When we tuned into games during the glory years of the aughts, night after night there was a guy on the hill capable of helping the team win. Jered Weaver, John Lackey, Dan Haren, Ervin Santana…you felt confident seeing them. Even complimentary guys like Hokie Joe Saunders and Matt Palmer managed to keep the team in the game more often than not. And, of course, being able to turn to Scot Shields to shut down rallies made managing the bullpen easy.
This year we’ve had two guys who gave us that feeling: Tyler Anderson and Jose Soriano. And if anybody saw Soriano turning into a stud starter at the end of the year, hats off to you.
But this week we saw the promise of the young arms. It started on Sunday when Caden Dana walked straight out of central casting and onto the hill.
That was followed by Reid Detmers mowing down the Dodgers on Tuesday night. I agree with Taylor Blake Ward that Detmers is still the most important prospect/young piece for the Angels. Whether he proves to be a high quality MLB arm or not really impacts the Angels contention window. On Tuesday, he showed the high end promise.
On the night he struck out 10 Dodgers, a team at or near the top in almost every significant offensive category in baseball.
Detmers had a plan for Ohtani in particular and controlled his fastball well. All in all, it was a great night for 9 innings.
It isn’t hard to see Anderson, Detmers, and Soriano as a solid trio in a rotation. Nor is it difficult to see Caden Dana joining them in a good rotation. It also isn’t difficult to see the potential for all three to bust due to age (Anderson), injury (Soriano), or inconsistency (Detmers).
In keeping with the pitching theme, Griffin Canning was also brilliant against the Dodgers.
And while Griff likely isn’t around much longer, some other guys who might pitch in are getting some experience. Samuel Aldegheri debuted as the first Italian born pitcher in MLB history on Friday and flashed some decent stuff. He also showed a good demeanor in not allowing some early defensive miscues get him out of his game. If nothing else, he filled up the strike zone.
The modern MLB is a bullpen game and that area of the club still needs help. I think I’ve generally like Jose Quijada’s pitching better than most on the board, and it was good to see him back healthy although I could do without the antics as he leaves the mound. He could be a nice piece in a decent bullpen.
The headlines, of course, are all about Ben Joyce and his insane velocity, which was on display here.
The true story, however, lies in the fact Joyce now has a legitimate complimentary pitch in his sinker and is controlling his fastball better than ever. Take a look at his baseballsavant.com page and you’ll see the true heater is thrown less than half the time this year. Velo alone won’t get you far in this league, but velo on top of some filthy secondary pitch and you just might have a dominant reliever.
Do we have Barry Enright to thank for that? I think so.
We’re a far cry from the 90s Braves, but this was a good week on the pitching front.
Of course, offense is fun too and Mickey Moniak again delivered the Highlight of the Week. This time a no doubter to give the Angels a big lead in the first inning on Wednesday.
From around baseball:
Matt Chapman will stick with the Giants for another 5 years. $151 million might even be enough for him to buy a house near Silicon Valley.
Elly De La Cruz is a dynamic, fun player and he had the coolest inning on Wednesday night.
Another young, exciting player is currently languishing in AAA. Is the Yankees refusal to unleash Jasson Dominguez on MLB so they can play Alex Verdugo biting them in the backside?
Another feel good story, longtime voice of the Yankees John Sterling will return for the post season.
Will Shohei go 50/50? If so, when?
Former Giants batboy Darren Baker made his MLB debut and recorded his first hit in front of his dad, Dusty Baker.
Here’s a cool recap of our introduction to Darren, when former Angel JT Snow saved him during game 5 of the 2002 World Series.
That was one cute kid. A cute kid who shouldn’t have been out there, but as a father I’ve always taken my son to as many places as I could and I understand Dusty wanting his little guy with him.
Enjoy your weekend and link what I missed. I spent the Labor Day weekend in Atlanta with friends and caught a game at the very cool Truist Park. I’ll write a review on that some day soon.
