LA Angels Thursday News Crash: Troll Day

Shohei said he was frustrated with his pitching performance last night, even though he only gave up an unearned run in 6 innings.

There will be a lot of praises for this pitching performance, but the last few games of Shohei also need to be a warning sign for the teams, including the Angels, who will be on the Shohei sweepstakes this winter.

He’s fatiguing, as any player would, at this time of the season. He’s been taken out of games earlier than usual the last few weeks because of blisters, middle finger cramping, whole body/leg cramping etc.

It’s common sense to anyone that he’s had quite a workload the last 3 years, where he’s able to play full seasons in excellent health, as an excellent two-way player. But it’s also a very valid question to ask of how long can he continue doing this two-way thing successfully, without his body giving out? There’s already some minor red flags. And as that old baseball adage goes, he’s entering the wrong side of 30 soon.

Whoever gives him that 10-year contract will essentially be paying for his 2021-2023 MVP seasons (that happened with another team, unless the Angels re-sign him), and probably 2-3 years of a successful, IF HEALTHY, two-way player.

Then he becomes a very expensive DH (because HRs are sexier than strikeouts). OR a very expensive closer.

As much as I would love to see Shohei re-sign with the Angels, I shudder to think of the backend of that contract, much more than Trout’s.