Phase two of the All Star voting is underway. Aaron Judge already secured a spot as a starter in the American League outfield. Mike Trout would need help if he is to get one of the remaining two starter berths. The AL outfield, other than Judge, is regarded as one of the tougher positions to vote on.
Tonight’s game is at 4:15 P.M. Holy moly! Look at that ERA on Fuentes. Edit: Never mind. They appear to have changed the Braves probable pitcher on me.
Jeremy Pena went on the IL with a broken rib. Zach Eflin is also on the IL with lower back discomfort. Yankees hurler Fernando Cruz went on the IL with a left oblique strain. Bryce Harper was just reinstated from the IL where he had been languishing with wrist inflammation.
The Padres designated right-hander Logan Gillaspie for assignment.
Apparently, what that banned fan said about Ketel Marte’s mother was that he had sent her a text message the night before.
Photo credit: Rex Fregosi
Why has Aaron Judge already secured a spot?
Top vote getter in each League is an automatic starter…
For today:
It looks like Grant Holmes has never faced the Angels.
Meanwhile, Tyler Anderson has faced the Braves 3 times, with a 1-1 record, 9.77 ERA, and 22 Ks.
Given that Holmes is 4-7, 3.70 ERA and Anderson is 2-5, 4.41 ERA —- it’s going to be tough game for the Angels to win.
At least Trout and Neto are back.
Unfortunately, so is Jorge “I’ll swing at any pitch down and away” Soler.
FWIW, Soler has played 35 games vs. Braves, with 0.254 BA, 9 HR, 19 RBIs, 18 runs scored.
But Soler loves to hit in that park so dont be surprised if he actually contributes
Jorge “I’ll swing at any pitch down and away” Soler
The reincarnation of Howie Kendrick.
I wish Soler was Howie would do really bad things for that actually lol
https://x.com/BeyondTheHalo/status/1940130145131798537
Don’t fall asleep on Stoopid Perry signing Reggie’s kid. The Angels probably already have a deal in place for him to sign him way underslot.
I guess that would be kind of cool. Not really a position of organizational need… fleet middle-infielder.
…and this is yet another example of why the franchise has been irrelevant for the last 10+ years.
I’d be down with that. Safety pick at No. 2 is ridiculous to me, higher ceiling talent is what this organization needs.
I wish the Angels would NOT meet with most of the top 10 draft prospects. That way I could bitch until my eyes bleed about how the team is too cheap and lazy to even meet with the kids they are supposed to scout and draft.
how will you know which one of the top ten guys is the cheapest if they don’t talk to all of them?
I’m actually going to defer to Perry when it comes to infielders. He liked all three of Neto, Schanuel, and Moore more than most people did and they all are progressing just fine.
I’d greatly prefer they take Hernandez if they are going high school, though.
Must be stupid, cheap Art’s fault.
https://x.com/francysromeroFR/status/1940104409624846338
Eh. “FB sitting 89-92, paired w/ OS at 77-80.” Even for an 18-year-old, that fastball reading/report doesn’t scream top prospect.
I guess they have some international bonus $ left over? https://x.com/PSBaseballScout/status/1894789709022310765
How about for a 22 year old?
I don’t think the Cubans are as skilled at deflating their prospects’ ages as the Dominicans.
…and this is yet another example of why the franchise has been irrelevant for the last 10+ years.
Some may be aware I follow the Reds semi-closely. I am currently trying to figure out how Arte, Perry, Wash and the Angels coaches and scouts managed to influence the Reds to the point where universally recognized horrible manager Terry Francona and his staff didn’t see how Chase Burns was tipping his pitches. The Angels thus directly indirectly cost the Reds a game against the Red Sox. This is an inexcusable atrocity and this aggression will not stand. I say fire Wash…. err Montgomery… and the hitting coach for some reason. The bish rots from the head and stuff.
Still baffles me that Salmon never made an All-Star team…
Unfortunately the Angels did not get East Coast Pub and the Kingfish always seemed to get off to a slow start.
Soler is back,
https://www.mlb.com/gameday/angels-vs-braves/2025/07/01/777298/preview
Is his back back?
With a career OPS of .845, Soler loves to hit at Truist Park. Lets hope hes healthy enough to actually contribute on this road trip.
and apparently according to Jeff Fletcher on X, Kingery was optioned yesterday.
That’s a good lineup
Offensively? I think you’re right.
Defensively? Well…..
OF defense is atrocious!!
Oh, great!
Get to see more 3rd strike swings at a ball low and away
……. with man on 3rd and 0 outs, no less.
Yay!!
I would like to see the batting order adjusted to this for the first 5. More about flipping Trout and Neto because Trout got on base at a .422 clip in June and Neto never walks. Adell and Ward could go either way except that Ward’s BA and OBA are so low even compared to Jo.
Trout
Schanuel
Neto
Adell
Ward
I think that’s a good idea, no speed but good for getting runners on prior to potential power. Only real concern for me is if Adell thinks in terms of hitting homerun resulting in K’s. Now if Ray reads our mail, we might be on to something.
Agree about Adell…. I would keep him at 5th or even 6th for now ….
I generally like this. Trout’s inability to run fast with his sore knee is worrying but that is a pretty tough 1-5 in the order. I would put O’Hoppe at 6th, then whoever is playing RF batting 7th, Rengifo at 8th and Moore at 9th (giving speed to turn over the line up, though his OBP in the big leagues has not come close to his good OBP in the minors).
This would be my top 5 too. Well done, RH
Is Mike Trout taking up another guy’s space in the All-Star game or being recognized for his HoF career? Willie Mays and Hank Aaron did not miss many AS games, nor Mickey Mantle, the fans hoped for lighting in a bottle for just one more game. (I was one, for Clemente, Stargell, Killebrew, Carew, Gwynn, and others.) On the flipside are they taking up some other players space, the simple answer is yes, they are. In sports in general and MBL in particular, we like to see the great ones recognized for being special. So do I have a problem with Mike making the team, No. I would dearly love for Trouty to walk away with his third ASG MVP too.
say it ain’t so … Corey Perry a King?
nothing is sacred
Despicable. As a Ducks fan, I blame Verbeek not Perry.
Yall don’t deserve Perry
GKG!
So happy the Kings jettisoned Blake but not too sure I’m satisfied with his replacement
It will be interesting to see who the real Jo Adell is at the end of the season. Here are his rate numbers by month and for the season so far. He has gotten progressively better from really bad to other worldly. We would be elated if his rates at the end of the season matched his current rates for the season. June is likely an outlier, it will be interesting to see if he can sustain something like he did in May. He would be a huge addition if there is now a new Jo Adell.
Month BA OBA SLG OPS
April .175 .214 .300 .515
May .239 .329 .507 .836
June .293 .375 .663 1.038
Season .243 .316 .498 .814
June is my baseline expectation for my dude ever since he was drafted.
I think he can get a lot better but he definitely needs to consistently put up June numbers.
Consistently putting up June #s makes him a legitimate MVP candidate and top 5-10 hitter in the game lol
He came in 16th in the MLB in WAR. Sounds right for a top 10 draft pick.
You know I’m all about the Jo Show.
Would love to see him become a .900 OPS guy.
Just in time for him to become a free agent after 2027 lol
So with some luck we will get a couple years out of him before he gets REAL expensive.
He’s repped by Boras 😭
Boras’ power has slipped more than a couple of notches; the real worry is lock out or Arte.
Arte famously has stopped doing business with Boras. That’s the rub
I don’t know… does anyone know how many Boras clients we have on the roster?
Spotrac has a page for this.
I know I can find who reps a player… but I’m not sure if it lists players/agents
In some cases, yes. Ohtani for example his agent is listed. Agent for Judge is not.
https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/agents
Baseball reference has them on player pages ( at least for some players). Kikuchi is listed as a Boras client, so I’m not that convinced by the Arte won’t work with Boras clients argument.
From Baseball Reference.
Didn’t know Kikuchi was a Boras client!
It’s fake news.
We all know Arte hates Boras nearly as much as some of the experts here. And the experts continually tell us Arte hates and refuses to business with Boras.
So, there is no way Kikuchi is repped by Boras because we have all been told (without any evidence) Arte hates Boras and refuses to do business with him.
See what happens in the next two months and then start negotiations. Give him 5 years and see what happens, we’ve had worse contracts signed before, but maybe Jo is a keeper, I sure hope so. Flipside, he may just be worth something good in trade this Winter or trade deadline in ’26.
Ouch!
A one dot OPS has been your BASELINE expectation? Jeeeeezus…
A new, NASTY Adell.
I think he has another level to hit still. June was the first month where we saw him commanding the strike zone consistently but he still struck out 24 times which was the most in a month this year and his BABIP was only .281. To me those metrics point to June being a good month but not an outlier in terms of peak Adell (11 nukes aside).
Here at CtPG was fun and informative reading what all that participated in posting what they thought about what the direction should be, what is the direction of the team and who each would like to see drafted or who should not be drafted. Different opinions were posted and not one got sharky or heated and it was good reading throughout and that made us all think about what we read and see and understand what others were posting, fun reading.
But you were all wrong and I was the only one that has it right 😄 …(Only Kidding)
It’s true. You will likely be the first guy to actually get the draft right….
Actually, this makes me wonder. I bet there’s some nerd on YouTube who actually tracks people’s mock drafts and has some idea of who the “best over all” internexpert GM is out there. I’d like to find out who it is and how much WAR he has drafted compared to a good GM. Hell, I’d like to know who the best GMs of the last 20 years are as far as players who made it to the MLB and had value…..
It seems GMs come and go and longevity is not what it once was at that position or its newer title, POBO. What notice is after a GM gets to the playoffs with a revamped squad, he is soon in Dutch for not making the playoffs every year or winning a WS. Like managers, the GM job means don’t purchase a long-term home in the ‘burbs.
Good morning Halo faithful-Let’s see what the kids can do in July.
Go Halos!!
I agree but we also need to bite the bullet and trade everything that isn’t part of our future.
The Orioles catching situation is such a train wreck Perry should call them up and see what they would trade for Chad Wallach.
Probably just a goofy lottery ticket, but still.
https://x.com/MLB/status/1939859102186045827
And it’s just as well that Fuentes and his 10.80 ERA (small sample size – 8.1IP) aren’t pitching. We’d get no-hit against him.
Why does it always seem to be against US that teams pull their struggling starters at the last minute?? ….. Texas did it, Houston did it, and now Atlanta. In those others cases we not surprisingly lost the game.
we’ve missed a lot of Aces, this series is another example.
Do not anger the gods about who we are facing (it’s been one of our secret ingredients)
I feel like it’s been the opposite. The angels have done good against sp and relievers they shouldn’t beat and losses against #5 starters who blank them that day.
Hence, my no-hit comment.
Fuentes pitches tomorrow night. Elder and he switched nights. Didn’t want elder to go up against kikuchi. Figured Anderson would be a better chance to get a win
…… and it IS a much better chance for Braves. Very smart move. They understand that winning the first game in a three game series means you almost always win the series ..
I wish our leadership was smart like that !!
Yes. Moving Elder and his almost 6.00 ERA and 1.47WHIP up a day to face the Angels is exactly the map redrawing move we should be pissed our team doesn’t make. Totally shook the earth with this move. Why haven’t we been more critical of this org?
Guess what Fuentes’ ERA is ? Yeah, it is 10.80 !!!
And I heard it was Grant Holmes, not Elder…
No one cares. Only someone who absolutely loves shit gives a shit. This is a stupid thing to get all critical about till it’s August and our team is in the play off hunt. Now Fuentes is facing Kuchi. The Braves fan version of you is bitter about how “YOU NERVOR MOOF YOUR WORSDT PITCHAR TO FACE ANUDER TEAMZ ACE. THIS TEAM ARRR DIZGRACE! LEMME TELL YEW BASEBALL! FIRE SNITS!”
😆
It IS Grant Holmes. Next time do your homework before you spout nonsense !!
Look at the comment above yours. Yes. They did switch to Holmes eventually. I still don’t care.
Brian Fuentes is back?
I think he means Fuentes will pitch tomorrow against Kikuchi.
I know. I was being snarky.
Man. the Braves pitching staff is WRECKED. It looks like our staffs of recent years after some injuries….
41-42 with 13 games in 13 days before the ASB. It’s man or mouse time for the boys.
8 – 5 to finish above. 500 before the ASG
Other than folklore from days gone past, Trout has done zero this season worthy of all-star selection. It would be a travesty if he makes the team at the expense of either Neto or Kikuchi.
Having no standout All Stars wouldn’t be so bad if the Angels didn’t have any candidates for the Hall of Shame.
100%. Pena out with a fractured rib could open the door for Neto. Objectively speaking, Kikuchi should be our representative
I would rather Kikuchi not pitch in the game, especially if it keeps him from starting one of our first two games out of the break against a tough, tough Phillies team.. They will probably be starting Wheeler and Ranger Suarez those first two games and without Kikuchi pitching I don’t think we can even be competitive in those games.
In fact, there is a very good chance we get swept up there and that series could put a hole in our boat and sink us for good…. Very dangerous series and we have to win one game in Philadelphia or it is all over… It is like a playoff series to start the second half.
Philly will be tough. But if the team pulls off a 9-4 record leading up the break they can absorb a sweep.
9-4 over the next 13 would be tough – Braves, Jays, Rangers, Dbacks. We really are going to find out what this team is made of over the next two weeks. Shockingly, only one of those teams has a winning record but they’re all talented.
Yeah, agree that 9-4 in that stretch is highly unlikely…
Play off bullshit aside, it’s still a great run for us because of this. If they go .500 in this run of games (and stretches like this) I’ll feel pretty comfortable saying that this team is middling. Which is great. That’s not a bottom feeder at all. Next step, goodness.
I see it going this way :
vs Braves 1-2
vs Blue Jays 1-2
vs Rangers 2-2
vs D-Backs 2-1
That is 6-7. Which is a far cry from 9-4.
I see us playing 13 games. I have literally no clue what the team will do in these games. My guess is 7-6 because I don’t see any super good teams I’m sure we’ll sweep nor do I see any teams on a twelve game losing streak we can be swept by.
But all those guys put their pants on one leg at a time, right?
Just like Bruce Dickinson ??
I put my pants on one leg at a time…
No, they are “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” disciples and levitate in the air and make the pants fly through the air and put them on both legs at a time.
Remember that Simpson’s episode when Grandpa Simpson would see death everywhere and point and yell “DEATH!”?
But death IS everywhere. It can’t be avoided.
Death is everywhere
There are flies on the windscreen
For a start
Reminding us
We could be torn apart
Tonight
I actually kind of expected Kenley to maybe get a nod as an All-Star. His recent efforts haven’t helped that cause though.
He just blew the one save in our last game…. Prior to that he was 15 for 15 in converting save opportunities…. The problem is that he had the one horrible outing coming into a tie game in the 9th, and one other tie game where they scored on him. Other than that he was just about perfect prior to Sunday.
That one game against the Tigers totally destroyed his ERA.
Yep, if you take that game out, his ERA drops from 4.40 to 2.57
WHIP 1.36 –> 1.18