Good morning Angels Fans. Hang in there, have some links.
Angels News
The Angels won their first game in August last night. After heartbreak, blown leads, blown saves, embarrassment, and a lot of losses, the Angels finally won a game.
Angels and losing happens a lot lately. More annoying is that it has been done with the best players in the game. Since 2000, only the Angels have managed to have a losing record with the best player, doing so in 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. No other team has done so this millenium.
Neto is still injured. And he has more inflamation in his back.
Good news! O’Hoppe is healthy and playing in a rehab game. Here’s proof.
Around Baseball
So, Baltimore has an idiot owner who, as was said earlier in the week, suspended a broadcaster for saying that the team is playing better this year. Yeah, the fans weren’t happy, shouting to free him. Oh and the front office is getting to the bottom of whoever leaked that they suspended him… yeesh.
The Royals became the first team to ever hit 3 home runs AND steal 6 bases in one game in Fenway Park history. WOW.
Shane McClannahan may need surgery. He is not likely to pitch again this year.
Accuna got injured. X-Rays negative though.
Japan has some amazing technology for baseball. Look at this home run. It somehow looks like a game from 2004 yet it is all real cameras.
Anything I missed? Post below for upvotes!
https://twitter.com/natsnohitstreak/status/1689439290198306816?s=46
No hitter for Mikey!
Wow, I wish I had seen it. The Angles perhaps traded for a wrong person and/or should have kept him from last season.
Good job for you not mentioning NO HITTER until he did it.
Giolito has a strange delivery. All arm no lower body.
And yet, if you watched the game, the Philly announcers talked about it constantly. No hitter. No hitter. No hitter. Made no difference to Lorenzen, he brought it.
Ol friend Michael Lorenzen is DEALIN
Rain out?
It’s a shame about Neto. Earlier this year I thought he’d might be a candidate for a Braves style 8 year/$70M deal to lock him up early. Now I’m worried that hes made of glass and might not ever be fully healthy.
He plays a little recklessly IMO. Getting hit with all those pitches when he was first called up likely didn’t help either.
That stupid fking “Jeteresque” jump for a fowl ball that didn’t require leaping to catch it, thus slamming into a railing…. for a catch that wasn’t made…. and also wasn’t needed… was stupid. Next day. Obliques hurt while swinging. Now back is enflamed. All to look like the most eager beaver on the pond.
Hopefully he’s young and heals up well.
Dallas McPherson 2.0?
Arte needs to hire a POBO
Roger Lodge spent the whole first hour of his show trying to defend him yesterday after Monday night’s debacle. Arte shouldn’t be making any player personnel or manager hiring decisions, if he had a president of baseball operations then hiring a field skipper and farm system director would be this person’s job. BTW field skippers don’t matter (Bob Melvin in San Diego) and Joe Girardi and Joe Maddon last year, but I understand that they’re the easiest targets of a fan’s frustration.
I sometimes wonder if he is on the Angels payroll which is why he is always defending them
Actually, yes he is on their payroll.
I figured
The guy hits hopium like a crackhead hits crack
Both Rengifo & Drury will surpass Trout in AB’s tonight and in other irrelevant statistical oddities, Thaiss and Moniak are dead even at 227 AB’s each.
I like our matchups tonight.
Rengifo – SS
Ohtani – DH
Drury – 2B
Moose – 3B
Cron – 1B
Moniak – CF
Renfroe – RF
Thaiss – C
Grichuk – LF
Get’r Done.
Are Mariners really serious about reaching the playoffs this season? They are throwing a complete rookie who is debuting in MLB against Padres/Yu Darvish. Padres are not the Angels. Mariners are going to lose tonight.
The Padres are worse
If you mean by W/L record, yes. But, FanGraphs odds still put the Padres at 34.6% reaching the playoffs, better than the Mariners, who also traded one of the best closers in Sewald for two offensively questionable position players. Dipoto is a dipshit GM.
FanGraghs probably also had the NY Mets up there too
Still gotta actually play the games, even with the highest ever team payroll in MLB history.
Met’s playoff chance according to FanGraphs is 1.3% with World Series championship at 0.0%. (Angels chance is at least 0.1% for WS ring.) I have a sneaky feeling that they also factor in historical W and L records so MFYankees and Doyers always seem to have much better odds than what their record indicate.
You call him a dipshit yet his team swept the Angels.
I don’t care about Fangraphs. I’ve seen the Padres play and they aren’t very good. If they fall behind, they fold immediately
A Seattle loss is out gain and I’m here for it.
The Angels will take the series against San Fransicko tonight.
A’s did us a favor today.
Niiiiiccceee
I am aware that there is still another game against the Giants, but I am rather fascinated by the way Houston set up their starters against the Angels.
France/Valdez/Blanco/Javier/Brown/Verlander/Urquidy/Valdez/Javier/Brown are the rotation just before the series. Then the Angels face:
Verlander/(Detmers)
France /(Anderson)
Urquidy/(Silseth)
*Angels are still TBD for starters.
Houston is doing modified 6 man rotation. Intriguing that Dusty decided not to use Valdez against the Angels.
Why not save Valdez to pitch against a team that you may struggle to defeat?
Sound like good management to me.
Send a bunch of scrubs out against the Angels, and probably win, is perhaps their strategy.
Valdez against struggling Marlins, who won only 3 times in last 10 games? Only thing I can come with is that Valdez may need an extra day after struggling against Orioles.
I’m already looking at who I want to keep around next year. Moose and Urshela easily top my list. Moose’s bat and energy are great, Urshela’s glove and high contact offense makes him a solid utility guy.
Moose, Urshela, Drury, Neto, Rengifo, Rendon is a nice core and leaves first base as the only obvious hole. We could pick up a cheap retread like Choi or Garrett Cooper until Nolan Schaneul arrives. Perhaps Walsh turns it around. First base is pretty cheap to fill.
I’d dump Renfroe. Dude has the worst numbers with runners on I’ve seen in forever. Ward, Trout, Moniak is a nice outfield that needs a depth piece.
The pitching staff is a lot harder to solve.
Who is this Rendon that you speak of?
Not sure what you can expect with Ward next season even with no eye damage.
The Angels will need to have a contingency plan. Also Moniak is still a work in progress his strikeout rate is quickly becoming very Reggiesk (27 Ks in his last 65 PAs after striking out only 53 Times in his previous 173 PAs) . Grichuk would be a nice 4th outfielder if he would be willing to re-sign here . We will still need to figure out what the hell Adell can be but at least we can utilize a rotating DH next season with Ohtani’s departure.
Yes, but since this is the Angels, you also need to have a solid second and third line for when the injuries kick in.
No. We have no depth and blame injuries every year.
That’s what we do.
When is Danny Almonte going to be called up to the majors?
He retired already……LOL!??
😆 😆
I think so . he might have even been older the grandpa Pujols since he used to give all of his teammates form his little league days a ride to practice.
Isn’t he like in his 30s now? Lol
So, re: Trout and his progress, the phrase “it’s about pain tolerance” has been uttered yet again.
Setting that aside, should the
club send him on a rehab assignment or simply activate him once he feels comfortable enough after live BP?
I say activate him as the time is extremely F’ing nigh.
No reason to rush him back. They are not in the race.
Is there a downside beyond “pain tolerance”? My layman’s term’s understanding is that once the stitches heal, the bone itself is essentially OK.
I’d like to see him back sooner rather than later as there is still a flicker of hope.
As much as many of us would love to see Trout back ASAP, I don’t think he should come back while the Angels play the Texas teams in the next two series. For some reason, he has struggled in those ‘indoor’ stadiums as if he can’t see the pitches. Especially in Globe Life Field. It might be better if he is back when the Angels play the Rays at Big A next week.
Well, we respectfully disagree on the issue of flicker of hope. I would say, as long as there is pain, there is risk of re-injury. Also, whenever there is pain, a person puts more pressure on some other part of the body which can cause a different injury. At this point in the season, it’s probably just best to let him heal as much as he can before bringing him back.
I mean, does it require mathematical elimination before accepting that they are not going to be in the postseason?
I believe the Angels are still going all out, so when Trout says he is ready, that’s when he will be back. Just like when Jose Ramirez returned in 2019 exactly 28 days after the hand surgery for AL Central division race. But, as I mentioned above, I think it would be prudent if he returns next week at home rather than in Texas, where he is unable to track pitches especially in Globe Life Stadium. It may not be psychologically healthy for Trout to struggle with multiple strike outs right off the bat (puns intended).
What’s it to you though if some want to wait until then?
It’s a fair question. I think part of it is I truly believe the Org would be better off long-term by continuing to lose and missing the playoffs by a large margin. I feel like it’s the only chance we have of Arte selling.
The other part of it speaks to my attraction to logic and data as opposed to emotional (aka unicorn rainbow farts) thought process. I guess I just have difficulty understanding the type of thought process that would look at the last decade and this season and believe that things will be different this year. As Spock said “it does not compute”.
I hope that answers your question. My question was genuine curiosity because it is difficult for me to understand how anyone could actually believe that this team has any reasonable chance.
The future isn’t written in stone regardless of how poorly the team has faired over the past decade.
Are the odds remote? Obviously, but the current players and managers aren’t mailing it in and if Trout is able to play, he should play.
As I’ve repeated-repeatedly, baseball is a game of momentum. If there is one last run in this team, everyone should be all hands on deck.
Well, I agree with you somewhat.
We should be trying to win every single game from here on out, “just in case.” Unless someone wants to tank for better draft pick position, I guess.
Where I draw the line is if there is any effect whatsoever on a player’s health for the future, such as rushing someone back and having them play through some discomfort. That is appropriate if you are on the verge of a WS championship… but not in our position.
Yeah about that. My take is that Arte selling the team is all based on what Shohei does this offseason. If Shohei re-signs, Arte ain’t selling. If he does not, Arte’s out.
Shohei is a freakin’ cash cow. He’s the single biggest draw baseball has ever seen. I’ll bet Arte is making way more money off Shohei than we can comprehend. No way he steps away from that.
And I’ll admit this take of mine sucks. We get to pick: Shohei with Arte or neither of them.
I hate when people use that argument because it makes it sound like Arte is some pimp and Shohei is his prostitute. Thought this was a baseball organization, not an escort service.
Do you care if MLB owner is a complete jackass like John Angelo as long as the team is doing well? At least Moreno is a smart pimp, not a jackass.
Kiyo – I’m sorry you haven’t been around the Angel Org long enough to fully understand the Arte issues. Just enjoy the rest of this year and follow Shohei wherever he goes. As I said, we will come visit.
Have any of the wusses around here taken a moment to explain their PTSD to our Japanese friend?
If you have been a fan longer than a lot of us, then you would know why Arte is an awful person and not a “smart pimp”. And you know I would take the former in a heartbeat
I have been a Shohei therefore Angels fan, and I have heard Moreno is an awfully stupid baseball person and have done criminally ignorant maneuvers like changing the name to LA Angels, to which I agree wholeheartedly with every one of you. But, as an outsider, I have never read Moreno doing anything even close to what John and late Peter did to their employees including former Orioles star Brady Anderson.
By same logic, if the Angels had been consistently contending for playoffs with 2 or 3 World Series championships in last 11 years, you would have been a big fan of Arte Moreno, right?
Yes
If you are right I hope Shohei leaves. Arte selling is way more important to the long term health of this franchise than Ohtani staying.
I don’t think he sells unless the stadium situation looks grim… which it likely will as the economy tightens up. I think Arte’s “Build a mixed use complex in a state where it takes 20 years to install a handrail” window’s just about closed.
Ohtani leaves. Arte gives up. Trout is sad and wants out. We rebuild and win eventually. Hopefully most of the sadsacks on this site are dead like Israelites in the desert by then and we can have some fun.
Need moar Manna!
100%. Looking forward to those days!
Thank you, that’s a fair answer. I don’t mean to antagonize in case my tone came out that way.
Me, I’m a fan. I’ll watch till the bitter end like I always have. I don’t cosplay as GM or POBO, nor do I ever intend to. Of course I’d like to see Trout still play and end the season on a good note. I’d like to see O’Hoppe back and hope that he can pick up where he left off. If Neto’s back needs more TLC, so be it. But I’ll be having fun watching their games, and be happy when they win, and bitch about it when they lose. I’m a fan and no matter how hard these idiots at the FO try, I just can’t quit this team.
I’d put Trout and Neto on the shelf until next season.
Maybe O’Hoppe too unless he really shows he is ready for prime-time.
That would be my decision given where the Angels are. Why risk re-injury?
Players need to play . Putting players non the shelf just because we’re not going to the playoffs makes no sense. especially the young players who have so much more to learn and should heal fairly quickly.
The last thing I want to see is the future core of this team sitting on the sidelines for months and then wondering how much they’ve regressed when spring training comes around next year.
I’m not advocating putting them on the shelf if they are totally healed and ready to play all out.
But the reports of Neto’s back sound really iffy, and he has already come back once and ended up still injured. Best to not mess with a back.
Trout is another story. Sure, if he is totally healed, have him play.
But we’ve seen many times over the years that players rush back early because of the mentality most have that they want to play even through injury.
I agree with Jeff, if one of those guys is totally back to normal and can play, then they should in order to go into a normal offseason.
Off season programs are very key.
If any of the three are able to come back and play a bit that would allow them and the team to set up a more normal off season program.
If any are still rehabbing after the end of the year, that creates the need to tinker with their off season routines.
Yah. There have just been too many guys in the past for whom “Having that strong end of last season” was a big step towards a great next season. I actually think it’d be great for Logan & Zach to get some low pressure innings in…..
Trout? Rendon. WTF knows….
All I know is as soon as we sign Ohtani for 70M a year he’s gonna develop Leprosy.
That made me think of tetracycline which also treats gonorrhea, syphilis, and chlamydia.
I imagine the urgency is gone after last week. Get healthy, prepare to be The Guy again in 2024 with Sho out.
Sad thumbs up for you…
There is no reason for a rehab assignment at this point. The reason to give O’Hoppe a rehab assignment was to make sure when he did come back, he’s worked out at least some of the kinks and will be better than the guy he is replacing.
Who cares if Trout has kinks when he gets back? What’s he going to do, hurt the Angels’ chances? If he’s healthy, let him play, if more rest would do him good, keep him on the IL.
He should not return in the two Texas series. He has not been able to track pitches with multiple strike outs. They will just pitch around Sho to face Trout, who would probably struggle and would mentally destroy the whole team and him. Let him return against the Rays at home next week.
Totally concur.
Supposedly Trout is dying to get into the playoffs. The odds are slim, but whatever,
get him on the field and let him take his hacks.
I hope we can all stop feeling sorry for poor old Mike Trout at this point. Christ I’m sick of the “BARST PAH LAYER NO PLAY ARFS!” bullshit. It’s been many many seasons now. Can ANYONE remember a year where Trout didn’t suck in August and September? Other than maybe a season where he took most of July and August off for injury?
I love Trout and I love having him on the team, but that meme is trash.
But What about OUR pain tolerance in watching this shit show?
And yet here we are, pontificating away. This is a masochistic bunch indeed.
I don’t know. If any of us are in all that much pain we can just stuff it and go watch the Hallmark Cannel…. drink some box wine…. next year, root for the team with the best looking players….
The world is a sadsack full of oysters.
Hey, I pinched a nerve in my lower back a week ago so I am currently in pain, and I watch the Hallmark channel. But I don’t drink wine. Am I doomed. 🙂
The 7-game losing streak felt like a punishment from the baseball gods to the Angels for not listening to ESPN to trade Ohtani away.
Now I hope they go on a winning streak as a big middle finger to those baseball gods.
Yeah I’m high on whatever.
O’Hoppeium?
O’Hoppe looked mucho Rusty in his rehab debut last night.
The wrestler known as Mucho Rusty
The baseball gods would never listen to ESPN, that would be the baseball demons.
https://www.ocregister.com/2023/08/08/angels-manager-phil-nevin-says-he-was-angry-with-teams-effort-earlier-this-season-but-not-now/
“A” for effort!
I actually agree. I like what I see with regard to effort and wanting to compete. I just don’t think they’re nearly good enough. But I also agree with others who have said the coaching is poor and some of the in game management is very questionable. I don’t know how they can expect to be successful trying to hit a home run on every pitch regardless where it’s located. How many at bats have you seen where the hitter would have been better off simply standing in the box and not swinging because they’re not being thrown strikes. I recall a recent Grichuk at bat where he struck out on six pitches of which five were balls but he swung and missed two of them. How many times lately have they just needed the Darin Erstad ground ball to second to move two runners into scoring position.
Quick question… are you available next year?
We may seriously need a DH.
And modern medicine can do wonders to maybe heal that stomach. Can you pick up pitching again too? We may need a new 2-way unicorn.
See Roy, the thing is, you could have Casey Stengel…. or SkyNet…. manage this team and some Real Man of Baseball is gonna have problems with the line up at 4pm and issues with the stupid in game decisions made by the huge logic engine robot.
Sam the Hat would know.
https://theathletic.com/4760920/2023/08/09/angels-manager-phil-nevin/
Ok now I know we are doomed. Sam Blum is writing optimistic supportive articles about the team?
The pigs are flying.
Don’t worry, he pretty much trashes everything about the Angels except Nevin.
Well, I have to disagree with hat boy. Leaving Estevez in after he walks the first two hitters, which leads to a 6 run inning, is a big problem, that was on Nevin.
Was this subject to the 3-batter minimum rule or something?
I recall how quickly Nevin yanked Estevez in Texas earlier this year when it was obvious he didnt have it that night.
Maybe now that Estévez is an all star, Nevin feels compelled to leave him in? of course it doesnt help when Phil has no plan B.
To me, it sounded like Nevin was a good manager mostly because he talked to the press.
The Foundation Building Materials’ keystone of the game for the Angels tonight against the San Francisco JocPedersons is “Same Heartbreak, Different Day” by Richard Marx.
Oh wait, the Angels won last night? I was so used to finding a depressing song that matched the despair I felt to the ever extending Angels losing streak that this uncharted 2022 Richard Marx single found its way to becoming today’s keystone.
You know what? I’m keeping this song as the keystone, though, because at this point, does it really matter? The rest of the season is pretty meaningless now, except that I would like to see the Halos finish with a winning record. Forget the playoffs — what are the Vegas odds that the Angels finish at or above .500 once the final game has been played?
https://youtu.be/IXnYbs-7ymc
A win finally. And it took two new acquisitions Giolito and Leone on the mound to get there. The Halos otherwise would still be losing.
There’s a silver lining there somewhere.
Moose had 2 RBI’s
https://youtu.be/e9mf3Bypyk8
Leone did his best to try to lose the game.
Yes. But he wasn’t as successful as the pitchers who were here before the trades. They actually lost them.
Don’t forget Moose.
The Rays survived their losing streak, the Dodgers the same, now the Red Sox and Angels are in the barrel. Losing pretty much sucks. Not hitting with RISP sucks. Injuries suck. Having a Dickweed as an owner sucks, Losing Trout to injury every year sucks. Apple TV sucks, kind of like being held hostage unless you purchase it, “No Games For You!” tonight. Angels coaching staff sucks, Angels Managment sucks top to bottom. We are Doomed for sure. 🔻 🎌 ⬇ 👎 🌧 🔽 👇 💔 .500 or bust. I think that about covers it for the day, glad I got that shit out of my system so early. Ok, now let’s get on to the winning streak part of all this.
This might be the most negative post you’ve ever made.
Truly sorry to hear about Neto, hope he gets well soon and the back issues disappear.
This sounds like something that may not heal until the offseason, and I hope it doesn’t become a recurring issue. The kid has a promising future if he isn’t saddled with a wonky back.
What a pleasant surprise he turned out to be. Simba II. But we are not allowed to have nice things as we are the Angels fans, disappointment runs in our DNA.
It would probably be wise to shut him down for the balance of the campaign. Ditto for Joyce and probably Bachman as well.
At this point, they can wait and see. If we get back in it, then maybe they can push Neto, Joyce, Bachman and even Rendon out there. If not, let them all heal, rest and reset for next year.
Le’s get back “in it” and be forced to consider those decisions !!!!
I agree. Let everything heal for next year.
One in a row – every win streak starts with one.
Sounds familiar.
😀