Christmas Weekend brought the Seattle Mariners to town for the first time this year. Seattle’s offense has been surprisingly scuffling all year and they had to face Shohei tonight. So, of course, they got out to a quick lead on a 2-run homer by Kelenic, yay.
The Angels, on the other hand, had to face Seattle’s ace, Luis Castillo, who dealt for the first 2 innings. But in the bottom of the 3rd, after Taylor Ward reached on an error by SS Crawford, Ohtani helped his own cause by slamming long ball #17 to DEEEP center field. We are tied at 2.
With the score still tied in the bottom of the 4th, Rendon led off with a double. Next up, Rengifo came us clutch, as he has been doing of late. A single gave the Angels a 3-2 lead, which is where it stood after 4 innings.
Ohtani got into some trouble in the 5th inning, walking Caballero and hitting J-Rod in the elbow, which gave Ty France an opportunity to come through with an RBI single to center.
Ohtani averted further damage by inducing a nice Walsh to Neto to Walsh double play to end the inning.
In the bottom of the 5th, the Angels threatened thanks to a Neto walk and Ohtani double, but there were no clutch hits from Ward and Trout.
Ben Joyce took over for Ohtani on the mound in the 6th inning, but after walking the first batter and pitching a few pitches to the next, he appeared to feel something wrong with his arm and was taken out of the game. Initial word is it is “hand irritation”, whatever that means. Hopefull trAdition doesn’t change the diagnosis.
Jacob Webb came into the game in emergency relief, and got the job done for then and also in the 7th inning.
In the bottom of the 6th Rendon led off by being hit by a pitch, then with two outs Mickey hit a maniacal big fly over centerfielder J-Rod’s glove off the faux wall. Angels lead 5-3 heading to the 7th.
Matt Brash replaced Castillo in the 7th inning. Aside from Neto getting on base and working his way toward 3rd, the Angels didn’t do anything good.
In the 8th, Sam Bachman took over for Webb and worked a scoreless inning as did the M’s Gabe Speier in the bottom half.
Carlos Estevez came in to once again try to continue his saves streak, but got off to a rocky start allowing a home run to one time Angel Mike Ford.
Then Caballero walked and stole second base and things were looking scary. J.P. Crawford popped out to Rendon. J-Rod struck out looking. France flied out to Trouty. Game over! 5 game winning streak secured. Estevez streak secured. Great win for the Apple TV crowd. The Halo shines bright again!
Neto has the extended raccoon eye black tonight.
Texas Rangers won today as did the Houston Asstros, so we need to come through tonight to stay even.
Baseball is like a box of chocolates. Forrest Gump would have really appreciated the amazing As beating up on NL Central leading Milwaukee Brewers with 4 game winning streak. Kyle Hendricks of Cubs is six outs away from the first no hitter of season.
But Gump plays for the Phillies now.
Thaiss is batting fifth, now I certainly appreciate all that Matt has done this season, but he has 14 RBI this year, he is a slow runner, so why ahead of the 3 guys behind him? Thaiss must hit this pitcher awfully well.
Blue Jays lost. We win we’re tied for first team outside looking in.
Nevin must have been listening to our conversation, Cowboy26!
https://twitter.com/SamBlum3/status/1667664858853281792
Any information on Gerardo Reyes?
He’s taking Joyce’s roster spot.
What does ulnar neuritis mean?
Fancy doctor talk for TJS next week.
https://www.sportsmedtoday.com/ulnar-neuritis-va-125.htm
trAdition
I am no orthopod, but there was no further report on the integrity of the ulnar collateral ligament, but I presume there must have been at least some micro tear, which is always followed by bleeding and subsequent inflammation, thus neuritis. The most logical step is to ice and rest. They will probably reevaluate in 2-4 weeks with MRI and decide. Kinda reminds me of Shohei’s case when they waited and see if rest alone healed his second degree tear of UCL, but as we all remember, it did not work and he ended up going under the knife. I also remember the day when he decided to undergo TJ surgery, he hit a huge homerun.
Adios, Jo. Keep hitting those bombs in SLC.
https://twitter.com/RhettBollinger/status/1667661281996980224
Stupid decision. The kid is never going break through riding planes back and forth from SLC. Should’ve had Wash pull a hamstring walking to his car
Matt Moore cleared to start throwing program this week…per Rotowire
DFA clock for Loup started ticking.
Joyce will get sent down. For some reason Loup keeps surviving
https://twitter.com/RhettBollinger/status/1667678687381303296?s=20
Well it didn’t take long for him to get on the TJS list. Ugh.
what a hapless organization
It’s likely. And even if they don’t see anything now, he recovers and pitches again this year…might be part of the process to the inevitable scheduled TJ, weeks or months from now. Break down of that tendon probably showed it first sign last night.
He’s already had TJS, right?
TrAnslation: Matt Moore has died
Marsh + {1/2 a of season} Thor vs. O’Hoppe + Mickey
Perry should be forced to serve prison time for grand theft.
Obviously, these were separate deals and Marsh is a stud, but man … Perry pulled the wool over Philadelphia’s eyes and said “I’ll be taking what I want”
Definitely liked moving on from Marsh and Thor ( self proclaimed tough guy on twitter who showed little interest in getting involved in last years Mariners brawl) but sure liked what I saw early on with O’Hoppe. Serious disappointment in having him go down with season ending injury. Wanted to see how he progressed over 162 games. Miss seeing his mom too.
Before Adell gets sent down, it would be nice to see a Ward- Moniak-Adell OF, Trout DH’ing, and Ohtani resting. Hopefully that’s not foreboding of anything, but fans may as well get a taste of a possible future w/o Ohtani.
With yet another mediocre pitching outing, I’m also slowly favoring Ohtani NOT hitting on days he is pitching. A good game for Trout to DH and let Ohtani focus on pitching. Not sure if the fatigue of doing both on one day is getting to him, but we need Ace Ohtani back soon.
We are 35-30 on a 5-game winning streak and vibes are at a season high.
I have no issue giving Sho a day off, but respectfully have absolutely zero interest in hearing “fans may as well get a taste of a possible future w/o Ohtani” right now lol.
Read the room 😅
“fans may as well get a taste of a
possiblelikely future w/o Ohtani”Which is choice #1 from my earlier post, which has garnered 11 votes thus far.
Nobody likes choice #2 tanking with Loup. I thought we wanted to get rid of, I mean, promote Loup.
I don’t think we will see Trout as a regular DH for quite a while. There will likely be several years either in LF or RF or both before he eventually accepts that role… But I DO agree with you about the young OF contingent being on the team together… Even if Ohtani stays I think Renfroe will be gone next season… I could easily see us carrying Trout, Moniak, Ward and Adell as OF’s going into the season. I imagine Moniak and Adell will either platoon or simply take turns resting with Ward and occasionally Mike as well…
Grichmanpoorman posted yesterday that Adell suffers from reverse splits too he may not be the best platoon candidate Frosty. But even with that hes probably still a better hitter against LHPs than Moniak.
Renfroe starts in RF tonight. Trout or Ohtani might get a night off. If not, they should sit Ward. he’s cooled off considerably. Oh by the way, not sure if anyone has posted this but there was this little nugget in Fletcher’s story yesterday:
I actually advocated several times for no DH for Shohei when he pitches. The only way to compare is by actually executing the plan on the field for 3-4 games and see if his pitching improves. Don’t see this happening anytime soon since I heard from Japanese media last night that he is hitting near 0.400 in games when he pitches. Don’t want to anger those 30 million Japanese viewers or another Pearl Harbor attack might take place. 😆
Nevin’s postgame, when asked about Shohei’s pitching last night, he said he is not worried and nothing else. When Angels lost to Houston with Shohei starting, he did a sort of complaining that Shohei was using too many sweepers.
I imagine that the communication between Nevin and Shohei goes like this.
Nevin: “Are you good today?”
Shohei: “I’m good, coach.”
Nevin: “Then you play.”
Nevin appears to be so careful not to hurt Shohei’s feeling and totally rely on what Shohei says. I hope that Nevin/Wise observe carefully not to fatigue him out, not just on his words.
Not only the fatigue issue, but we discussed earlier Kiyo that Wise or Nevin or both should talk to Shohei about relying less on the stupid sweeper. That pitch more than anything is hurting him and the team. The difference between Ohtani at 3.30 + ERA and a sub 2.70 ERA is using the sweeper as his off-speed vs using the split as his primary off-speed pitch. The games he dominated from the mound last season were BECAUSE of his splitter.
Nevin and Wise need to let him know this… The perceptive Japanese media have tried but he’s not listening to or hearing them …
Which is why he needs Wallach to call the pitches instead of the other way around.
Nevin at postgame was asked about Shohei calling his own pitch, and Nevin defended Shohei by saying that because of so many pitch types that Shohei uses, it would be quite difficult to communicate using hand signals especially in the era of pitch clock rule.
However, Phil mentioned that Wallach also had PitchCom device so he could initiate communication. I remember Wallach looking at bench (Wise?) and pushing something on his PitchCom before several of Shohei pitches last night. He did not do it all the time, but I wonder Wallach pushes what Wise was recommending to Shohei, who had a choice to accept or decline and pushed what he wanted to pitch.
Yeah, I would agree with that.
Fatigue caused by what?
Ramped up for WBC. Now feeling it.
You can’t be serious fam. Like, there’s no way.
Regular 1-way players fatigue. Shohei Ohtani is a 2-way player, playing everyday. Of course he would be fatigued lol
Disclaimer: it is only speculation on my part.
1.Shohei desires to last whole season as 2 way.
2.He several times mentioned that MLB baseball are slippery compared to NPB ones. I remember from his last Q&A that he referred to “slipped” pitches which went into hitters zone and resulted in giving up homeruns.
3.Throwing splitters stresses his surgically repaired elbow. He doesn’t feel as much confidence with splitters compared to other breaking balls. The same goes for throwing too many 100MPH+ fastballs is not congruent with healthy UCL, as was proven yesterday by Ben Joyce last night.
4.Shohei desires to last whole season as 2 way, Wash, rinse, repeat.
Yes, I get that and somewhat agree.
But I would add the proviso that in 1) key spots in the game (runners on or scoring threat) and also 2) key games on the schedule; esp against divisional foes we are fighting for playoff slot with; i.e, Houston and Texas (would add other potential Wild Cards like Jays, Yankees etc) Shohei should consciously throw BOTH more 100mph fastballs AND especially more splitters.. If we don’t win these key games NOW we won’t be saving him for anything because we won’t be in the playoffs !!
That said, I do agree with the general idea of not over-taxing his arm and body. But he still throws WAAAYYY too many sweepers.
I don’t get wanting to “save” Ohtani. Save him for what? Play him every inning and let him carry the team. The speculation is making the playoffs is of critical importance to him – so make it about him and keep the team’s best player in the lineup.
Shohei’s deal is that it’s execution, not fatigue.or maybe he not engaged and is dreaming about his pending UFA. I am strongly against this load management talk that has crept into professional sports. Playing matchups is one things but Ohtani (DH mind you) should have his oshiri in the lineup, every game. Angels need it.
I am sure some of the participants of this site can attest to this, and I am the exact opposite to all these trained athletes with modern physical therapy expertise, but when I was playing 35 and over adult league, I also participated in a week long tournament where I played at least a game everyday x 10 years. The rule also had liberal pinch runner rule, so I volunteered to run to make up for my lack of power, usually 5 to 6 times per game. By Wednesday, I almost needed a cane to be out of bed and wheelchair to get my morning milk. Every joint and muscle fiber filled max with lactic acid were screaming with pain. Usually took a whole month to recover from this torturous week every year. I now have renewed respect for these MLB players who play everyday though they make humongous amount of money for playing kid’s game.
By the way, I enjoyed every minute of playing in the aforementioned tournament. In terms of S&M, I am absolutely 100% M.
Shohei Ohtani and load management in the same sentence is ludicrous unless it’s “Shohei Ohtani is the perfect example of what load management doesn’t look like”
😂😂😂😂
Angels are 10-5 when Mickey Moniak starts lol
This is not an anti-Ward or anti-Renfroe post.
This is a pro-Mickey post !!
including 10 out of the last 13.
Shohei Ohtani’s last 10 games at the plate:
45 plate appearances
.375/.444/.900
261 wRC+
5 home runs
9 runs
11 RBI
2 stolen bases
MVP. GOAT.
Our MVP. Our GOAT.
https://twitter.com/bmags94/status/1667618089893244928?t=YG1a1OaLDL2vyZ5BAj5Ckw&s=19
I felt urge to add this as Shohei apologist. I wonder if Sarah Lange is another Shohei apologist like me. She surely likes to post Shohei’s accomplishments.
https://twitter.com/SlangsOnSports/status/1667360938645757952
Is that a Madison Bumgarner tweet disguised as a Shohei Ohtani tweet? Haha
I did not know Bum hit 2 bombs in the same game. Or in each game of double header. I am too lazy to check in BBRef.
for all the claims that Taylor Not Blake ward has busted out of his slump in his last 5 games he’s batting a very pedestrian .200/.227/.400.
Free Mickey!
Both of us agree on this point. Moniak should start as lead off today and tomorrow. Taylor Ward is not a lead off material this season.
Lots of moving parts as I put my cerebral cortex into overdrive in predicting today’s lineup.
Will Renfroe be back in Anaheim, how hurt is Rengifo after that batted ball on his right ankle, will Trout move down in batting order with corresponding move for Rendon to bat after Shohei. Has TJ surgery on Urshela’s back using suspensory ligament of penis worked last night. Will Trout be given a day off, raising some possibilities of seeing Adell today. I am all ears to credible informations on the internet.
My sure in starters thus far are: Ohtani, Rendon, Thaiss, Moniak and Neto. Probable includes Trout, Ward, Drury (if Rengifo’s right foot is not ok) and Urshela. If Renfroe is back, I would imagine Trout be given a day off.
One down, two to go. Let’s get ‘em!
Happy for the win; but F-U to Apple TV, Rob Manfred and local blackout restrictions!
The Angels’ radio broadcast is great (KLAA AM 830).
Does the Apple TV+ revenue go directly to Arte’s free agency fund, or does it go to the MLB?
MLB revenue sharing
This is a really solid KLAA 830 AM link.
Never drops out like some of the others.
http://p.onlineradiobox.com/us/klaa/player/?cs=us.klaa
Also Alexa will play it for you
I miss Alex Curry.
Really? How do you phrase it?
Alexa play AM 830
Happy “The Catch” day anniversary everyone. https://twitter.com/JeffFletcherOCR/status/1667552682339598336
As Angels accumulate wins as we approach All Star Game break and trade deadline, the odds for Shohei being traded midseason is getting slimmer. I have not checked Las Vegas lately, but my best conjecture is around 300+. So my random thoughts focused on 2 subjects, first one somewhat hyperbolic with second little serious.
What should Angels do with Shohei for the remainder of season?
1.We are resigned with the fact Shohei would walk off season. Enjoy him as long as he is an Angel.
2.We can still get something for him. Start tanking. Bring Loup as starter and use him every game.
3.Angels should go all out and try to win WS ring this season with Shohei and Trout. Don’t care if Shohei walk after that.
4.Trade Shohei before deadline no matter what. Get some good prospects for future, then sign Shohei as FA. (Gritcho-Sensei’s idea)
Shohei is a sure in for All-Star Game. Should he pitch, participate in Homerun Derby, etc.
1.He should just walk on the Red Carpet event, take obligatory DH at bat or two and call it good.
2.He should attempt to defeat the evil Pete Alonso by hitting record 100 homers, 75% of which are longer than 500 feet.
3.He obviously needs to start, hit as leadoff DH, and tries to win his first All Star game MVP. His hero, Ichiro has done it.
4.Decline All Start invite. Inform Manfraud to shove it in his a’ss by telling him he needs to take rest and get some sleep during the break
Of course, you are welcome to suggest your own idea.
I give up…what happened to 2002heaven?
I expexted a “you got lucky” post last night.
2002 don’t acknowledge any of this team’s positivity even if he considers it luck.
And this team , despite its faults has a shitpile of positivity going for it which would make his tiny head explode
I was hoping for banned.
The Unabomber was found dead in his prison cell today….. coincidence?
Anybody ever seen tooty two in person?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Kaczynski
Last night I read an excerpt from Ted K’s manifesto in the Ray Kurzweil book The Age of Spiritual Machines. So strange how common coincidences are.
well then I just want you to know. If you’re going to be inviting me to your next book club meeting I’m going to have to decline.
The young players performing at a high level is one of those things …
Perhaps the brightest aspect of the team right now is and has been the performance of the bullpen the last couple of weeks… Quite a turnaround from early season.
Let’s hope it continues.
He’s here. New and improved! In many forms..His “friends” are alright. They like watching the games with ushttps://youtu.be/0KAzinN_M3Y
Catch Me If You Can Is his favorite movie.
Devenski has stranded 85% of the runners he’s inherited, including the last 14 in a row. The major league average is 68% and the Angels are tied for the worst in the majors at 57%.
https://www.ocregister.com/2023/06/09/angels-reliever-chris-devenski-has-specialized-in-stranding-inherited-runners/
Shohei must have taken a longer than usual shower. (He has to look handsome, I suppose for Japanese audience.) I waited much longer than usual for his Q&A session to appear and missed the last 4 questions. I needed my sleep last night. It was way beyond my go to bed time last night.
Shohei Q&A session Part 2:
Q: Pitch clock, 5 day rest, number of innings you pitched, do you think of all of those factors are contributing to your exhaustion?
A: I have pitched more innings compared to last season and the one before last, so I sometimes think that way, but those factors have not bothered me mentally. I feel relatively healthy thus far and wish to last until the end of season.
Q: When you pitch, your batting average is near 0.400.
A: I think it is just a coincidence. There are some complexities as DH that I have to deal with, and when I am pitching I need to concentrate on pitching exclusively. I sometimes find it difficult to separate them in terms of concentration, so I consider the good batting numbers are sort of freak accident.
Q: During the series with Cubs, Seiya Suzuki and you were on the same stage.
A: We play in different league, and we don’t get to see each other a lot. With Seiya’s injury in the beginning of the season, I am sure he was frustrated that he could not contribute to his team. Both of us are quite healthy right now, and we hope for each other to remain healthy for the rest of the season. I think that is the most important factor.
Q: We understand that Seiya called you a ‘cheapskaTANI’. (Seiya was interviewed by Japanese media on Thursday and laughingly mentioned that Shohei is a cheapskaTANI
because he would not reveal his secrets to good batting when Seiya asked him
A: This is the first time I heard this. (Laughter) From the way I am batting this year, I have nothing to teach him, but I hope for both of us do better to contribute to each other’s teams success.
The Japanese reporters’ questions are so much better than the questions from their American counterparts.
Does Shohei leave the pitch-com device on him when he bats?
He probably goes to bed with it. I have no idea why he does, though.
I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade but tonight we maybe facing Cy Wookie.
Went to school just over the hill from me…Cal Poly SLO.
I root for Mustang players all the time…but not tonight. 👎
Three of my older son’s best friends who also played on the same Cal Ripken youth team and high school baseball team went to Cal Poly. All of them were super smart. Fantastic engineering school with good reputation like Harvey-Mudd.
I know a handful of SLO engineers. Great school Its an incredible bargain compared to the UC’s. CPP is too.
Also SLO has a real good Animal Husbandry program- if your into that sort of thing….
Animal Husbandry. Sad Donkey bred into Happy Donkey.
Why don’t we call that animal wifery program? Isn’t that gender discrimination? Perhaps we should call it transandry program for the sake of PC.
Lots and lots of AG kids from the Central Valley attend CPSLO for that.