Yet another doubleheader due to the wet stuff falling from the sky. This time it is Ohtani day, well, it was supposed to be Ohtani day. Instead, Shohei left after hurting himself early. Arm fatigue, they say. Bullpen had to pick him up and did the opposite, making it from a close game to a blowout.
Needless to say, it was not worth watching, nor recapping, as it was bad and ugly and sad and Trout also missed the game, so literally a day after finally being back, Troutani was gone again. Shohei honestly needs a break as he has had only 2 real days off this year and is not even playing meaningful baseball… again.
Ugh. Anyway Shohei went 1 and a third innings giving up nothing but a walk and striking out 2 before being pulled. Yeah. But hey, he did have a plate appearance where he hit one out.
Really it was the bullpen’s fault. They gave up 8 runs. Sure 3 were unearned but still that was pretty bad. Especially since Loup and Leon were back to back duds giving up 4 of those ER. Yeesh. But hey, Anderson was kinda sorta decent I guess only allowing 1 of the ER in 4 and 2/3 innings? That is a positive right?
Oh and Rengifo was a HR away from the cycle. So there was that.
Here, just watch Ohtani hit a home run and pretend it held up.
Anyway Angels lost, again. Second game tonight if you want to watch I guess.
Squid again?
White Flag Nevin?
Renny batting 4th?
To be honest, we are only as good as Renny will take us.
Why do they keep playing a SS who is hitting below .200 and still makes errors? They have a guy they are paying $5 million a year that can hit at least .230 or so and play well in the field. He’s in the minors though. 🤷♂️
It looks like there was no Sho Q&A session after the first game as far as I researched. Since he only pitched 1 1/3 inning and/or he was examined by physician, they may have decided to skip the session. I am not at all certain Sho will be available for media access after the second game. If he does, I will include the translated session in the postgame section.
Jeff Fletcher posted that Ohtani wasn’t made available for q&a after game 1
Rengifo hitting clean up, now that is not chasing a win, funny stuff. 😂
Lineup posted for game 2?
Japanese newspaper has just reported that Sho will DH in the second game. Trout is not starting, but will be available for pinch hitting.
When Sammy or Jeff fail, Rhett comes through:
https://twitter.com/RhettBollinger/status/1694516576614322207
Nevin is an idiot. Dude is tired, the season is over, just give him the rest of the day off from carrying this sad bunch
You are really being kind to Nevin, idiot is mild really.
He’s more desperate than anything else.
Yes. No Trout
Yes. Ohtani 2nd, as usual
record needed to beat last season: 13-23. We can do it!
I know I’m reading way too far into your comment but I struggle with the argument that being better this year means much if anything. If anything the “gains” this year seem to have been at the expense of the short term future, which was already sort of bleak. It just feels like we made that trade, obviously in hindsight, at a poor exchange rate and that past performance is not an indicator of future gains.
Honestly, I think Eric just likes the math more than anything.
That said, I totally agree with you. Whether the team is 73-89 or 79-83 makes no difference. The trades that might mean 5 or 6 more wins will likely hurt this team going forward. So I take no joy in a small gain.
Schanuel OBP watch: .476
Yeah, much like the minors, he only hits singles, but the guy has an extraordinary eye at the plate.
Now we can watch him practice fundamentals (baserunning, defense) in real-time as the team tanks in its final act.
This is part of the reason why I like this kid and feel we should cut him a lot of slack. He’s learning and needs to play everyday. There will be other mistakes. At his core – he is a very high quality batsman and we should all relax when he has growing pains.
I agree with you. It sucked that Sho had to come out, but I am glad that Schanuel was able to get in the first game. He was able to mitigate at least some of the frustrated and embarrassed emotions from last night. The fact that he got 3 walks and an infield hit tells me that he is on the right track. I can confidently declare that he has the best walk per at bat ratio on the Angels right now.
He should not be up in the majors giving us growing pains, Huntsville is okay. Just smells of a desperation play with a stench of arrogance applied to it.
But that’s not his fault. So don’t get too down on the kid.
But we can complain can’t we boss?
I am all for playing the kid but reserve the right to bitch.
Sounds more like he’s down on incompetent management throwing someone not ready right into the spotlight.
And yes it does reek of desperation.
Yes, you got it
Unless you think he will be permanently damaged mentally for failing this early at this level while buying up service time , I cant think of a reason why playing Schanuel at the major league level would be a bad thing.
This team aint going anywhere this year so why not make these mistakes this year instead of next.
And, assuming they dont screw up his ROY eligibility theres always this potential benefit for next year:
https://www.sportingnews.com/us/mlb/news/mlb-prospect-promotion-incentive-rookie-year-cba/ja5ts8eaxcuv85xujnzriafb#:~:text=Players%20who%20win%20Rookie%20of,finishers%20earn%20an%20international%20pick.
I still don’t know what he’ll become two years down the road. You really want him to work on lift and launch angle, so some of those <90mph slappers turn into doubles, with an occasional LD home run.
But otherwise, the scouting reports and video prove true: he hits everything, just not hard, and his defense at 1B is probably good enough to test him in LF. (I really don’t believe he can hold down 3B, but stranger things have happened.)
Any chance you see that he can develop moderate power say 20 HR’s or so.
Tim Salmon said yes a couple days ago
No. Angels. trAdition. No.
It’ll take a couple years. I forget what the angels win podcast said about his build but it was pretty much pipe cleaner arms.
He need a lot of time in the weight room
Will this head of lettuce last longer than Phil Nevin?
And sheesh, Trout is also not playing Game 2.
So that’s where he is on “pain tolerance.”
Mike Trout is an old man, at least plays like it. This won’t end nicely.
The pain was too great. He tried to come back about 2.5 weeks early. It didn’t work.
Here is my completely speculative take.
Ohtani has given his all for this team. He has had various bouts with fatigue but has generally played through them and left it all out in the field. He is making $30 million.
Meanwhile Trout is making nearly $40 million, comes back for a game and then feels a little sore and doesn’t play. That has to sit poorly with Ohtani after playing through pain and fatigue.
Then there is Rendon, making nearly $38 million. He won’t play through anything – just sits there and collects his millions.
Ultimately, that has to strain Ohtani mentally. His teammates are not pushing to play – they sit out with soreness while he has given his all. So, he refuses the helmet and simply says he is fatigued and sits out. Why not? The guys making more than him are “leading” by example.
It would sit poorly with me too.
why can’t velazquez have this attitude.
From Sam Blum:
I’ve defended Rendon through this season, my reason being that he hasn’t had enough chances, or even played thru a full season to be fully declared as a washup. But I’m finally done with Rendone this season. It’s his right to not talk to the media, but what a jackass. I dunno if he’s even a good clubhouse presence – I doubt it – but Moose just puts him to shame.
I too have defended Rendon until this year. Defended him greatly when he wanted to take a poke at a fan the1st series of the year.
I thought this was the make or break season turn his act around. Failure. Now, history is not on his side, 4-years removed from a productive season. He is done. What to do with him? Such awful contract vibes, Upton 5x worse. Fauck.
The reason why medical experts say that recovery time for hamate surgery is 4 weeks to 8 weeks is how the surgical tissue heal differs from individual to individual. Although rare, it is possible to have neuroma, which is essentially trapped nerve endings, as the tissue heals especially where the hook of the hamate used to occupy. It was probably an outlier that Jose Ramirez was able to come back only 28 days after the surgery, while it took 10+ weeks for Yu Chang to return. No one should question Trout’s tolerance of pain.
I’m not questioning Trout. I’m speculating as to how Ohtani might view things. Read my post again.
Actually at this point I think it’s okay to question Trout.
I am sorry that it sounded like I was questioning your support of Trout. I am aware you have been consistent in defending and applauding his efforts as Angel. There were some negative comments on Trout being a wimp, and I may have been replying to too many posts at the same time. 😔
I also think that Sho will never question Trout’s tolerance of pain. After all, Trout is one of the main reasons why he chose Angels. His respect for and the honor of playing with Trout will last forever.
Sorry I can’t buy what you are saying about Trout, I really don’t think he is telling management that he won’t or can’t play, don’t you think after being out what 5 or 6 weeks, that the training staff want to take it a bit slow with him. Did he even do a stint in the minor or did he come right off the DL to the Angels. I’m sorry but I think it is really unfair for folks here to dump on Trout after all that he has meant to this team, he has always been a team first guy or he would have demanded a trade a long time ago, you just don’t hear that he has gone to managment or ownership and demanded that they trade him, he is fed up with all the losing, no press conferences about wanting to win and he wants to play for a winner, if they don’t win it is time to move on.
Ohtani who everyone here worships is the guy that is putting himself before the team in that he wants or at least hints if they don’t win he is gone. I think Ohtani is a wonderful talent and I am glad that he is on the Angels, but if it is going to cost us 50 million and 10 years to keep him, I say don’t let the door hit you on the ass on the way out. If they sign him to a monster contract that will just put them in another 10 year cash bind and they will have 10 more years of frustation because of putting all their money in a contract that will be good for maybe 3 or 4 years then crash and burn.
Trout is the bestest player to ever play for the Angels, he has given everything he has to the team, if there is one guy who deserves the benefit of the doubt it is Trout.
I just have to say the greed of MLB owners and American agents/lawyers are the reasons why MLB is economically unsustainable. The relationship between MLBPA and owners are hostile. The relationship between NBAPA and their owners are at least cooperative, not handing out 10 plus year contracts. (Magic Johnson got 25 year contract before David Stern/Adam Silver took over.). The basic NPB contracts are single year because there are no agents/lawyers involved and the relationship between players and the owners are cordial. By the way, the highest ¥ contract given to NPB player was $6 million per season, single year contract; it was given to former MFYankee Masahiro Tanaka this year.
People who get shafted by this hostile relationship owners and MLBPA are the fans. Agents like Scott Boras are laughing all the way to their banks taking advantage of the hostility.
I am not passing judgement on how screwed up MLB is economically, from the point of paying Otani it is what it is, so for the Angels to keep him is going to take a 10 year 500,000,000 contract, are you ready to sign up to paying Otani 50,000,000 a year even after he becomes a DH with diminishing skills and playing like Albert Pujols over the last 6 or 7 years of this contract. I sure has hell don’t.
Wait a second- I wasn’t questioning Trout. Read my post again. It was speculation as to how Ohtani views things not commentary regarding Trout’s dedication.
“Meanwhile Trout is making nearly $40 million, comes back for a game and then feels a little sore and doesn’t play. That has to sit poorly with Ohtani after playing through pain and fatigue.”
That seems to be that you are being a little critical of Trout, what proof do you have the Trout asked to be rested.
“Ultimately, that has to strain Ohtani mentally. His teammates are not pushing to play – they sit out with soreness while he has given his all. So, he refuses the helmet and simply says he is fatigued and sits out. Why not? The guys making more than him are “leading” by example.”
Again since Trout is one of the players making more than Ohtani that Trout must not be pushing to play. Sorry I just can’t buy that.
Fansince1971, most of the time I agree with your posts, but this one I could not let pass with a comment.
According to Nevin, “Shohei does not feel any pain, but something also does not feel right.”
I dunno if that’s worse….
Don’t worry, it can get even worse than that. Shohei won’t pitch the rest of the season with an undiagnosed injury, which is par for the course for the Angels staff, and Arte will bid against himself and give him a 12 year/$600M contract. We will then have the most expensive DH ever and wish we had JD Martinez instead.
If Ohtani doesn’t pitch, he’ll be a great Outfielder and occasionally DH. Ohtani did well for us in the few games he played Outfield. He did great in Japan from the highlight reels I seen of him throwing out base runners and catching fly balls.
didnt watch but saw velazquez got an error.. that just comes w/ the territory of a bat-first SS
The Gift that keeps on giving.
Hahahaha. /sarcasm I see. He is batting .083 last 7 and .194 overall. There is no way he should be playing in front of Fletcher.
Tim Salmon just said Shohei is basically fatigued from carrying this team on his back.
I’ve always thought Shohei has 2-3 more years of successful two-way play, before his body eventually gives out, and he has to choose what one-way player he would be. But it’s also fair to say that on a much better team, he could have more days off, and therefore he won’t be as fatigued as the season goes on.
But Shohei has also controlled his schedule by himself, apparently very comfortable enough to tell the coaching staff when he’s ok to play, pitch, etc. So there’s the argument that all this workload has been 100% Shohei-approved. So on a different team, would he be also comfortable enough to say that he wants to have more rest days since a lot of other teammates can pick up the slack?
Sho will learn from this experience, and he will consider not DHing when he pitches and he will take scheduled days off next season.
I think he will consider not DHing either before or after he pitches. I’m pretty sure he wants his bat in the lineup when he is on the mound.
Another 3 losses in a row
Just 3? Seems like forever with all the days off
Expecting your team to lose is never a positive thing but this is where I am at. Wins are a surprise now and game 2 doesn’t feel like it’s going to be a win either. Especially with Ohtani out not to mention Trout already gone again.