including yesterday’s victory. but when replaced in the 8th inning or later 3-4. I have not checked how Rengifo did offensively in those games, but I hope Nevin also noted this trend.
Could be due to defensive replacement when ahead
Exactly my point. Rengifo has not had decent batting average or hit as many home runs as last year, but he has quietly been a cog of offensive machine with his walks (17 thus far vs 17 all last year) and being aggressive on bases, which is not necessarily reflected on the usual statistics. I think Nevin recognizes that Rengifo contributes well offensively, but not so much defensively. Having Walshy at 1B has stabilized infield tremendously since his return.
But Jose Mota wanted to remind you to play good enough until the last out or until something good happens because the Angels are also 15-9 in Games Papa Smurf starts and plays through the last out.
BTW based upon these numbers the Angels are 2-8 in games Rengifo has come off the bench so I guess if we are really desperate enough to use him late in the game it’s not making much of a difference.
I guess I made you look up and check my math. 😉 Thank you for completing what I had started. I was also going to suggest that it took until game #17 before Nevin started to replace Rengifo regularly with another defensive player. Gotta give credit to where credit is due. Nevin is learning.
Halos 5/30 Rooting Guide
LAA > CWS
DET > TEX
CLE > BAL
MIL > TOR
CIN > BOS
MIN > HOU
SEA > NYY
7-4 in our last 11 games. Sweep the White Sox and its a very respectable 9-4.
And 16-12 for May, another 15 or more wins per month, on pace to 90+ win season.
Yesterday several people chastised me for wishing Mariner’s win over MFYankees today that we always need to cheer for foes who are playing against division rivals in early season. I was strictly looking at it from the perspective of wild card spot, thinking that Texas will probably hold onto the top spot, so split series between Mariners and MFYankees would be most beneficial for Angels. Upcoming 4 game series with Houston and Texas will tell us a lot in terms of Angels chance of winning AL West. But first thing first, let’s win tonight.
By the way, I will also add:
CHC > Tampa
Marcus Stroman pitched CG one hitter (single bloop by Wander Franco in 7th inning, I think) against mighty Rays. Could’ve been the first no hitter of season.
Ya, I’m with you.
In efforts not to write an essay I’ll be short,
Root for the teams ahead of us to lose. Yankees are 3.5 up on us and the Mariners are .5 game back.
Simple thinking lol
I like simple. It’s easier on whatever left functioning in my brain.
Because of east coast bias, I despise AL East teams. Since there has to be a division winner to make the post season, I will cheer for Baltimore to win AL East since I like Adley Rutchman. If at least 3, preferably all, of NY, Bos, Tampa, and TOR fall out of contention, I would be imitating Michael Jackson’s moon walk, to be immediately followed by bilateral hip replacement surgery. 😁
You’re a welcoming addition to the group. I hope you stick around if ohtani moves on 🤘
My every day rooting guide
Angels > Anybody
Anybody > Roid Sux
Anybody > Dodgers
So what about the Roid Sux vs Doyers then?
Game declared a tie after the playing field is swallowed up into a interdimensional sinkhole resulting in both teams players time traveling to a nice but baseball absent possible distant future location.
BTW: No puppies were hurt in the filming of this. movie
Root for the Giant Meteor to crush Fenway
I’ll safely assume Rendon is weeks away from playing. Didn’t we receive news recently that he was close?
Angels Notes: Rendon, Rodriguez
By Mark Polishuk | May 29, 2023 at 10:41pm CDT
At least we have a more than capable enough replacement for the meantime, arguably someone with a better defense, and arguably, to some, may be a better player than Rendon at t his point. I would still like to have Rendon back, as his OBP is insane and he deepens the lineup, even without the power. But at least this time has come a long way from Mayfield/Rengifo 3B backup in 2022.
After going 3 for 28 with RISP last weekend I’m sure the Angels want him back too.
According to Sam Blum, Rendon did light fielding work but isn’t throwing, hitting, or answering questions.
I think it is well advised that he is not talking to the reporters. We don’t want him suspended for trying his right hook on an unsuspecting media person, right?
This is why I was so stoked to get Urshela over the off season. There’s no drop off in the lineup and he’s actually been better in the field (at least with regards to throwing errors).
The Foundation Building Materials’ keystone of the game for the Angels tonight in Chicago is “The Future’s So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades” by Timbuk 3.
Zack “The Kid” Neto
Ben “Fireball” Joyce
Mickey “Maniac” Moniak
Logan O’Hoppe
There hasn’t been a batch of youngsters on the Angel’s MLB roster this exciting since the mid-90s when we were planning imminent World Series parties around Damion Easley, Eduardo Perez, Chad Curtis, JT Snow, Garret Anderson, and Troy Percival.
https://youtu.be/8qrriKcwvlY
Let’s keep stocking up on these types of young players. Would love to see 2024 as a young, hungry talented team. Veteran players are boring.
I’ve been calling him Mickey “Money” Moniak. Or just Money-ak for short.
You forgot Jorge Fabregas, Tim Salmon, Darin Erstad, Jim Edmonds, Bengie Molina & Jarod Washburn. Which became a large of the core ( either by performance or by trade bait) of the 2002 World Series Championship team.
Los Angeles Angels signed free agent RHP Carson Fulmer to a minor league contract.
I hope this is for minor league depth, and not a sign that some of our relievers will be out so long that we need more and more hands on deck.
Is a 2.86 ERA in AAA good? Is it good if it is the best minor league year of your seven years in the minors?
Cats & Dogs!!
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/fulmeca01.shtml
Living Together?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sED4fzIV0k
“I’m going to get you a nice fruit basket.”
It’s true, this man has no dick.
He is one day older than Tay Tay
in 2015 draft, he went 8th and Tay Tay went 26th (And Jerry was happy)
35 walks in 56-2/3 innings is not. (although he might just fit right in here)
We need somebody to take Loup’s spot when he’s DFAd.
Hoping Moore will be back, or Herget will find his stride, or we see Ingram or Yovan. I don’t think we need to add more pieces who we can’t rely on (and that track record doesn’t seem reliable).
I hope Moore comes back quickly but the nature of his injury won’t allow that and Herget was a one trick pony. We need to explore all options, even dubious ones. It’s a problem that isn’t going away.
Loss of Moore in my mind is one of the main reasons why we lost the second game of Marlins series in the most demoralizing way.
Abdominal muscle strain is usually tricky. I thought I read that MRI revealed 2nd degree strain, which equals 4-6 weeks rest and probably needs rehab in minors several times. Return is most likely after All Star break.
Would KC take Rendon and Adell for Aroldis Chapman?
Zero chance on that trade.
Esteves, Joyce, Devinski will be the back end for a while.
Luke Murphy should be up soon as well.
I don’t think too many people on CtPG will complain if we had Chapman. The question is always what Angels are willing to lose.
The only problem with that is Murphy will need to get out RHBs as well and thats been a big problem this year at the RC.
All I know is that if Loup is still on the roster at the end of the season, I shall be very put out.
https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/88efaccc-3248-4121-91cb-0d99497e53cb
We Need another shut down LHP even before Moore went down This is going to become a gaping hole in this bullpen.
Quijada is out, Loup continues to be Poup, Tucky D is Meh and both Torres and Ingram have both been ineffective (and mega wild) this year. The only other LH arms in the upper levels of the organization are Kenny Rosenberg, Jake Kalish, Jhonathan Diaz, Cam Vieaux, Ryan Smith & Jake Dashwood.
So I just don’t see a short termsolution coming from within this organization.
Totally agree. I am certain Minasian Is salivating all over on Aroldis Chapman, who will be #1 target reliever for all contending teams before trade deadline.
My read on the bullpen woes has been that having a change of pace guy in the pen is good but not a pen full of them. Loup, Herget, Tepera as main options is tough as they can’t avoid contact through pure stuff and the changes to the shift do these guys no favors. Most of the better bullpens have guys that throw really hard and also tend to have wipe out secondary pitches. I think the Angels also believe this and that’s why we’re seeing all the kids brought up so quickly.
I wondering if Estevez will be negatively impacted by having Joyce in a setup role.
If every pitch from Joyce is 100-103 MPH’s maybe those 97-99 MPH fastballs from Estevez afterwards will look very hittable.
They were saying something close to that on the broadcast last night. Watching Estevez, he is pretty smart about moving the eye level around.
I thought about that last night.
Joyce needs to pitch the 8th so the two don’t face the same batters.
As exciting as it was to witness Joyce doing a superb job last night, but as many of you have taught me, we should probably taper our enthusiasm a bit and watch a few more appearances by Joyce before we designate him as late inning reliever. As I understand, he had control problem on AA; yes, I know it could be due to those terrible baseballs they were using, but let’s wait and see.
I would also urge caution with Joyce. Like any rookie, he will have growing pains, and there will be some atrocious nights. And of course, it will be on Nevin to balance those growing pains WITH the urgency to win games.
Just like Silseth, Joyce would have good and bad days. Unlike most, I didn’t see any issue putting Silseth in that Miami game after Ohtani was done. He’s been good so far in situations out of the bullpen, and with starting a clean inning. Plus when he’s on, he has really good, filthy stuff.
The issue I had was maybe Nevin should have had him on a shorter leash when it was clear that Chase didn’t have good control that night. Like I said, it will boil down to Nevin balancing between letting the kids grow and winning games.
But hey, if Joyce takes the high leverage reliever role for good and runs away with it, then I’ll be glad to be wrong and great for the team.
It must be, some have been calling for Cole Percival to come up and his 7.71ERA in AA
Who?
He was the 8th pick in the 2015 draft. Drafting pitchers seems to involve much luck good or bad.
Perry is taking the throw shit at the wall and see what sticks with his approach to the bp and I’m all for it.
A third through the season and we know a few things.
he’s out a month.
One take from last night made me laugh, Thaiss currently has more steals than Mike Trout. SMFH 😄
A pitcher leads the team in steals. OK-Well a two way player anyway.
Renny can’t field worth a 💩
Who is Matt Thaiss really? He really has saved this team from having a losing record.
And his buddy is kicking some butt too, Wallach is almost as a huge surprise.
We really missed Walsh out on the field, hope he finds his stroke soon, just like 2 yrs ago.
Can hardly believe the nightly exploits of Neato Neto and his netting of ground balls in his area of the field, or his acreage in this case, and yes, I loved Simba, and yes we have the second coming of a great Shortstop. Can you imagine Fletcher returning and playing the keystone with Neto.
Funny stuff, Thaiss stealing 2nd and over sliding the bag. Let’s get 2 in a row in the Windy City tonight.
I agree 100% re Neto. His D is worth the price of admission.
The jury is out for me on Thais and Walsh. Will just have to wait and see.
As for Fletch, I’m afraid he is done. It’s very sad because I really liked him as a player.
Thaiss has been a nice surprise this year. Was worried he was done, both as a bat and a catcher.
I do hope Fletch finds his swing, but I agree, seems like injuries have slowed his defense and his swing. It is a shame.
Fletch currently at .311 at SLC. At .384 OBP. Would much rather have him than Rengifo. BTW, what has Kenyon Yovan done besides his 0.46 ERA to NOT deserve a look-see at Anaheim?
I’d prefer to see Fletch over Rengifo as well.
Me too. We need the solid fielding for a utility bench guy.
In an extreme offensive environment, Fletch as an anemic slugging percentage of .361. he has just 4 doubles, 1 triple and ZERO HRs in 138 PAs This is why he still at AAA. Hell he topped that slugging percentage in the much more difficult arena of Major League Baseball in 2018, 2019 & 2020 seasons. Way back in 2018 just prior to Fletch’s MLB ascension, he put up a .350/.394/.559 slash line in 275 PAs (which is about double his current AAA PA’s) in the very same Great Salt Lake. He had 25 Doubles, 5 Triples & 6 HRs.
Unfortunately, Fletch has lost any resemblance of power. And I wonder about his sprint speed as well. I dont know if this is due to his approach or his core/leg injury or both. But until heat least figures out how to drive the ball in the AAA band boxes hes not going anywhere.
His offense was already down in 2021 when he probably started having issues with his right hip, and he attempted to work through the pain, which made the problem worse. He has not been the same since the surgery as operation that involves the hip joint is pretty tricky in terms of outcome.
This may be totally unrelated, but knowing that he is an avid poker player, sitting at poker table for prolonged time for consecutive days did any favor for his hip joints.
So your blaming his hitting wows on Texas holdem?
Anything that’s named Texas cannot be good for your health. 😆
I am a huge Fletch fan and said multiple times that I would even use StubHub to buy a ticket to see Fletch/Neto tandem.
Detroit once lost their bullpen guy due to too much playing of video games lol.
It’s strange as I thought the elimination of extreme shifts would have benefitted Fletch more than almost anyone else. He seems to have forgot how to hit line drives and he’s a guy that HAS to do that often in order to succeed. Ironically Pujols may have actually retired a year early as he always had strong hard hit rates but was killed in with extreme shifts.
but.. GRIT! Fan-Favorite feel good story of the year! 😅
When was there an indictment?
Grand Jury convening after the road trip.
Totally agree on all counts. Ward appeared to be our long term solution in left field even early on this season and now looks lost as heck.
Tony Two Wheels is my nickname for him as a wheelchairs himself around the rehab nursing home.
I still prefer Gio at 3B with his superior fielding and productive hitting.
CtPG is just a fun place to hang out. It’s fun to read different ideas and opinions we all post. But the best part is putting a “Like” on something I find very good, fun, funny, important info, and many more. Favorite is humor of many here. Least favorite is of course is those who can only post mostly negative, as in life some are half-full folks others are half empty and always think that what they see is reality, sometimes they are right.
Our team, the Angels allow runs with 2 out and 2 strikes more often than not. We give up lead off batters walks and hits more than not. And when you least expect it, a costly error. We are a tough crowd in the way we react and point fingers at who to blame, then move forward to the next game.
We have some great writers on staff, but we all will argue with a fence post 😀
We are smarter than the owner, naturally. We know more than any GM, all the time. We can manage the club and be superior in line construction than any of these guys, Sosh, Assmus, Sleepy Joe, and zoned out Nevin. Want proof, just ask us.
Tough crowd here, very emotional, very funny, very smart, very adamant, but always readable….well for the most part anyway. We also fence with words, see attacks, find fault in others at times, criticize, but everyone of us keep returning everyday/every night/ every game and we love, like, tolerate, all the other players. Funny Stuff with a great group.
Have fun today – hey we won last night, right. After all it’s Go Angels.
If someone asked me why I participate in CtPG, I would just copy and paste your above post. You eloquently summarized the passion and entertainment value this site generates. This team almost every game puts us on edges of our seats and roller coaster of emotions. It’s been a while to have something that I care so much about, perhaps since 2018 when Oregon State won CWS championship. Yes, you can call me ‘bandwagon” Angels fan, but I promise I bring out as much passion and enthusiasm as any avid genuine fan.
Sometimes in life two people witness the same event and come away with totally different descriptions. Returning from stage 4 cancer, after beating it, to pitch in the major leagues is just mind boggling and I though what he did was awesome. Liam Hendricks had a great night and is an inspiration to million of people.
Agree. Who knows what the future holds for any of us. Regardless of how well he did/didn’t perform, the fact he made it all the way back to pitch in a major league game is inspiring.
The return from Stage 4 cancer to pitch in the majors is/was totally inspiring. Who cares how he pitched. Dude was composed and throwing 96 after everything he’s been through. Bravo! He deserves respect and admiration.
CWS front office cares how he performs.
If he doesn’t he’ll get kicked to the curb!
Or promoted to management to be nice.
Probably true, and you couldn’t really blame them. It is great that he is healthy, but no MLB club will tolerate sub-par pitching, even from a cancer survivor. That said, I hope he returns to closer form and dominates every team in the AL, except ours.
Assuming that White Sox becomes a seller before trade deadline, Hendricks is paid $14M this year with $15M next year as club option, so if he returns to perform well as either set up or closer in June and July, he is going to be the second most sought after reliever after Aroldis Chapman in my opinion.
That is a big if, and is predicated on a pretty talented White Sox team not turning it around, but yes, I agree.
Loup begs to disagree
Thaiss stepping out, and the Angels in the dugout manning the rail says all.
I get to be wrong…Hendriks was terrible.
Pretty sure he will get better with time!!