A night after the Angels bats exploded, an offensive letdown seemed inevitable.
The good news: the Angels had their most Coors Field experienced pitcher on the mound. The bad news: that guy is Tyler Anderson.
Tyler gave up solo runs in the first, fourth, and fifth but otherwise limited the damage. On the day, Anderson had a quality start going 6 innings with 3 runs allowed and 8 strikeouts.
He left with a 3-2 score for the Rockies as the Angels hit into double plays more innings than not.
Jose Soriano allowed another run to score and that run proved costly.
The Angels rallied to score a run in the 9th to cut the Rockies lead to 4-3. Bud Black intelligently walked Matt Thaiss to get to Luis Rengifo who predictably swung for the fences with the tying run on second and grounded out.
Baseball has a way of evening things out and last night’s offense needed reckoning. Only 3 runs against this team in this ballpark simply is not enough.
A series loss against the worst team in the NL is not good. The Angels head home for three against the White Sox starting tomorrow.
I just read that mike Moustakas leads the Majors with 6 pinch hit RBI’s this season.
Unless Perry had some gentleman’s agreement with the Rockies GM not to play Mous until the Angels left town this looks sooo bad.
Maybe PTP needs to pull a Billy Beane and hurry up and trade Phillip’s favorite gadget before he can Rengiblow another game for us again.
You can see where this is heading. Cease tomorrow for Sox. Ugh. The Angels should be able to win consistent games. Yet, they find ways not to do so. I hope they turn it around. I also hope Fletcher isn’t hurt. They need him.
Cease hasn’t been too hot this year. So I wouldn’t immediately count them out.
Back to So Cal for an entire month – that will help I hope, lots of games left. We need to get healthy.
Yes, the homestand should help some. Everyone just sleeps and eats better when they’re home.
Like the Doyers did here last week.
Lots of season left. Remember how down we were when we lost to sub .500 Miami? Since that series started the Marlins are 21-9. It does seem we jumpstart other teams.
But my point is we have enough talent to have a similar hot stretch. It should start with this White Sox series but it doesn’t have to, it’ll be fine at any point. Here’s some math…
To make the playoffs we need to win 90. That’d put us 18 over.500. We’re currently 5 over. A 21-9 stretch at any time this season would mean we’d be 17 over so we could, in this scenario, win and lose and win and lose in even numbers and still be right there looking at a playoff game.
In short, we need one hot streak (like Cincy has had)
Always appreciate your optimistic perspective and alternative calculus of reaching post season.
Looking at AL teams last 10 game W/L records, pretty much every team had 0.500 record except for Asstros and A’s. On top of that, both Asstros and Rangers played 2 games less than Angels, which will place additional pressure on their already overworked bullpens They are actually playing against each other next weekend. The best scenario would be either Asstros sweeping or at least take 2 from Texas. Even though 6 games ahead of us and Asstros, Texas fans in the twitter world are truly panicking with their bullpen and berating Bochy after each loss. We still have reasonable chance of gaining on both of our rivals and win the division if we go 8-4 in next 12 games until ASG. That would put us 9 game over 0.500 and ‘half’ way to 90 wins. Not easy, but doable.
This is shaping up to be a more brutal season than any in recent memory.
At least before we’d be out of the race so we’d trade away any short term assets and get something, like a Moniak or a Junk.
Now people are excited enough to try to “go for it” and probably give up more assets to do so. And watch Ohtani leave for nothing.
That’s what I’ve been trying to say but “aT lEaSt wE dOnT lEt dA oTHeR wIn”
So what’s the purpose of a major league team again?
is it to always trade for and build up young potentially talented assets or to win ball games?
We are a game out of a playoff spot and you want to complain because we are trading away marginal assets for role players that can help us win now and wont be picking up any more junk this year?
Man with that logic we can only achieve total enlightenment unless we tank every year.
Dude, I think your priorities are warped.
I think our priorities are similar, but I’m looking at 2024 and beyond while you are focusing on 2023. I respect your opinion, after all, only hindsight will show what the right choices were.
I see a fringe playoff team that might drop back to 77 wins if Ohtani just walks. People other than myself have observed the light free agent class approaching. You can’t replace Ohtani. If we continue to build a strong young, well rounded team, then we win every single year, like the Astros.
BTW, I never complained about what Perry has traded away so far.
I’m talking about a possible desperation splash he might make in July.
So it’s better that the team should just be out of the race this early so there’s no doubt that the Angels are buyers? That is the thing that should excite people?!
For the first time in a long time the Angels are in the thick of things, so much so that they’re trading places with the Astros depending on the day, the same Astros team who would have wrapped the division by now, but to be “thick in the playoff race” is “brutal”?
And all of this is just because of the “fear” that Ohtani leaves for nothing?! Man, if Ohtani has this much power in a team, PTP should just be done with it and trade him even if the Angels get the 1st WC. You can’t operate a team on the whims of one player. So far the team has kept its top 10 prospects, and even a former top prospect, while adding marginally better players and people will still complain.
I’m not sure I would characterize it as fear of Ohtani and him controlling us. It is more about wise asset management.
Hey if the Angels actually do make the playoffs and do well, we’ll all be happy.
But recent performance… yikes.
Oh, Escobar was such a sage acquisition and Moniak…. the man just produces.
Perry is a solid GM.
Moose should have had a chance to be a Sage acquisition with a pinch hit in the 9th.
Agreed, but that’s a Phil decision, no?
Perry acquires the cards & Phil plays em’
It is kinda strange that Nevin did not give Moose a ‘farewell’ at bat and Estevez, former Rookie, a ‘hello, I am back’ chance to pitch. I am sure Rockies fans would have appreciated the gesture.
Yes, I agree. It would’ve been a bit storybook, but also logical.
Moose is a lefty, put him in at that juncture for sure.
Given the season the Rocs are having, I’m sure the fans were giddy to win the series from the team that has Trout and Ohtani.
I understand that the stadium was either completely packed or near capacity for every series game. Too bad for Arte who did not get at least a fraction of the profit.
Pretty sure in MLB they share gate revenue with the visiting team.
Not sure the percentages, but I can recall the Padres needing special permission from the league and the Giants (who were in town) to offer .44 tickets in honor of Willie McCovey who had announced his retirement. Story then was visiting team got .50 per ticket.
According to BBRef
In Major League Baseball, 48% of local revenues are subject to revenue sharing and are distributed equally among all 30 teams, with each team receiving 3.3% of the total sum generated. As a result, in 2018, each team received $118 million from this pot. Teams also receive a share of national revenues, which were estimated to be $91 million per team, also in 2018.
I assume the formula has not changed much since 2018, so, in short, you are correct in that Arte does profit from Angels packing opponents stadiums.
Exactly. Once Rengifo stepped in the box the game was over.
I finished the piece, including the headline, when he walked up. The only edit I had to make was Rengifo grounding out. I had typed and expected a K.
Agrees with you wholeheartedly Very disappointed that Nevin did not pinch hit Moose instead of Rengifo. He didn’t explain why at the postgame, and Erica being on BSW cannot question further. Sam Blum may have pursed it if he were there.
While I’m riffing, Tyler Anderson is NOT the problem with our rotation. He is what he is. A backend of the rotation plodder that will always give you 6 innings allowing anywhere from 2 runs on his best day to 5 on his worst.
Sandoval is the real disappointment IMO.
I’m chalking this one up to the inevitable wrath from the baseball gods.
As long as we get back on track immediately, we’re good.
I still like this squad.
A lot in fact.
We hold serve until Moore & Neto return and we’ll roll in my opinion.
Obviously Arte & Perry are going for it this year. Me likey.
Moustakas acquisition makes zero sense to me. I guess they gave up basically nothing and he’s being paid by Cincy. But I just don’t see him as any kind of solution at all.
The pitching prospects are burning a hole in Perry’s pocket and he’s clearing the deck before the draft.
Should’ve got him before the Astros or Yankees will get him, rather have him any day on a one yr over Moustakas.
Don’t necessarily disagree, but is he worth a bidding war? We seem fairly set in the OF this year unless of course Renfroe is going to see increased time at 1B.
His speed & natural talent in the lineup would he nice indeed.
Yeah, I agree. He would have been great. His strikeout rates are down and might have ignited coming back to SoCal. As the Cubs are only 2-games under 0.500, i was not even looking at their roster for spare parts.
Cubs being in really weak NL Central and salvaging the London series today, I seriously doubt that Cubs will make both Bellinger and Stroman available. It is almost like Angels not going to trade Shohei but will go all out for playoff, Cubs are now “forced’ to go all out because both Carter Hawkins and David Ross will be on unemployment line if they don’t make post season.
all good points
it would take a helluva lot more than Connor Van Scoyoc to get him from the Cubs. I’d rather have Moustakas who has a better OPS and isn’t making $12.5 million this year and by all accounts isn’t an asshole.
plus Mous isn’t batting .179/.230/.239 since May 3.
Hard Pass.
That feeling you get, when it is the 9th inning, game on the line, aaaaannnnnddddd, you see Rengifo coming to the plate.
You mean that feeling you get when you hear the air leaking out of your only tire when riding a unicycle?
Why is rengifo on this team…
He has pictures of Arte with farm animals
Erica: was there any consideration to pitch hitting Moustakas there?
Phil: No
What a dweeb
Yes
Trade for Escobar, start him the next day.
Trade for Moose, bench him the next day.
I get why he didn’t start against the lefty.. but to not pinch hit there as the best remaining bat off the bench and for him to give such a short answer is goofy. It’s like he truly thinks Rengifo is good.
Mous was the right call
There for all statistical
reasons and even the weird baseball mojo / feel ones. A complete no brainier that Phill whiffed
Moose is someone you play only as a last resort…unless it’s 2015
Unless Rengifo is the opposing option. In which case you play Mooose every time and twice on Sunday’s ( pun intended )
Luis Rengifo’s career OPS as a PH of .369.
What a moron
It’s common to experience a change in mood occasionally or to go through a short period of feeling elated or blue. But if your behavior is unpredictable for a number of days or longer, it may be a sign of something more serious….such as being a fan of the Angels.
What do you mean, the runs don’t Roll Over?
The nice thing about the schedule getting difficult is that they’re going to have to prove they can beat good teams to contend. If they can’t win those games, it really doesn’t matter if they sneak into the post season, because they’d get trounced anyway.
4-6 since Netouchie.
Same record since Rendon was out?
Yeah this is a season killer. They’re going to finish around .500 again. Unbelievable.
And Ohtani will get shafted again since we’re holding him hostage but hey, at least they may get a comp draft pick out of it
Ohtani is gone regardless. If he really wanted to stay, he would have done a Trout and signed an extension. People have got to stop thinking that making the playoffs once in the last 9 years is really going to make Ohtani get all dreamy and stay.
Hell, for all we know it’s Trout saying to run to free agency and don’t look back.
If he’s gone, trade him now. With the way he’s playing, they can still get some pretty good assets for him.
I would have made my very best contract offer last season, and if he declined I would’ve traded him then.
The problem we have today is that Arte has said “no rebuild”. So the team patches the holes and hopes for the best.
We are seeing “the best” from the team now. Perry is still playing the short game trading for Escobar and Moose.
Very disappointed that Nevin did not pinch hit Moose instead of Rengifo. He didn’t explain why at the postgame, and Erica being on BSW cannot question further. Sam Blum may have pursed it if he were there.
No evidence to prove, but I am certain that Angels approached Shohei’s agent for extension in past 2 years (especially after winning the 1st AL MVP), but Shohei steadfastly declined in my opinion. So, from genuine Angels fans point of view, Arte was self-centered and did not make smart decisions in the long term.
If you allow me to limit our discussion just to this season out of last 6 seasons since Shohei joined, would you agree that Angels thus far have the best chance of reaching post season? Now that it’s too late to trade Shohei, rather than lamenting what could have been, let’s still continue to cheer for Angels wins for the remainder of the season.
Doubt they are going to get much in return at this point, should have traded him last year. But Arte and fans were pleading and begging like a person mass begging their significant other to not break up with them.
But hey “wE dOnT wAnT tO LEt tHE oThEr tEaM wIn”. And we get that draft comp pick…
Unless we lose next 12 games in a row, I don’t think that is going to happen. As someone else said, by trading Shohei now, that would signal a white flag to the rest of the team, who will lose the motivation to compete for the remainder of the season.
Then I hope they either go 10-2 or 2-10 so there can be some decisiveness in the decision making. I dislike this hanging around stuff where opportunities pass and are not available afterwards.
Go 10-2 and get ready for a playoff run – ie be buyers at the deadline.
Go 2-10 and trade Ohtani, Renfroe and Drury and build for the future.
7-5, 5-7 or 6-6 is the indecisiveness zone.
I don’t know if you play craps, but the inside numbers 5,6,8.9 have better probabilities than 4 or 10 (I like putting $22 on inside), so chance of going 10-2 or 2-10 is much lower than what you call gray zone, so chances are Angels are heading for that. You or I do not have a decision to trade Ohtani, and from what we have seen, Arte is not trading Ohtani.
Let’s assume for a moment that Angels do make the playoff this season, would you be disappointed or happy? I would be on cloud 9. Regardless of what Shohei does off season. Of course I am Shohei-therefore-Angels fan.
I’d be very happy if they made the playoffs unless it’s a 2014 situation in which case I’d prefer to get some value for Ohtani. I’m just not a believer in this Org (although I do generally like Perry). I think it’s focus is marketing and not baseball Ops so I don’t have a lot of faith in the upper management. So some part of me wants to see whatever it is that will get Arte to sell.
I guess when we decided to become a fan of baseball team, we swore allegiance to the unpredictabilities of how baseball bounces. It sets you up for marijuana high happiness followed by sudden plummet into an abyss of misery.
I love passion, but it is just as easy to go overboard with such passion. Let’s keep it simple. Focus on what’s in front of us. Still got a half of season left, still pretty good chance of getting in postseason. You did your part by stop paying for tickets, but you still are Angels fan. Can’t do anything about what Arte would do (unless you win Powerball, $440 MM currently, and volunteer to pay for half of Shohei’s contract.) Come tomorrow, you and I (as bandwagon fan) will be cheering for Angels victory.
I am not opposing to all opinions regarding today’s loss and series loss, but compared to 35-40 exactly at the same point last year, our record stands at 42-37 today. If we get 3 of 4 from White Sox, that is 45-38, probably still pretty competitive in WC spot. Turn the page and let’s cheer for Angels in next homestand.
Yes – they are playing 7 games better than last year which is excellent. Of course last year included a 14 game losing streak so it was bound to be better this year.
I am definitely a believer the team is much improved and I am happy about that. I think they could easily improve 10 games over last year and finish with 83-85 wins which would be a significant step.
That said – I do not see this team as a viable playoff team. Even if they make it they have too many weaknesses to make any kind of run in my opinion.
I think they just need to get to the playoffs and
who knows what magic could happen. Any team in the playoffs is a viable championship team, because any team can go on a hot streak regardless of their regular season record. Look no further than last year’s Phillies. Or on the flip side of the coin, look at 2014’s 100-win Angels vs the Royals.
That said, this is definitely a better team, and so far, Nevin has avoided bad swoons this season that was Maddon’s downfall last year.
Totally agree. All I have to say is Phillies last year.
The playoffs are fun and awesome and all – but I would prefer to build a young team that is set to compete season after season for 10 years. I understand the desire to win now. But that has been the failed strategy for a lot of seasons.
What’s often forgotten from last year is we also had a 2-14 stretch. That’s 2-28 when you combine it with the big losing streak.
After pondering this for a minute I see why I’ve chosen (most of the time) to forget it
This year’s squad includes or included: Renfroe, Drury, Urshela, Neto, O’Hoppe, Escobar, Moustakas
Last year included: Duffy, Lagares, Gosselin, Mayfield, Sierra, K Suzuki.
The difference in squad may explain why we have not lost longer than 3 in a row this season and why our record thus far is better than that of last year.
Right. So if you correct for the unlikelihood of 2-28, the team is actually playing at it’s expected level not exceeding it.
You’re absolutely right. I know some fans may lose it and be in tears like their signaficant other dumped them or something. But it’s reals before feels.
They do this every year. Next year is going to be painful with Ohtani gone and a declining Trout.
Exactly, and then we are going to blame umps, blame the injuries, say everyone needs to get healthy again next year, and hope and pray Arte spends more money.
Been doing the same schtick since 2015.
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result.
That is why I gave up my season tickets after 30 years. Until this ownership has been replaced and a true baseball organization takes over, I am not giving them any of my money.
I respect that
I was hoping they’d win this series because it would take the sting out of the Dodgers series, and overall, the Angels would have still won 3 out of their last 4 series.