Good morning Angels fans! Have some links!
Angels News
The Angels are good somehow. Yes, they won 3 in a row again, topped off by Jansen getting his 450th career save.
Jansen also surpassed Lee Smith for 5th all time in RP K’s. He has been so good for so long.
Also, the Angels are winning the AL West as of right now. And the best record in the AL. Better than the Dodgers.
Paris now has at least 20 total bases through the team’s first 10 games. Last time this happened for someone 23 or younger on the Angels was 2015 Mike Trout.
That’s not all, the AA Trash Pandas had their first Cycle ever with Cole Fontenelle. Everything is coming up Angels!
Around Baseball
Serious news. There was a ceiling collapse that killed at least 60 people in the DR. One of which was Octavio Dotel. Tony Blanco, a former Japanese League player, also died saving former Rangers player Esteban German. Over 160 people are said to be injured.
On a lighter note, Yeshiva University lost their 100th straight game. The D3 team has not won since 2022.
Look, Angels fans rightly hate Arte Moreno, but he isn’t the worst owner in baseball. Bob Nutting recycled bricks with fans’ names on them around the Honus Wagner statue at PNC park without telling anyone, only being found out by the recycling plant finding them.
The arbitration hearing in MLB suck. Your team basically is encouraged to trash your name to the judge so they can save money. Which is now known to include any “physical and mental defects”. That’s messed up.
Down south, the Padres are not doing so well health wise. Jackson Merrill is down, as is Jake Cronenworth, and Tatis Jr may also be injured. They need an OF now more than ever. Maybe they can ask for one for Easter.
Guess who has been the 2nd worst team in Baseball the last 50 games? The Twins! 13-35 is brutal. Or the AL Central is bad, as usual.
Anything I missed? Post below for upvotes!
I don’t think Neto is eligible to be activated until April 11th.
Vibes in da sky right now
Good picture
Let the theories abound.
https://x.com/JeffFletcherOCR/status/1910057552118702430
Probably just rest.
Dad Gitcho being a Party Pooper again.
Are there seeds near his locker? That will let us know what is going on.
Actually, he’s been sent to Yemen to pull a young hot medical aid worker/physicist who has solved cold fusion and easy beef out of a war zone so she can make us all warm and full.
Ate a salad for lunch, tore esophagus?
….. but it’s nothing to be concerned about.
The career ending, death nail term that all true Angel fans fear.
LINEUP
LF Ward
1B Schanuel
RF Trout
DH Soler
C O’Hoppe
3B Moncada
CF Paris
2B Anderson
SS Newman
P – Kikuchi
Paris is surrounded by a pile of meh.
I like 1-5 🤷🏼♂️
In theory but they are not hitting the ball consistently
Too many holes in the lineup
spots 6, 8 and 9 in lineup are all very weak…
Spot #3 is also weak…..
Yes but they are our holes.
Cue the Spaceballs GIF
And how has that stopped us before?
He should be hitting leadoff already. Lineup construction continues to be way too set in stone. Off the soap box again but the lineup should evolve with the most recent data (outside of a few staples) and go from there.
Right now we need:
KP at lead off
Logan protecting Trout
Fill the rest in accordingly.
Soler is doing a much better job protecting Trout lately. He’s slashing .263/.318/.632 in his last 5 games. I fail to see how the current level of fear opposing pitchers have facing O’Hoppe (Obviously they would pitch to him differently if they actually did have any) is going to help protect Mike if O’Hoppe bats behind him.
Pitcher’s don’t fear Soler. He’s mostly a don’t make mistakes over the middle and he won’t beat you type of hitter. Whereas Logan can get you anywhere in the zone.. This is covered in series prep so the “fear factor” which I don’t give much credence to anyway is higher with Log there.. since the scouting report and attack plan shows he is covering every part of the zone right now.
We seem to change the line up a lot for a line up that is set in stone. You basically mean “I want Paris to lead off.” right?
Yea KP to lead off and Log to protect Mike. Those are the most impactful things we could do right now to jump start this offense.
The team seems to be winning a lot of games. If it ain’t broke why fix it?
I personally don’t care about line ups ten games into the season…. or even night in night out. That’s a hang up some other dudes have. “See a line up. Have thoughts. MUST share thoughts.”
I assume the people in the clubhouse know stuff and that most line ups change over time. And that ours will have a bunch of weaknesses.
Adell needs a mental health day and Gifo has an ouchie?
Neither guy has looked right with their hamstring recently.
Adell needs a break, but hopefully will be back tomorrow.
Rengifo was just lazy trotting on his ground out at the top of the 6th. Since the first baseman dropped the ball, he would have been safe if he had ran. Plus, his poor defense continues to trend.
He was gingerly jogging because his hammy is hurt. The fact he gutted it out and drove in the winning run on a bad leg deserves some credit
He ran just fine in the 9th. He gets paid a lot of money to hustle on every play. C’mon, even you had to cringe on his two defensive gaffes yesterday.
His retreat on the bunt was brutal 🤝
and lil Gifo dont have the hops right now.
🫱🏽🫲🏻
His defense was brutal but they probably lose that game without him. Hamstrings are what they are and no amount of want to makes them better. Unfortunately, they only get better with rest and he could have easily begged out of the lineup.
I’ve never been in the Gifo camp mostly due to his mental mistakes but he did nut up with some clutch at bats last night.
If he was that bad they should have put in Nicky Lopez in the 9th. I sure he could have got off the ground enough to snag that liner
Well that hammy looks pretty healthy here. https://x.com/swillysports/status/1910007763830194551
Interesting lineup not one I would put out there but not a major league manager either
Kikuchi is die to give up 4-5 runs and this lineup might get 3-4
I don’t know. Last year he was averaging game scores around 60 for the first part of season, not getting lit up until the end of May and June, then settling down again after the trade to the Astros. I figure will get the same as his first 2 starts for the rest of the month. I hope that doesn’t mean the team will continue losing them all.
Once Neto is back, he will replace Newman and that should be all of the regulars (including Adell).
Regarding arbitration, that’s the business world and players are commodities. Saying a guy has elbow injuries isn’t much different than saying a roof will need replacing soon.
I do agree with the article’s point that disclosing the fact a player a accessed mental health treatment will discourage players from getting that treatment, though.
People forget that the player has a rep too. If the mental health is accessed and it paid dividends I’d just say that, yes, the player does everything he can to succeed, including taking care of his mental health, and it benefitted the team.
tl;dr How is that allowed given HIPPA laws?
True. The mental health provider is not allowed to give out ANYTHING — including the fact that “Player X is a patient” to anyone EXCEPT Player X. However, if the player mentions it, it’s fair game. If the player signs a waiver giving permission to let MLB know he saw them, it’s fair game.
Oh, and minor nitpick, it’s HIPAA.
ObDisclaimer: I studied HIPAA regs in one of my privacy law classes. However… I am not a lawyer. I am not qualified to dispense legal advice. Should you require legal advice, please consult an attorney licensed to practice in your state.
For every guy I think will cool down soon (Paris, O’hoppe) there are guys coming (Neto) or on the roster who I expect to heat up (Trout, Ward).
We’ve survived one infield injury in Neto and a lesser one in Moncada. Once Neto is back, we’ll have the depth to absorb one outfield injury as long as Paris is healthy.
Anything beyond that and the lack of depth becomes very apparent very quickly.
I’d feel pretty good if Adell can at least become Soler with OF defense. And Soler can become Soler with Soler defense. It would ensure we have some thump other than Neto?O’Hoppe so that they can’t pitch around Trout.
I’m happy to see them doing well and happy to see some young guys looking good. I’m still looking at the long game and where we can get by 2027 when we have money to address our remaining needs. We have some significant holes that will increase by the end of 2026. It’s very early but I am moderately concerned about Trout who seems to either walk, hit a HR, or most often, make an out. It’s only been a couple of weeks and it’s probably going to be a long year. I am not convinced that Adell will be part of the future beyond next year.
That’s the thing, we pretty much have zero pitching depth. We have pitchers to replace those that might get injured but the replacements are no where near as good. We really have one position player replacement, and that’s Neto. After that, we’re down to zero if you’re talking about players who are anywhere near the same ability.
As true as those statements are, the depth is still far better than it has been in recent years.
Caden Dana and Chase Silseth are in AAA.
George Klassen and Sam Aldegheri are in AA.
Position player wise, it is pretty dire.
I’m quite worried about Dana. If we’re lucky he’s two years away.
I get what you’re saying and I agree that we are a little better off but if Dana or Silseth had to replace one of our staters right now, especially everyone but Anderson, we’d be in a world of hurt.
Nicky Lopez = depth, bottom of the sea
Yes but he can pitch.
Gawd Nutting is a turd. I don’t understand. WHY Bob? WHY DO YOU OWN A BASEBALL TEAM? Money. Sure. But if that was all he wanted he could just buy minority ownership in 3 or 4 different sports teams and sit back. Or buy real estate. Bro. Why do you own the Pirates? And why are you working so damn hard at screwing it up?
The Padres have injury problems. They are so stupid. Cheap too.
I’m just stoked we survived yesterday. Sure, the times gonna come when we can’t pull out some wins. But it’s still good to see the boys doing it now. It reminds me of last years team, which up until about the last two weeks of the season seemed to be genuinely trying to win ball games the entire game for almost the entire year even if it was futile. Now they are a little better, and they are winning more of the “try hard” games.
Burke and Zeferjahn. Stupid Perry. Jansen too. Another dumpster dive. So lame.
Nutting is seriously bad. There was talk years ago of MLB squeezing him out so native son Mark Cuban could buy the team and try to win. Love or hate the dude he would have at least had payroll in the Brewers/Twins territory and invested in some front office talent.
Well THAT’S even a pisser. He hired Bloom…. so that Bloom can apparently get good prospects in trade for Jones and Skenes in a couple years.
I think you can rightfully claim that the Pirates make little or no effort to win or compete for any period of time you want to choose.
Bloom & Huntington both built really good farms…. to no avail since if you trade prospects for players they expect to get paid.
BTW, I think the word Gleybar means “No third base for me” in English.
Who are these guys, and what have they done with the REAL Angels?
Nothing like a small sample size to give me a small sense of hope. Everything from Kyren Paris hitting like young Mike Trout to Mike Trout fielding like old out of position Mike Trout (I give the over/under on how far he overran that fly ball at 15 feet!) we’ve seen it all. I’m going to wait at least 50 games before I begin to think this thing is real. In the meantime, I plan to enjoy it as long as it lasts. Go Angels!
Absolutely. It’s fun. And for me, that’s enough right now. But, Trout looks like a scared rabbit when he approaches the RF wall while chasing a fly ball….it’s kinda scary.
Yeah. He looks bad. But it’s ST+ten games. And that stadium is weird too. I’ll give into the “Trout’s awful in RF” vibe this summer if it’s still a thing.
I think old man Trout takes over at DH next year. Soler will be flipped come deadline.
The wind took that one, but it does look like he was tracking it pretty well.
Regarding Yeshiva University…
7-3 is terrific! Just gotta do it 15 more times…
What’s even more terrific is that this group is showing real character! They believe. Don’t know who to give more credit to, but high marks go to Perry and Wash for good work.
It seems like a lot of “the kids” come in with their minds already kind of linked up with the club too. May not have their skills ready yet, but they don’t look totally lost. Like the MiLB coaches have them focused on being part of a flow that leads to the MLB roster and their place in it.
Dammit, now it’s impossible for us to go 6-14!
14-6….look at it with a mirror
Let’s hope the Halos can continue their momentum. The surprises include Paris, quality starting pitching even from the stragglers, and a decent bullpen that has “found” some quality relievers for now. Ideally, the good things will continue, and guys like Trout, Ward, Moncada (if he plays), Newman (same), Anderson, and others will start hitting consistently. It takes a village!!
As always, we will see.
When the Halos were a team that actually contended, they had a reputation of torching relievers. If we continue down that road we will contend (Surprisingly) in 2025. If we can just get into a team’s BP, we can keep winning (Maybe).
Angels have the third best wRC+ in late and close situations. OPS over 1.000
Errrrr I meant High Leverage
Put another way, the Angels have the 4th best clutch score
ALSO, we are undefeated in one run games (4-0). I can’t begin to tell you how important this is. Overall run differential is relatively unimportant, but record in one run games and close games is HUGE.
It’s how the Tigers were winners last year.
This. It’s what caused us to waaaaaay exceed our pythag in the Soth era. If we lost, it was often a blowout, but we won a metric crapton of our one run games.
Love it. Winning begets confidence.
FYI-Fontenelle had the first ever cycle for the Trash Pandas.
Cole Fontenelle. My deep deep down wellspring of cake icing hope. If he can establish himself as a legit 3B prospect and then hit in the MLB it would be a really big deal for this team. Bigger even than Paris. He does have massive power. We’d enjoy him if he can get to it regularly (lookin at you Jo Adell).
We’ve have not had a LEGIT homegrown 3B prospect since Glaus.
Someone’s might respond Neeeefo, but he is a utility dude.
If Cole develops into 2 to 2.5 WAR guy at the hot corner he would be a godsend to this organization.
In 2023 Eugenio Suarez put up 2.4 bWAR by playing league average defense and slashing .232/.323/.391 with 22 bombs and 29 doubles.
Given Cole’s numbers in college, I’d say that level of production is possible.
More importantly, if Fontenelle can rise along with (Kyren) Paris, the “French” based jokes practically write themselves.
I’m sure that’s what you’ve been waiting for.
Cue Celebrity Jeopardy Sean Connery – “My day has come!”
One must drive fun where one can.
When is Wash gonna shave his head?
“We’re in ’25 and we prepared through ’24 for ’25,” Washington said. “We get the benefit of all the work we’ve been doing in ’24 to make it into ’25. All of it is connected. Sometimes you got to go backwards before you can go forward.”
https://www.ocregister.com/2025/04/08/angels-hang-on-for-dramatic-1-run-victory-over-rays/
We’d be 10-0 without dumb Wash? I’m glad yall got a good laugh for the last 12 months with my Wash 15 WAR comment. This what building a culture looks like. Once again, we are witnessing a special team.
I don’t know that Washington is worth 15 WAR, but he does know what it takes to build a winning club and did it with Texas. Even in the midst of last year’s disaster of a season, I was happier with Washington at the helm that I would have been with Nevin or Asmus. I’m not expecting a winning season this year, even with the great start, but I do expect the team to take a huge step forward. Keep up with the positivity, it will make it that much sweeter when they’re back in the post season.
Definitely an improvement over both Nevin and Ausmus. Well, pretty much anyone would be better than shit for brains Nevin. You know, he of “You can’t chase wins every night.”
…and “look at me” Maddon
The “You can’t chase wins every night” is an all timer. That is literally the primary function of your job!!
MLB Manager aka win chaser.
15 WAR was always meant it in jest, but the intent was real. We’ve been lacking a conviction of belief for forever.
This team believes and that’s a trait that carries thru a season. The mix of talent between quality veterans and kids is the perfect balance.
I rely on my eyes and statistics to form my opinions. Yes, I border on toxic positivity a lot. Trying to stay somewhat objective — this team has the goods. Serious ball club that is serious about winning.
There’s no atheists in foxholes. These past 3 years have felt like the Battle of the Somme. Keep on with that toxic positivity brother. Maybe the inevitable kick to the balls won’t come. Maybe WE will be the ball kickers. We’re due!
https://youtu.be/etzvPYMUpeU?si=Ux6zvuVHXUJFh3u1
Top 3 greatest commercial ever 😂
They’ve been f’ing us for years, now we’re just f’ing them back.
………at least in the first few weeks….of a 6 month season 😀
Love that commercial.
Let’s not forget his criticism of Perry last year for bringing in the likes of Jack Lopez types and not providing Wash real baseball talent. As a result of that tirade, I’ve bought in to the 15 WAR Wash.
While I don’t think their team defense is markedly better he’s more apt to get them to focus to improve on the necessary fundamentals than a Joe Maddon. I also like that he tends stay with the starters as long as possible to reduce reliever fatigue.
Waiting to see him fire up a smoke during the game to ratchet it up to 17 WAR Wash.
I am still really hoping for some brown suits and loud ties out of Wash and the coaches too. Our coaching staff definitely has more soul than any other.
“It was the 3rd of September, the day I will always remember. That was the day, that my daddy died…Wash was a rolling stone, where he laid his hat was his home…”
I think Wash’s biggest achilles heel in his managerial record is his bullpen management (Of course hot broads and blow not withstanding)
So to fix this issue, I would recommend to just put Kenley Jansen in charge of the entire bullpen. Heck he’s already instructing in game strategy and defensive positioning when he pitches and you cant argue with his success.
Kenley Jansen promoted to supervisor…. I like it.
A true HoFer right there.
Everyone in Atlanta credited Wash with building a lot of that team too. He’s a total moron, obviously. It’s always hard to tell till a guy is in the job. Maddon was supposed to be a genius in Tampa. After he barely survived with a stacked club in Chicago we got to see the mad genius in The Heim…. and it turned out Tampa’s FO is really good.
So the Wash 15 is really a thing?
Always was, CB, always was
You definitely got the vibe last year that the team was working at keeping their heads in the game to the end. Even when the team had 80+ losses. Much better than years prior when they seemed checked out a lot after about July… and with a much worse team to boot.
I think we’re seeing that in effect now. Plus Hendricks, Jansen, Travis, Soler and even Tim Anderson seem to be extra logs on the fire that O’Hoppe, Neto and the kids bring. Stupid Perry. Idiot Wash.
The team’s still likely to have a losing record this year. But you can see how the team’s gonna have a good mental attitude once we get enough good players on the roster.
Though, maybe we can ju ju that to death. We should at least try right?
Imagine that, first place after ten, Oh My….Even better than that, best record in the American League, Awesome baby, just awesome….Best record in our market, now that’s what I call Amazing!
Winning is fun and Neato isn’t here yet. get well soon as you are missed.
Go Angels!
Team of Destiny but for real this time?