The Angels signed longtime Dodgers utility player Chris Taylor. Logan O’Hoppe has a possible concussion and Kyren Paris was optioned to Salt Lake City. Taylor Ward set an Angels team record for 10 consecutive games with an extra base hit.
Photo credit: Rex Fregosi
lineup….no O’hop…..still undergoing the dreaded evaluation process
https://x.com/JeffFletcherOCR/status/1927480453142843605
Anyway, here’s to gettin a W tonight and washing the bad taste of the weekend away.
Zach Neto is the truth.
The man who replaced MFT as Mr. Angel
So. Did Mike Trout’s quick and easy not to worry it’s nothing trip to the IL end while I was away? Is he back and in the best shape of his life?
Funny you should ask. The odds of him returning this series are essentially nil.
Reading between the lines here but, I don’t sense much confidence re: an imminent return.
Wow. So it wasn’t a magic bone bruise that heals in ten days?
😀
It would seem that Trout’s body has deteriorated to the point that every injury – no matter how minor for most mortals, is a major injury for Trout.
We should be thrilled if we get 250 games in total from Trout between now and the end of his contract,
“Thrilled” is a debatable word.
I’m actually bummed to watch Trout fade away with a whimper. It’s ending so poorly that it will be difficult for most to remember the good years.
Q: Is he back?
A: No.
Q: In the best shape of his life?
A: No.
You did miss the Angels raising the hopes of Angels executives for making the playoffs with an 8-game winning streak.
Nah. I watched most of the streak at home…. then in seedy hotels and bars. I think I only missed one game. I did miss the first Marlins game and then sat through the whole 2nd Marlins game on my drive home…. which suuuuccckkked.
Seedy hotels + women of questionable moral compasses > Ball sports
Well done.
Gitcho after a couple of pops at the Visalia Rest-N-Go Motel chatting up some young doyer lady-fan, after telling her that Shohei’s mom is a Hell Goblin that stole him from the Angels. And that Ippei was a shill for the Shohei crime family. She was having none of it.
Nah. I had zero Target gift cards to tempt them with.
That’s when I bust out the 50% off for Sizzler Buffet coupons.
Last night I stated Newman is the worst hitter the Angels have had in a while. I was given a list of names. Let’s have some fun.
By measure of wRC+
Newman in 2025: 7
Squid in 2022: 49
Squid in 2023: 51
Jack Mayfield: 39
Featherston: 15
So, by the numbers, Featherston was over twice the offensive player of Newman and Squid was 700% better.
These guys even make Jack Lopez look good.
Squid was Ted Williams compared to Newman.
And had a far better glove.
Matt Joyce was a player I liked seeing around ST, he was a cool dude. I don’t think anyone else here liked him much. I celebrate today because Joyce is not on ‘The List’
Joyce 2015: wRC+ was 60
Not sure why that person included Squid. He was a times decent offensively, though never good.
low batting average, high amount of strike outs, contact rates abysmal. You liked him?
At his core, Newman has demonstrated he can swing the bat. Yes, he is struggling in 2025 those other guys, they never could hit. Yet, we employed them.
Newman wRC
2019 -109
2020 – 53
2021 – 52
2022 – 92
2023 – 77
2024 – 89
2025 thru 1/4 pole – 7 (seems like an anomaly to me coming off of a 89). Wonder how Jack Lopez liens up?
I went all over the Cal League this past week but managed to NOT be able to see Inland Empire. Still. I saw Fresno, San Jose, Visalia, Stockton, Lake Elsinore and Rancho Cucaracha. Plus that Wed night A’ss game in Sac.
I highly recommend catching an Ass game in Sacramento. Just stay on that Delta King hotel boat and walk across to the game. Easy and fun. And I HIGHLY recommend a game in Visalia… it was like being at a game in the 80s in Nebraska or something. Really down home and cool.
Awesome. I had a lot of fun at the ballpark when I lived in Sacramento. When the delta breeze kicks in and the temperature drops a bit, it is really enjoyable.
Yeah. It did that…. the super hot day but then the breeze cools down. It was nice.
The quality of the experience dropped significantly when the Giants took over. They raised prices and made the kids’ area worse, but overall it is still a nice place to catch a game (although I’d avoid Sunday afternoon games on hot days).
I haven’t actually been there this season. I couldn’t make it last week and I just don’t care enough about the A’s to go some other time. I’ll have to make the trip in August when the Angels return.
Visalia is where I grew up and had my first taste of minor league ball. They were the Oaks (and a Twins affiliate) when I got into baseball, and are the Rawhide and an Arizona affiliate now. The Oaks were responsible for my appetite for farmwatching.
They were The Oaks Thursday too for Throwback Thursday. Had a walk off win when good looking 3B prospect we should trade for Yasel Soler crushed a HR. Then they had a light switch rave, turning the high school football style lights on and off, and celebrated with their huge cow bell and mascot Tipper the Cow.
It was friggin awesome.
I won’t catch them this year, but maybe next, or 2027. Maybe 2028. For sure by 2030.
We should lose 8 in a row. We’re already bitching like we have.
Melancholy and the infinite sadness donkey on the highest level. We are heading back to our base, losing is where the heart is.
“Wash hates winning®”
You can’t chase wins every night weekend.
I would have played our full lineup against the Marlins, since there was a slight chance we could win the series.
Might as well pull fans from the stands to play against the Yankees. The sweep against the Doyers was a fluke.
Now that some time has passed, who’s happy Arturo torpedoed the Rengifo for Andy Pages trade.
Why? Rengifo is worthless now.
Was anyone happy when it happened? I mean, Ross Stripling too… and I think Joc Pederson? Though we would have had a couple years of Rengifo being good on the Doyers to complain about before Pages got good for us….
I guess it depends on who the other guys the Doyers wanted were…..
Pages would still have 2 or 3 years of club control left. Rengifo is both under performing and about to be a free agent.
I’d much rather have Pages.
Well yeah. As of right now, I’m not sure there’s enough space on the interwebs to list the guys I’d want instead of Rengifo.
Though…. if he has a truly crap platform year, maybe we extend him cheap?
I wonder if he would even re-sign with the Angels. He has been in Ron’s dog house all year. Might want a change of scenery tbh.
I would be for re-signing him though. He is playing below his ability so far this year.
Just peeking at this offensive stats and the only thing that sticks out that is anything near significant from 2024 is his BABIP. Out of 304 PAs last year the BABIP was .339 which is pretty high. His BABIP now is .263. Quite a turn around.
HOWEVER…if Pages did become an Angel, he’d be out of baseball by now.
We’ve had just enough success that Aloof Arte won’t consider trading Jensen or Tyler Anderson for future pieces now or soon when other teams call. I fear the old, “We’re five games out of the WC race (With seven teams in front of us)” trading the future away for rentals will happen again this season.
thankfully there is no future to trade away.
Source?
History, Giolito among others rented at the end of the season. Arte should know, like us, that 2025 is not the season to compete.
Taylor is not our problem, relying on Ward to carry the team for two weeks is. Soler frequently looks lost at the plate, often missing pitches by several feet. Neeeefo swings like a wash woman, except they don’t miss the sheets like he misses the ball. Adell is back to being very irrelevant. Even Lugo’s defense has been disappointing at least two XB hits should’ve been caught in the last week, including that bases loaded double yesterday.
This is not the year for any success in Anaheim-Most of us agreed pre-season that maybe the kids play and improve and make a run (Hopefully) in 2026.
The Angels have a ton of guys who are pure guess hitters and when they guess wrong it looks like crap. I wish that is wasn’t the case but if you look at Soler or Ward over their careers it’s full of major swings in their success.
Ward said in that article last week that his current swing is not his natural swing. They changed that on him as soon as he was drafted.
He has so many mechanical things he is supposed to be remembering while those pitches are coming in hot, I’m kind of surprised he manages to hit anything.
The current hitting coaches do nothing to address the swing flaws. It feels like the players are on their own.
Not according to Ward, he specifically made a point that it was the coaches who spotted the flaw and suggested the fix.
NAHR! If you are a true Angels fan you don’t count Tim Laker as an Angels coach and you keep complaining bitterly about the coaches not doing anything… certainly not shipping a bunch of IE pitchers over specifically to throw extra live BP. Arte wouldn’t pay the bus fare for that. He’s so cheap. He is so evil.
It was a coach but not one of the hitting coaches.
Soooo…. when the Rangers fire an offensive coordinator they have actually fired a hitting coach and thus we need to fire both Washingtons and save this brilliant season. But when our offensive coordinator does something he is NOT a hitting coach and…. we need to fire both Washingtons and fix everything. Am I picking up what the hive mind is laying down here?
I think you’ve completely lost your mind. What happened on your trip?
I saw that as well. It’s not lost on me that Ward has progressed a ton from when he was first called up. I would have bet money back then that he would never truly stick in the big leagues and he probably only got the opportunity to figure it out due to being drafted so high.
The problem is Minasian signing another washed up veteran to “teach” kids who aren’t able to perform, while underperforming themselves. That said, I do I’d kinda like the Kevin Pillar move and wish he’d been re-signed.
He’s available now.
…but we’d be out on….
Nevermind.
Yes I want to once again relive the overexposure of Kevin Pillar.
I’m amazed how people here fondly recall and cherish Perry’s misfits just because they got off to hot start in their tenure here before crashing abysmally back to earth and then not returning here the following season for a command performance.
Pillar’s last 176 at bats (54 games) in Halo gear were particularly exciting to all of us Angel Fans when he slashed a dreadful .163/.227/.225 I’m sure its Wash’s fault since he should have only played Kevin every other odd Sunday so as not to tire him out . In fact Wash screwed him up so badly, that Pillar ironically slashed almost the identical OPS of .465 is his very limited time with the Rangers this year.
Maybe Kevin should have stayed on the farewell tour while he was ahead last year so as not to tarnish his “legacy”
I was calling him the best of a bad group. Literally the last man on the 26.
Hmmm thats like choosing between Syphillis & Gonorrhea . That should not be an excuse.
Thats why sometimes choosing nothing is the best result.
Is there really a point in picking apart the “moves” that are meant to basically bring in living breathing humans with working limbs to fill space because of injuries on a team with a bad roster to begin with?
What is the value in stretching the bitcheous maximus muscles to try to make it look like Perry believes these guys are here to “teach” or “bolster” or what ever? Sure, they may pull off a little of that, but really they are here to play innings because there are no prospects ready and there is no point in spending prospects or real money to fill voids on a team that won’t make the play offs.
I mean, what’s the opposite? Trade prospects for a rental who will be good? Why? That idea’s less stupid than Chris Taylor as it stands now? Like the trades in 2023…. we loved those….
Pillar last 54 games slashing .163/.227/.225.…. that ain’t half bad for us. 😐
When is the last time Perry added a veteran player who was performing at the top of their profession?
When was the last time one was available, but not at break bank levels?
I thought Pillar was a decent veteran presence.
Estevez? Jansen sort of?
Tyler Anderson, after his best year ever.
Yusei Kikuchi, after his best half-year ever.
Aaron Loup, after his best year ever.
Ryan Tepera, after his best year ever.
Sorry this team may have 99 problems but to bitch about Kikuchi or TA this year really aint one (or two for that matter)
I wasn’t bitching at all. The question was when has Perry ever signed someone who was at the top of their game and I gave 4 examples of players he signed coming off of career years.
Everyone is complaining that he only signs washed up vets but that’s far from the truth. TA and Kikuchi (so far) have worked out and been great signings. Not so much for Loup and Tepera though.
I am still bolluxed by Loup. I wanted him bad. I got him. He sucked (though, actually, if you look at his first season his actually pitching stats and his Fan Bitch Rate, or FBR, were not very well aligned. He was fine.).
The truth is, if I want a bullpen arm, he is about 85% sure to either get hurt or just suck.
Anthony Rendon
Damn – that’s right.
That was Eppler. Minasian wasn’t hired until November 2020.
Chris Taylor has been washed for years, but let’s grab him and immediately insert him into lineup. Perry thinking ‘we got you back Dodgers’?? LOL. Getting older has-been players does not work for us. There is only one team in the league that consistently makes poor/average players better, our neighbor. Unless we create a billion dollar tech team to study player analytics and a lab injecting red juice, forget about it. DFA Taylor and let the kids play.
Better than seeing Paris flail like a drunken cricket player. Neeeeefo is horrible to watch at the plate. Taylor is at least hitting .200ish. Taylor certainly isn’t blocking any of our highly ranked pipeline prospects. It was a decent move.
We already wrote off this season before it started to let the kids misplay.
Signing Taylor was a stupid move. Does nothing for this team right now just throwing darts with a blind fold on. I didn’t mind seeing Paris flail. Gets him som mlb at bats and his defense was good compared to Adell and even Taylor
Paris was at the “say uncle” point. His flail had reached hopeless levels and he wasn’t getting any real work in. It’s not all bad that he saw a ton of MLB at bats. Hopefully he can go to the minors, slow down a little, make some tweeks, and be good again.
He certainly needed some hitting help but he was a plus defender in CF. We just sent our best defensive CF/OF down so we can’t complain about CF defense.
We are currently complaining about the big huge moves surrounding Chris Taylor Vs Kyreeen Paris Vs Mathew Lugo Vs (enter new name in a week).
On a team we all seemed to agree will battle the 70 win plateau.
I’d say we can manage to complain about ANYTHING including pizza and sex on this site.
We need a box wine company to sponsor us.
Marisnick is available. We would have plenty to complain about then.
Taylor and Cola are exactly who you get when you’re gonna let the kids play. A warm body that can take the field in a couple positions and let the kids play…. in Alabama… or let the kids play in the MLB and it’s not a big deal benching him. Taylor’s not gonna block anyone and he can play the innings kids can’t but will get out of the way when they can.
I’d have been more pissed if they just brought Moore or Rada up now to plug a hole.
I had the same reaction until realizing that Trout may not be back before the ASG……
This team shows that while it looked “easy” to have an 8-game win streak, it’s also just as easy to go the other way.
Since Taylor broke the XBH franchise record, he’s gone 0-7 with 4 Ks and 1 BB. Truly a “guess” hitter, like Wash says.
Man. That “guess hitter” is gonna stick around isn’t it? Like chicks on the interenet declaring that everything is “gaslighting”.
The internet is carrying story questioning Ron Washingtons lineup choices. Hey! He works on the cheap and just had an 8-game winning streak, and now he is on a 2-game losing streak and he is losing it. Please, look close at the roster and ask yourself what is it that you would do that might be better every day that would be better. Oh sure, I agree that my lineup choices would be better in my way of looking at a bigger picture, but to lament that Wash makes bad choices every day is questioned when he wins with a for shit roster. This team will not come close to being a .500 team. Do not fall in love with keeping any player except for Neto and over used O’Hoppe, as everyone on the roster may bring someone as good or better in return. What is needed is new ownership, GM, Executive positions changed to those that know what to do instead of overpaid “Buddies”. To blame one guy is just not right.
The streak was all about several players getting hot all at once. Period.
Ronald is taking a bad situation and not improving on it. I think he’s just an infield coach.
Better make it 3 going on 4 Gpa
Am I correct that the last decent season Taylor had was around 2021?
Just a real head scratcher of a signing to add to a looooooooonnnnnnnngggggg history of head scratching signings.
He’s just quad A depth. It’s not that confusing.
Trout’s injured, Paris can’t hit, Adell is about to wash out, and Gustavo Campero is likely to be a worse option than those 2.
It might be disappointing that the Dodger’s table scraps are starters on this team, but it isn’t head scratching why they signed him.
It depends on what your definition of decent is. He had a league average year with the bat in 2023, with a ton of strikeouts, and derived most of his value from being able to be plugged into multiple positions. He was below average as a hitter in both seasons around that and this one so far, outhitting only Newman on the current roster.
edit: Just made a long post about Taylor Ward only to realize you meant Chris Taylor.
Depending on your definition, 2022 might be “decent” if you include defense, but I wouldn’t quibble the point.
