Seems like all season I’ve led off with a list of who got injured this week. That did a 180 over the last 7 days.
Zach Neto came back and reminded us why we all like the kid with a series of great defensive plays.
Zach and Logan O’Hoppe appear to be the backbone of the next Angels team. Their play and passion is evident. This is the kind of passion for the game you hope rubs off on other players.
And Ben Joyce is back and looking filthy. I really hope his arm stays attached and functional for the next few years.
Even old friends David Fletcher and Jared Walsh are back. They join Jose Suarez who was activated earlier this week.
I’m not sure how much the person who sews names on jerseys gets paid, but that person earns their keep around here for sure.
Each year there are a handful of articles that on their own justify a subscription to The Athletic. This is one. Angels prospect Zac Kristofack’s mother was murdered by his father and Sam Blum tells the incredible story of pain, purpose, and redemption.
Brett Phillips had a nice series for himself in Seattle. He credits new swing mechanics and getting a chance to use them in the minors for his improvement.
From around baseball:
Adam Wainwright will give a post game concert and sing three original songs for Cardinals fans. He had a country music album in the works and wants to get in a show before retiring from baseball. So we found one thing a ballplayer can do that Ohtani can’t.
The new rules have made baseball look a lot more like the game I fell in love with 30 years ago. Back then a 30 home run 30 steal campaign was a big deal but not as rare as a celebrity marriage that lasts. Julio Rodriguez joined what could be a bumper crop of 30-30 players this season.
The Braves clinched the NL East on Wednesday night. That’s the sixth season in a row for the Bravos. Every year the NL East is predicted to be a dog fight yet Atlanta seems to make easier and easier work of it.
The Diamondbacks are stating they are making a playoff run of their own, fueled largely by young players. Now would be a great time to remind you that George Kirby and Corbin Carroll were both on the board when the Angels took Wil Wilson, but I’ll be nice.
The Roid Sux fired Chaim Bloom. Not saying I’d love it or hate it but the fact he has executive experience so Arte won’t hire him.
Mad Max Scherzer is out for the regular season and likely out for the year. Texas has dealt with a litany of injuries this year. Max’s injury is another indication the Rangers can’t have nice things.
You might have noticed I post a lot of X/Twitter links. What I recently noticed is that since Rahul left the masthead our X/Twitter content has ceased to exist. Would anybody out there be interested in being the CtPG X/Twitter master? Perks include getting to post fun stuff on Twitter, joining our group conversation, and occasional free tickets or swag that come our way. Please comment below or email any of us.
Have a great weekend and link what I missed.
This headline aged like milk on a Vegas summer afternoon.
https://twitter.com/MLB/status/1703069059883950553?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1703069059883950553%7Ctwgr%5Eaded13418d4ea1cf98b0c2af5330d3b70d3573c5%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fforum.chorus.fm%2Fbts%2Ftwitter.min-v6.html1703069059883950553
Pretty crazy.
So much for saving that whopping $110,000 off of the CBT.
https://twitter.com/JeffFletcherOCR/status/1702811812927029261
Good ovation for Fletch
Giolito is shutting out Texas tonight 6-0 while the Guardians are cruising to an easy win.
Surprising no one
Now 9-0. He’s retired 17 of the first 19 batters.
Andrew didn’t have his best stuff
Not quite.
Home versus away
LOL what does this mean???
C’mon Tony! Throw us a bone, and retire in your millions!!!
Moreno vs Rendone 25 minutes in the octagon.
Winner stays with the team. Loser must hand over their parking pass and GTFO
The winner can take on that crazy A’s fan.
Wow, come on, where is your f^#king pride, Rendon.
LOL, he has none
I guess so. Having his kids having to deal with the disgrace know that their dad is in the dictionary under”biggest free agent busts in MLB history.” F’n loser.
Eh, their dad is bringing home 9 figures. Rendone is a loser to us, he’s most likely a hero to his children.
Eh, he’ll go down as the “Big Mistake.”. First there was the Big Hurt and now, Big Mistake. Money or no, butt ass of a joke cannot feel good. I know I would not roll over and just cash the check.
Does that mean he doesn’t know if he’ll heal or that he might retire?
It means that he’s focused on collecting all his money.
Paris leading off, .094, Grichuk DH
But his OBP is .216. 🙂
Is that good? If not, can he pitch?
I get this feeling that Ohtani will not play until he is starting DH in Angel uni on October 1 to be replaced before he is to take his swing so that the Angels fans have a chance to say farewell to him.
I’m going to miss you, Kiyo 🫡😭💙
Rumor of the day per Gammons, is Kiyo will be over on the SoxSuckholes board next season all due to speculation of his “relationship” with the NewBalance CEO.
You Da Man. Mr. Chan.
The Angels website said Adams and Paris were sent to Salt Lake. Either that was in error or that was the quickest turnaround ever.
Just checked. Sent down on the 14th and recalled today. Weird.
Minasian is a mess
No one with an average higher than .269 in the starting lineup? Frank the Tank loves it!
Mariners do that every night and win.
lord help us!!
https://x.com/JeffFletcherOCR/status/1702808789827887524?s=20
Rendone has a tibia fracture not a bone bruise
The mob on this site won’t care. They’ll say he is a bum unless he replaces his leg with a bionic one and gets back on the field and hits .300.
And stops smiling.
Rendone is an injury prone bum. I agree !
That foul ball looked crazy painful. I don’t really blame him for that injury. It was a freak injury but of course it happened to Mr. Always Injured.
However, being an absolute dick is his fault.
Well put.
I don’t think it’s coincidence that it happened to “Mr. Always injured.” Some people are more prone to injury than others. Rendon appears to be somebody who will end up with more severe injuries where others would only miss a few days.
At least a part of that is his age. At 33, Rendon may have simply reached the age where his body breaks down more easily and takes longer to heal.
Of course, he might also be neglecting his physical routine and health habits. Alternatively, he might be employing the same routine he was in Washington and it’s too much for his aging body. We simply don’t know. If his diet/exercise are contributors, it’s mostly on him. However, the organization should also be monitoring players’ and providing suggestions/feedbacks, especially for aging players who might need to increase stretching and shift toward more preventative workout routines.
Same. Foul balls off legs are freaky in nature, much like Trout’s hamate bone fracture.
Remember LaStella suffering the same when he was having a great year?
And Tommy was never the same after that.
Why did it take so long to figure out and announce it. Why was he running around on the field recently pretending like he was ramping up if he knew it was fractured. Very strange.
It’s all so strange and so Angels
Maybe he didn’t authorize the release of the info but now agreed since they will shut him down for the season? Who knows. Frankly I don’t give a sh—. JJ I completely agree with your analysis.
If he didn’t “authorize” the info getting out, why is he blaming the Angels for the misinfo out there?
He’s already been out long enough for that to heal if it was caused by the foul ball
Dude, You of all people should talk, considering how poorly that bullet hole in your stomach lining healed.
It was a magic bullet though!
The scuttlebutt is that his wife kicked him to get his lazy butt off the couch
I can’t help wonder if the WBC had a negative impact on the Angels injury situation this season. It’s just wondering out loud. Players we’re playing in meaningful games without the benefit of a full Spring Training.
Found this… Google… who knew?
The World Baseball Classic Injury Effect – The Ringer
Interesting….for sure.
For the analysis to really be meaningful, I would think they would have to study players like Ohtani who played on the winning team, and was pitching with an intensity as though he was in the World Series. His pitching had to put early and extra strain on his pitching arm. I would think it would be the equivalent of pitching in the post season and then immediately starting a regular season without the warm-up of Spring Training..
I guess we will never know for sure, but it is interesting to think about.
I saw several articles. Without reading in depth it looked like there was a slight increase in number of days on the IL for those that participated… which makes some sense I suppose.
Someone should update the data to include this years classic
I’ve been looking for a piece that does that. If anybody does, I’ll steal it for a weekend links.
I’m actually surprised people aren’t talking about the WBC and Ohtani’s injury more.
I’ve posted this earlier in the season, but if it were up to me, I wouldn’t allow any Angels players to participate in any WBCs or Home Run Derbys again until further notice.*
This team has been such a mess and a wreck for so many years, there is no excuse for any player on the team to dedicate any of their strength/endurance/time to anything other than Angels games and wins for the team.
*further notice may be when we’ve won a few WS and have a dynasty team, like the Astros… then maybe our players can go showboat in a HR Derby or whatever
I personally thought participating in the WBC was a terrible idea regardless of the excitement and story line which led to the Trout strikeout. The tournament was intense but was still an exhibition. Given the investment made in these players- I thought it a very bad idea to use MLB level players much less superstars.
But can you really prevent the players though? More than playing baseball, for the players, it was the pride of representing their country that was the main draw for them.
Jeff – there’s a paywall but this WSJ article touches on the subject.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/08/24/shohei-ohtani-injury/
From that article:
“Until Wednesday, it seemed the magic of the WBC had not required the feared deal with the baseball injury devil. Maybe this Angel — or more particularly, the ligament on which he relies so heavily — could not have avoided the fall.”
Pirates and Mets ripping off 3-game win streaks did great work for the Tank. I have the Angels winning 2 out of 3 against the Tigers just based on the pitching matchups but I hope for a Tiger sweep. The Tigers do finish the year with 9 games against sub .500 teams while the Mets face playoff contenders who will be playing to win. With O’Hoppe playing, the biggest tank obstacle for the Angels to overcome. The dude cares.
It’s going to be a great fight to the finish.
”
A reference to Mills Lane will get a thumbs up from me.
There is no way Joyce’s arm holds up with that motion. Sad.
I agree.
Hope you are wrong, but Joyce’s been hurt mutiple times already in his career.
His delivery reminds me of Dennis Eckersley. Same wind-up, same arm slot, similar motion.
The Eck didn’t have Joyce’s velocity, but had a great storied career.
I hope the same for Ben Joyce….
How about except for the walk-off HR versus the Dodgers please…
“Eck always throws a backdoor slider on full counts” .
Best scouting report Eva.
As this group is fond of saying, I’m to GA to….
Gruesome Twosome Adams Family Cousin Itt and Perrier…I’d driven them to the Airport just to make sure they are made it on the plane.
And Also too GA to add the extra o.
But in all seriousness, I can see Fletcher performing well enough to peak our interest for next year. but since his 5 year tenure wont’ vest until the early next season, the Angels do not really need to make a decision until after spring training next year since I doubt anyone would pick him up with that terrible contract even if he plays well in ST.
Relative to Walsh, I think this maybe the end of the line for him. even though hes hit better as of late in SL he seems to be a shell of his former self. He seems to have lost all plate discipline so Im not sure if he is seeing the ball as well or hes becoming just a guess hitter. He’s always struck out alot but During his All Star season he walked every 12.2 plate appearances. At AAA he hasn’t earned a walk in his last 45 plate appearances while hitting only .250. That aint good.
Since we’re grammar cocking – “pique.”
https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/2ea951c3-c92e-4b10-8846-9a3974bef2b9
Impressive.Thats good to know.
Re: Walsh – It’s terrible considering it’s AAA in SLC. He’s cooked.
This Angel / Tiger series is the MLB equivalent of a drunken bum fight.
😆
Same as the daily arguments on CtPG
Except that we’re typically drinking more before noon.
You say that like it’s a bad thing…
The daily slap-fight. Heeeeeefo MVP! Heeeeeeefo worst ever!
Shohei is not catching Matt Olson now, leaving him in the dust. Ohtani just needs to close the door, get the surgery now and be prepared to DH next April, elsewhere. The Angels and Ohtani really need a divorce. Any Moreno capital thrusted at keeping Shohei is a waste, especially for a team full of roster holes.
We’ve loss with Shohei and we can lose without him.
The Foundation Building Materials’ keystone of the game for the Angels tonight against the Detroit Tigers is “I Want to Take You Higher” by Sly and the Family Stone.
Tonight the Angels play in an attempt to see what pieces they have that could take them higher next year. Give some guys the experience and confidence that will enable them to lead the Angels to unexpected, fantastic heights next year.
Let’s hope the Angels can do it with as much exuberance as Sly and theFamily put into this 1968 Ed Sullivan appearance. They should be especially happy if they can beat Tigers’ scheduled starting pitcher Tarik Skubal who has a terrific 0.10 ARA/BF over 248 batters faced.
https://youtu.be/WG_xmmllfFw?si=tcOVsD3xi8Qfkyts
Both teams in tonight’s Angels Tigers game technically should be focused on losing. Winning is the worse outcome at this point for both of these teams.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0763051/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk
We’ll see who can out-tank the other.
Thank for this, Jeff:
”I’m not sure how much the person who sews names on jerseys gets paid, but that person earns their keep around here for sure.”
Maybe those insane costs help explain keeping the radio team in Anaheim?!?!?!? 😀
Actual footage:
We have paid Anthony Rendone $140 MILLION for the past 4 seasons. In return, king of the IL has given us…
200/546 (36.6%) games played
22 HR
40 doubles
1 triple
2021-2023
148/486 (30.5%) games played
13 HR
29 doubles
In RenDONE’s final season as a National in 2019…
146/162 (90%) games played
34 HR
44 doubles
3 triples
Up to me? I’m releasing this loser. Yea, he’s a loser.
So you’re saying we should extend him? 😂
I think we have to !!
I can definitely see this being a case of a guy who got his ring, got his paycheck, and stopped training as hard as he did in Washington. The relaxed training regime made his aging body more susceptible to injury, and the rest is history.
That’s under $6.4 million an HR. Can you imagine Ohtani paid like this?
How about this one — $140 million for 1 triple. If we paid Ohtani $140 mill for his 22 triples since 2020 it would come out to $3 billion
I was team rendon until this season.
now i have unfettered rage for this toolbag (but i still think him trolling slam bum is funny).
Likewise, this WAS the season for Rendon to turn the tables and regain his offensive prowess. A complete FAIL. I was a strong supporter but no longer.
As far as Sammy Blum, yeah, he is a squeaky weasel but it’s good to have a critical element and opinions on the inner workings of the franchise. He had some good reporting elements on the disastrous waiver wire fiasco.
Rendon was just tired of the questioning and blew him off. Blum should not have made that a big deal like he did. Looks petty, to me.
I nominate you to be the new Twitter guy 🤘
Just as long as its not Sam the Hat.
Are you just trying to wind me up?!
I sincerely hope that next season he comes to camp healed up and ends up being an All-Star.
I’m amused trying to imagine all the fluster amongst the anti-Rendon crew here at CtPG if that happens.
That would be awesome. https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/872d8a58-fed1-4e72-b682-9b5a91381b96
Of course then you can only imagine what would happen here when his resurgent season ends early again because of some stupid freak injury.
Jeff, thank you very much for the links today. The GIFs of Neto, Logan, and Joyce give me hope for a future once Arturo is gone. The link to the Blum piece reminds me that the players are human beings and suffer loss. And the rest were informative. You’re the linker of the week! Well done!
Thanks. I have a HUGE advantage of being able to start my links days in advance with little need to be all that timely.
The guys who post links day after day have it tough. When I step in and do them there’s a huge difference.
Arte is only 77 years young. He will stick around as long or longer than Neto and O’Hoppe haha
Arte in two hundred years with Bobo the rally monkey…..
Arte has a Space monkey too. He calls it “Not POBO”
Who said Ohtani can’t sing?
I say he can until proven wrong.
He’s likely the Karaoke King!
https://imgur.com/ZtuL69M
He certainly looks the part – who wouldn’t buy a country album from the Unicorn.