Ohtani day, that’s good right? Of course it is, he is the unicorn, the very best, that no one ever was! One issue, however, his pitching has not been… efficient as of late. And that was evident today as he had a 30 pitch first inning. He lasted only 6 innings, giving up 2 runs on 6 hits, striking out 3 and walking 1. Not bad for 99 pitches after THAT first inning.
It was a pitching duel, as we all expected. However, it was much more of an ‘incompetent hitting’ on the Angels’ side. The amount of LOBsters was infuriating, and was a huge detriment to the Angels being able to win this one.
But it wasn’t the only blemish, as Neto, Urshela, and Rendon are all now injured, gutting the lineup and the defense while leaving no bench besides Thaiss. Luckily, Squid was back, and Rendon stayed in despite it all, so it wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been.
Especially since Ohtani showed how much of a unicorn he is by hitting yet ANOTHER opposite field BOMB to the same spot. Why they pitch to him, no one knows, but we are all glad for it. The home runs were the difference, as the 3 that were hit was enough to win the game!
Highlighted Recap
Angels scored first on a 2nd inning solo shot by the Gigachad himself, Chad Wallach!
Sadly, the Rangers tied it up in the 3rd.
And then they took the lead.
The Angels bats respond though, tying the game up in the 4th.
Who would break up this tie? M-I-C-K-E-Y of course!
Devenski had a shutout 7th despite some baserunners. Oh and 3 Rangers got ejected.
To rub salt in the Ranger’s wounds, Ohtani hit a 2 run BOMB.
Soriano shut down the Rangers in the 8th, getting the Angels just 3 outs away from a series win.
Carlos Estevaz came in to close out the game and while he has been perfect so far he was wild today, walking all 3 batters he faced before being yoinked. Uh oh. Webb came in. Pop up. Line out. 2 outs. But then he allowed a walk, walking in a run.
But a strikeout means Angels win!
Upcoming
Now at 39-32, the Angels have gained ground on Texas in this series. Angels have KC next, a much easier opponent, actually, might be the worst now since the A’s are on a roll as of late. That’s nice.
I’m impressed as Moniak covered a really tough pitch down in the zone for that HR.
Estevez was in trouble and was like “help me Webb”…
And Webb comes in and
Ohtani great series!
Series win against division winner!
The word’s out: Michael Nelson Trout can no longer hit a fastball, and that’s what he’s getting: heaters. Can’t hit ’em. WTactualF? Man.
If you told me we’d be 7 games over on June 15 and Trout would be hitting .248 would I have believed you? No I wouldn’t.
Then I’d think If and only if true, then some guys must be playing out of their minds, and the only one I’d guess correctly would be Ohtani. Who the hell is…did you say “maniac”? Who he? Wow.
We might actually be sorta legit…good this year? And Trout is hitting .248? Really? Jeeeez…
I mean, Mickey Moniak was a widely heralded 1st overall pick that literally everyone wanted to sign.
I mean, I’ve seen so many Brandon Woods in my life. There’s a huge difference to me between being highly touted and sought after and actually being able to contribute at the MLB level. Rick, my dude: I’m olde!
On June 5th, we were 9 games out of first. Crazy how one little streak can cut a huge deficit like that in half.
Actually as recently as June 6th
“One little streak” for those interested is a 9W-2L 11 game stretch. Amazing indeed
I hate our announcers. They’re not at the park, are they? They’re just two guys watching TV and commenting. They don’t seem to know when a ball is hard hit until the camera follows the outfielders looking up as it goes over the fence. It’s like listening to Beavis and Butthead.
TV = at the game
Radio = in a truck at Anaheim watching the game on TV
CHEEP ARTE
I did not know Sam Blum was a part of Japanese media 😆
This was an MVP type of series for Ohtani.
First game – hits both the tying (7th) and the go ahead HR in extras.
Second game – keeps his hitting streak going.
Third game – hits a HR to make the game close in a loss.
Fourth game – pitches a good enough game against the division leader, and hits a HR to pad the lead onwards to victory.
Now if only the other MVP also starts to play like one, the sky’s the limit for the team.
Current AL MVP odds per FanDuel
Ohtani: -250
Judge: +750
Semien: +3000
Franco: +3000
If you bet $10 on Shohei, you win $4.
Shohei has Player of the Week for AL in the bag. That award is a good signpost on the way to the big one, the MVP.
Shohei Q&A session with Japanese media:
Q:It was your 6th win of the season.
A:It was a really satisfying game for us. I felt that everyone was fired up against division leading team, and with good result, I feel like we can maintain this trend through this weekend.
Q:You got out of a jam in the first inning.
A:I thought Texas batters were aggressive early in the count, so I decided to go with fastballs mainly.
Q:Your batting average is now 0.300+. How is your condition as batter?
A:I am tracking pitches really well. My setup in the box is such that it feels almost as though it is automatic right now.
Q:Angels are now competing for playoff spot. Are you having fun?
A:Excitement has been contagious in the bench, and I think we are having the most fun this season. I will continue to work hard so that we can maintain this momentum.
Q:You were having issues with your command prior to today’s game. Do you feel that your pitching mechanics have improved?
A;I think they are getting little better, but many pitches were different from what I imagined to be effective, so between innings I reviewed my pitches and made some adjustments. However, I still have room for improvement as pitcher.
Q:You hit a homerun to opposite side again.
A:It feels like the ball that I hit just goes opposite side automatically. I think that is the best part of my hitting right now is it’s been automatic. The fundamental part is that I don’t miss the pitch in the strike zone. But, I am happy that doing the fundamental is leading to good results.
Q:You have changed your bat from yesterday.
A:The bat I used yesterday broke. The bat I used today is from the same manufacturer.
Q:You seemed to have used many fastballs.
A:I thought Texas batters were little late on my fastballs. I thought by varying my speed and types of pitches, I was relatively effective today. In my opinion, baseball from pitcher’s perspective is to keep batters timing off.
Q:You seem to have displayed more emotions lately.
A:I play to win every game. But, it means special to win the series with division leading team, and today’s win will keep our momentum into this weekend series with KC.
Q:When you are in good condition, how do you adjust your mindset to maintain it?
A:I don’t think I am ever in good condition. When I have good results, I hope that they last, but as the season goes, I am aware that I am going to hit a wall here and there. It is always a question of how I return to the form when I was having good results from mental perspective. Especially in pitching, I find that my condition goes up and down. I will continue to make adjustments to stay consistent.
Q:Are you accumulating avenues by which you are able to exit out of bad condition?
A:I feel that I am learning with each bad outing, and just by trial and error, I have learned to come out of funk, sometimes quicker than other times. By accumulating these experiences, I think it will be beneficial in future to be able to use them when I hit a snag.
Q:Are you emotionally satisfied?
A:I just concentrate on winning one game at a time. Our defense was excellent today, and we are super motivated to maintain this trend especially after winning a close game like today.
Q:What do you find difficult when you are pitching?
A:It all depends on how comfortable I feel on the mound. The same thing applies to my batting. I was happy that I was able to battle a very good hitting team despite my not so good pitching today.
Apparently MLB just updated their directory.
https://twitter.com/Jared_Tims/status/1669532769385594880
😂
KC on a pace for 43 wins. If I had an account and extra money I’d put a hundo on KC to win tomorrow. Injuries and trAdition + some PTSD/lol
Ohtani is on another level right now at age 29.
As a reminder, at age 29, Mike Trout played only 36 of 162 games due to injuries. If you factor in the 2000 Pandemic shortened season, Trout played only 89 games over his age 28 and 29 seasons. That’s missing 3/4 (233 games) of two seasons during his prime.
BTW, WTF is Velasquez doing up? I’d rather Fletch or Murphy get called up.
Murphy hasn’t even reported to AAA. Fletch is at a funeral.
So you’re stuck with Squid but the plumber can make house call
The Plummer can’t play SS. I think Fletch will be up soon. Down the line I think we may see Kyran Paris if we need a middle infielder.
Soto could be back up too.
Paris has only started playing SS this year after only Maning the keystone last year.
But Who’s going to play 3B?
It has to be Rengifo if Rendon is down for long. Followed by Soto or Stefanic.
Who is at 1st.
Yes, but it wasn’t a question, tho I answered it anyway
If only we had signed Turner, then we’d have someone for SS.
😆
Stuck is the operative word
Ohtani: “Aaron who?”
Webb was bad ass.
Really worried about Urshela. His injury would terrible. Can’t walk? Yikes.
Daniel Murphy might have been a very shrewd move by PTP. Replenishing depth.
2 or 3 in KC will make me happy with the road trip – hope Sandy can follow Detmers on the turnaround train.
Urshela…. both hips hurt? Back hurt earlier? Can’t walk all the sudden? Slipped disk? Hips = nerve?
I hope not cause that could be a long recovery… or a non-recovery for a guy who has to do a lot of hard twisting.
Ohtani 6 innings 2 runs on the road to get to 6-2 against the best offense in MLB, along with 2 walks and a 443 foot oppo second deck 2 run HR to extend his AL home run lead while hitting .301. Most talented player of all time. And trout I was told to watch out get my popcorn ready, he’d break out in Texas… and he did, he had one hit in the 4 games for probably the best 4 game stretch hes played in a month. No hat tricks I was shocked, some walks, I guess he did break out
Would you perhaps consider changing your screen name? We’re out of answers for Trout’s 6 week plunge.
Call it reverse psychology if you will.
Trout will be fine we’re playing the 18-50 royals, he’s good against AAA pitching. And we got grienke and his 74 mph fastball on Sunday
LOL @ 74 mph fastball
Maybe this is why the players like playing for Nevin, and why that is sometimes a real thing.
https://twitter.com/BallySportWest/status/1669540446538805251
I thought Nevin encouraging Estevez at the end of the game was cool. The big man was obviously down after an off night but you could almost hear Nevin saying that we aren’t anywhere close without your efforts. I agree that they should get him some rest.
Estevez should be a non-issue tonight. Tell him not to have a uni top on under his jacket.
What a great series. I know that we wanted a win last night but we also could have lost game 1 and game 4. Let’s hope that our organizational depth holds. Sounds like Fletcher needs to come back up.
Weird Ohtani getting loud ovation in Arlington.
He’s got fans all over… Kind of like an NBA superstar he transcends team rooting interests and affiliations… Baseball fans in different cities are starting to realize what we’ve known for several years already…
If MLB was smart, they’d “encourage” the umps to give the Angels the benefit of the doubt on close plays.
Ohtani in the playoffs benefits EVERYONE.
Yeah, a lot of Texas fans cheered for him during the lineup and anytime he was up to bat.
There are always a lot of Angels fans at those games. Sometimes it can seem almost like a 50-50 split.