This team is a joy to watch and full of heart. That was on display tonight as they battled neck and neck with a tough Diamondbacks team all night. The score was tied headed to the bottom of the 9th when Travis d’Arnaud pinch hit and drove in fellow catcher Logan O’Hoppe for the game winning run.
This was the second walk off win for the Angels this week and third dramatic victory of the home stand. When they are fun to watch, they are really fun to watch.
Nolan Schanuel had a three hit night and both Zach Neto and Yoan Moncada blasted home runs in the bottom of the first inning to stake the Halos to a 4-0 lead. The towering shot by Moncada was the 100th home run of his career. It is easy to see him play and imagine “what if?” he could stay healthy.
So buckle up, folks. We never know what we’re going to get when we turn on an Angels game this year. They play again tomorrow night. I’ll definitely tune in.
Soooo…. Newly aquired mega star with huge contract Rafeal Devers has back issues. It’s why he can’t field, run, or hit better than a scrub.
I don’t know how Perry screwed this up, but man he is stupid.
I like our lineup tonight. Threats along each grouping of three.
Rengifo heating up from the 9-hole is nice.
I guess actually posting the lineup would he helpful:
I agree; this is an overlooked aspect of offensive production and overall team strength. If your team has no threats in the bottom 3rd of the order it puts undue pressure on the top. This is why I was not unhappy when Adell was batting 7th…
It creates a threat in the lower part of the order, and opposing pitchers often overlook the guys in the bottom part of order, let up mentally or challenge them carelessly, thus creating opportunities for these guys. Also, late in the game if you are behind by a run and the bottom part of the order is coming up, say in bottom of 9th, you don’t feel the game is over, especially if you have a power threat or extra base hit threat down there.
I like it… A balanced lineup is very important !
The latest draft intel from Baseball America (afternoon update) suggest three names rising up boards, with top three round chatter: Mitch Voit, Taitn Gray and Ethan Hedges.
Those who have read my draft pieces know these three are among my top faves across all rounds – I have them in pole position in rounds 2, 3, and 5 respectively. (Sounds like Hedges won’t now make it to 5, though.)
Since these are recent risers, I put the front office interest 100% down to my evangelism here on CtPG, my friends. 🙂
The avant-garde, c’est moi.
Thought I’d throw in a question re: prep bats (before I sit back with a cool one and read the latest, all about pitchers). Are the stats at Max Preps for real. They have Holliday hitting .617 with a .737 OBP and a 2.046 OPS. That’s uh… fairly high. JoJo Parker at .465 BA, .665 OBP, 1.675 OPS. I can’t find Willits’ numbers.
Yes, stats for elite high school hitters are absolutely ridiculous. The spectrum of competition is so wide, and they aren’t usually facing pitchers with developed secondaries or much velocity. Competition varies widely from geography to geography, and there aren’t really normalizing metrics like wRC+ to put kids in context, because the context differ so significantly.
So not at all unusual to see kids hitting above .500, or pitchers with ERAs <1. You can’t really use standard rate and counting stats to evaluate prep talent, alas.
What a win yesterday!!
For today:
Gallen has faced the Angels once (2023), losing the game, while giving up 4 runs (2 HRs) in 7 innings, with 12 Ks.
For the season, he is 7-9, with 5.45 ERA
Kikuchi has faced D-backs 5 times, going 1-1, 5.81 ERA, 29Ks
For the season he is 3-6, 3.02 ERA
Odds are in favor of the Angels winning tonight.
Com’ on, Trout – let’s get a HR!!
By the way….yesterday, I checked stats, and Trout was at 0.6 WAR
Then, today, I checked stats (same website) and he’s at 0.7 WAR (after he went 1-2, 3 walks, 1 run scored) —- I didn’t realize WAR changed that fast after just 1 game.
Next closest active player to Trout (WAR 86.6) is Verlander (WAR 80.0)
Note: Verlander, for 2025, is at a (-)0.5 WAR. Last year, he was (-)0.3.
Now, that’s something I wouldn’t have guessed.
Plus we are fairly victorious on Saturdays . Just dont ask about Sundays 😎
True.
Angels have the worst day-game record in 2025.
And Sundays are day games.
Let’s pray for a Sunday victory.
But, first things first, let’s get the Saturday victory, and then pray for divine intervention on Sunday.
More draft vittles for y’all:
https://crashingthepearlygates.com/2025/07/12/2025-mlb-draft-lets-talk-pitching/
Judge has hit his 350th career homer. Trout will get to 400 first but 450? Both are 33. Judge looks like he’s going to stay strong for a few more years and, as we know, Mikey can go on the IL at any moment.
Judge will get to 500 HR….. I am not sure if Mike will though…
Trout’s contract ends 2030.
God willing, if he is healthy (and not missing more than 1 month’s worth of baseball in a season), he could get to 500 homers.
6+ homers this year to get to 400+
Then, average 20 homers for next 5 years after that.
Please, God, keep Trout healthy.
I can see him hitting 30 HR this year (if he stays on the field) and maybe 25 next year, but I suspect the final two years will be like 15 and 10 HR, so it might be real close…
Missing roughy three season’s worth of games over the previous five really derailed Trout vis-a-vis career numbers.
Keith Law mocking Seth Hernandez to us at #2.
don’t play with my heart, Mr. Law
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6483516/2025/07/12/mlb-mock-draft-2025-final-kade-anderson/?source=user_shared_article
that’s a $10mil slot which should be enough to convince Hernandez (or Holliday) to forego college. My thoughts on the money: $10mil to Hernandez, isn’t that nice for the kid? $10mil to Holliday, probably doesn’t need it but we’d get him, $10mil to Doyle, oh no! Massive overpay!
one thing I didn’t like about Hernandez, his age (he’s 19 now just getting out of high school) works in his favor for getting to the majors reasonably quickly
Consider how quickly the Angels promoted Dana. They drafted him in 2022, and he had his first taste of MLB ball two years later. And Hernandez is a much more advanced pitcher, with more now tools than Dana.
I’ve seen a couple comments this week from scouts who believe Hernandez could be in AA by this time next year. Consider that our most polished pitching prospect at the moment, collegiate arm Ryan Johnson, is still in High-A. That means folks are contemplating that Hernandez could move through the minors at roughly the pace of a typical college pitcher (2-3 years).
Not saying that’s the wisest course of action, but it may play into the Angels’ thinking here.
THIS. This is why, short of Anderson, I am just as in favor of Hernandez. If he is behind a guy like Arnold by much it isn’t 3-4 years, more like 1-2.
Yet Keith Law wrote this under the mock pick:
Keith Law maybe right in that this could be the first time since 2018 that the Angels take a high schooler in the first round (In 2018 it was Jordyn Adams so maybe thats not the greatest of examples) I’m thinking Perry has new found job security. In fact I’ll bet Arte already gave PTP a contract extension ( through 2027 and beyond)but in typical C & E Arte fashion it wont get announced until after this season is over.
My money is still on Eli since hes not represented by Boras and I’m sure Reggie wants his kid to play for his Alma Mater.
Even though his dad Reggie was/is a cool dude, I would be PISSED if they take Eli Willits with the # 2 pick… You need to go for star potential there, not just “solid.”
Law mocked CMo correctly last year, so I’m holding onto hope he’s right again.
I’ll support whoever the pick is. I am rooting hard for it to be Seth tho.
best prep pitcher: Hernandez
best college pitcher: Kade
2nd best college pitcher: Arnold
best prep bat: Holliday, I think
best college bat: Arquette, I think
I’d be fine with any of those five. My order would be Kade, Arnold, Hernandez (a trend! pitching!) Holliday, Arquette.
I don’t want Holliday…
Why?
I’m not sure about either of those 2 hitters. I do believe Arquette will be good to very good but we’re at #2 in the draft. If this were last year when we had the 9th pick I’d be deliriously happy if Arquette dropped to us. My dream draft would be Anderson or Arnold at #2 then have pther GMs not notice Alex Lodise is on the board and we get him at #47. After that it’s print out Turk’s Teeth’s posts and follow along.
Either Anderson or Arnold would be legitimate picks we are just so bereft of position player talent in our system.
We really need a frontline pitcher… so unless the bat is Bobby Witt Jr we really need to go with a stud college arm or maybe Hernandez, whom I would support as well…
Hernandez might be the best long term choice but I believe the pick will be Anderson if he’s available and Arnold if he is not.
I don’t think Anderson will be available but if he is I do think we’d take him, which I would be very happy with…
Work life balance, we all need a Holiday
If it’s got 2 l’s is it twice as long ?
I Agee except I would probably not take Arquette with the 2nd pick over the other 4. But what do I know.
Didnt Law also mock Schanny to us?
Yuuuupppp 😛! Looking back at his 2023 mock, I can’t believe he had Langford over Skenes at #1.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/4671798/2023/07/07/mlb-mock-draft-langford-pirates-crews-clark/
Interesting, Eli…welcome to Anaheim
What’s interesting is that Law has had this information through multiple mocks thus far. He’s said that he’s heard the Angels connected to Hernandez, but he refused to believe it. If he’s changed his mock this late, it’s because he’s hearing it more loudly, probably from multiple sources.
I won’t believe it until it happens, but I’ve read that the club has met with him and his team more than once, and spent hours vetting him. And given how far a prep righty can fall on draft day, a discount is probably obtainable (he’s not going to go to college over the difference between a #6 slot bonus vs a #2 slot bonus).
I’m sure Hernandez is on the short list at this point though.
Who’s his
Agenterrr Advisor? if it aint Borass, the Hernandez rumors would have more credibility IMO .Also I wondered what’s the highest bonus ever paid to a RHP prep pitcher wasat least in the 20 round Bonus pool system era. In checking the last few drafts I think it was in 2023 when the Marlins paid Noble Meyer $5,475,300 and signed him for about $1,000,000 above their 10th slot position.
So Maybe the Angels could sign Hernandez for $7 Million to $8 million thereby eclipsing the old record but still significantly below slot and allowing them to target other players with overslot bonuses in the 2nd & 3rd rounds as well as Perry’s Patented 11th round Preptaculars
I am trying to make peace with the thought of taking Doyle or Willits or even JoJo Parker
There’s no definitive info that I’ve seen that suggests the Boras is Hernandez’s agent (or Eli Willits’) that I know of.
There is definitive information that Boras represents Holliday, Arquette and Kade Anderson. Yet multiple sources, including TBW, suggest Anderson is still at the top of the Angels’ board.
While Moreno has not historically liked dealing with Boras in the draft, he’s done so – Jered Weaver was repped by Boras. He’s also done so many times in free agency. Kikuchi and Rendon are both repped by Boras.
The Angels would have to pay Hernandez at least 7.8M, as he showed up to the Combine, and players who do that and submit medical reports can’t have their bonus razed more than 25% vs the slot value.
Not sure Weaver is a viable comp. That was back in the day when Arte was a neophyte and gave Stoneman much more latitude than any GM since. The drafting system was different then and Weaver fell to the Angels because everyone knew he would be a difficult negotiation. Stoneman drafted him in June of 2004 and played hardball with Weaver and Borass until the last possible moment signing him to a contract in May of 2005 11 months after drafting him and literally minutes before he would no longer be able to sign in that draft period. I know this was years before the Carl Crawford debacle and subsequent reconciliation but I’m sure this was not a pleasant experience for Arte and left a lasting impression that probably affects their dealings with Borass even with the different system they have today in the Rule 4 draft. Especially if the Angels draft model now includes saving money with their first round pick to fund their other later round picks.
Oh man, make it be real P12. Mariners wanting him should be a good scouting report for Perry.
Kochanowicz got his bus tickets.
Bout’ time ….. If you want to be taken seriously as a team you have to BE serious…
Go get fixed Silent C! It’s not like he’s a horrible prospect. Just needs some tweeks and if he can figure out how to command his strikes, and use a couple of those go to spots as an out pitch, he’s gonna be solid.
and not get flustered by baserunners. He needs to avoid those big innings. Gee…that might be true of Soriano, too.
Walks the number 8 and 9 hitters waaaaayy too much !
I am shocked.
Seriously.
I figured they’d just keep trotting him out there for rest of 2025.
A 6.03 ERA is nothing, when they’ve kept players on the roster (for the next season) after a full season in which that pitcher had an even higher ERA than Kochanowicz
Phil – “Hi everyone. My name’s Phil. And I’m a CtPG Guy. I’m powerless to stop myself from thinking about the 52 innings Jose Suarez threw for us in 2024. It’s to the point that I don’t even remember that he threw the exact same number of innings in SLC that year. It’s like every pitch was thrown AT ME. I need help.”
Everyone – “Hi Phil!”
Several notable pitching performances from the farm yesterday:
Victor Mederos (AAA)
4 innings
1 ER
4 hits
4 walks
2 strikeouts
Jared Southard (AAA)
1 inning
0 ER
0 hits
2 strikeouts
— given up 1 ER in last 29 innings (AA + AAA) 👀👀👀
Yeferson Vargas (A+)
6 innings
0 ER
1 hit
1 walk
7 strikeouts
Barrett Kent (A)
3.2 innings
0 ER
3 hits
3 walks
4 strikeouts
Dylan Jordan (Arizona Rookie Ball)
5 innings
0 ER
4 hits
1 walk
5 strikeouts
Chase Silseth
2 innings
0 ER
0 hits
3 strikeouts
Some promising stuff here.
— I’d like to see Mederos get big leagues starts in the 2nd half of the season.
— What else does Southard have to do for a call-up?
— Vargas with quite the A+ debut. Thinking about Luis Garcia trade always puts a smile on my face.
— Kent is a legit prospect. Stoked to see him finally healthy this year.
— Jordan continues his nice season.
— Silseth is alive!
Where is Silseth? I did not see him in the SLC Bees boxscore
Apologies, I forgot to put (Arizona Rookie Ball) next to his name. It was a rehab appearance
Thanks, he is a mystery.
thanks P12. Good info there
At this juncture The Luis Garcia trade gives me more of a half smile than a beaming one P12. Until one or more of the glorious 4 actually generates positive WAR I’ll reserve judgement even if we kicked Boston’s ass on paper. That being there is still a real possibility this may happen. here’s a (opinionated) update:
Time will tell fairly quickly what type of victory this trade was for Perry and the gang.
https://www.fantasypros.com/mlb/compare/michael-busch-2b-nolan-schanuel.php
😡 😡
One season doesn’t make a career. Your comparison to determine the long term value of a player to his team is illogical.
Have a delightful day!
Thank you. I am as a matter of fact! If both players were on the trading block which one would bring back more in return?
compare them in 2029 and let me know what you think.
This is 2025
What if all four of us are dead? Me, you and both players?
We made the decision to promote Schaneul way to soon (actually this should be his rookie season).
as pointed out, Busch is 4 years older. At Schanuel’s age Busch was hitting .267 in Double-A
Everyone is right. Busch is a much better hitter right now and we have no idea what Nolan will do in 4 years. Nolan is a more advanced hitter at 23 than Bush was but I have my doubts as to whether Nolan will ever be the hitter Busch is currently. but that’s just my opinion. Not sure what the point of the original post was though. Who’s better now is pretty straight forward and in 4 years will find out the answer to the other part.
If you look purely at the numbers, Busch has produced more in his 267 game career than Schanuel has in his 266 game career. But at age 23, Michael Busch was playing at AA Tulsa, not the major leagues. This is also Busch’s age 27 season, and this is probably the best he’ll ever be while Schanuel has yet to reach his prime years. Good attempt, but you’ve left out too much context.
The Cubs/Dodgers didn’t promote Busch like the Angels did with Schaneul. Bottom line Busch is the better hitter at this point.
I look forward to see what Nolan is hitting in 4 years time then.
Most baseball people speculated that Schaneul had a low ceiling similar to Matt Thaiss. Same thing in the NFL when many All American players are like Deon Sanders son.
WTF is Schaneul ?
I’m not doubting that at all, but if Thaiss had hit like Schanuel has, he’d most likely still be on the team
So is Aaron Judge.
Busch is a good player, you should go poke Dodger fans for trading him too soon
I said many times in recent posts that the Dodgers farm is in fact way overrated. Look at their current starting lineup, other than Will Smith they have nobody else who’s homegrown. Most of their team is like the French Foreign Legion of MLB, why because they have the most money to spend…..DUH 🙄.
How about YOU go look at their roster again Toots. You forgot Andy Pages Clayton Kershaw & Dustin May as starters so thats 4 out of 14 States. Currently they also have Dalton Rushing, James Outman, Ben Casparius, Jack Drayer & Emmet Sheehan on the bench and bully. Thats 9 out of 26 active roster spots which is over a third of the roster .
How about you go back and get a clue.
Nobody gives a damm about those fringe guys. Other Teoscar Hernandez that outfield sucks offensely. You seem to like beautiful grammar and history over THINGS THAT REALLY MATTER 🤣👎😜
Let’s see starting pitchers, catchers and outfielders are fringe guys and closers dont matter.
Man you’re delusional. Your idea of baseball must be relegated to only over the line.
So if we had Andy Pages and James Outman we’d be ahead of the Tigers. Go back and talk to your dad Grichpettis and make your bed first. Oh go find Pat Sandoval and Jered Walsh too…..HEE
List of Dodgers on 2025 all star roster Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman,Will Smith, Clayton Kershaw, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto See anybody else here besides Will Smith and Clayton Kershaw who was with the team when they moved to LA from Brooklyn?
You’re not that good and you know it 😜 😥
Let’s go Eli Willits
Can we not and pretend we did? Please?
Baseball is a funny game … The Dodgers are a loaded team returning all stars from team that bought a Championship…. They are widely considered the best team in MLB this year and yet they are currently riding a 7 game losing streak ( love it !!)…
If they lose today to the Giants they would surpass the Angels longest losing streak this year, which is also 7 games …
And btw we have matched their longest winning streak which is 8 games ….
Even with the losing streak though they still have the best record in the NL and the 2nd best in MLB while we are 4th in our division.
No doubt…. They did give themselves a big cushion to fall in… That said, they are not unbeatable. I can remind you that we swept them at Dodgers Stadium back in May ….
If I am honest I must say I do think they will win today. Nonetheless it has been fun watching them lose on this bad streak. I see them as the New Evil Empire.
BTW, are you a fan of their team ?
They’ve never repeated.
Not the Lakers, Celtics, Jordan Bulls, Steph Curry Warriors., Brady Belichick Patriots.
True. We’ll have to see what happens over the next couple of years. Every year I think the Astros are the best team and then they lose in the playoffs.
They’re still the best team in our division.
It’s only a matter of time before Shohei, Betts & Freeman kick in the afterburners.
Hate to say it but I think you are right… early in the year I said nobody would dethrone them in 2025, but now I am starting to think it could happen… But man, that lineup is just unfair ; Ohtani, Betts, Freeman, Will Smith, and of course Hernandez when he is hot is incredibly dangerous..
They’re better than the Dodgers? Other than Zach Neto and Taylor Ward…..
😂
Are we in the same division as them?
The Clippers are in the same division as the Dodgers and USC and UCLA are both in the BIG 50 conference with Michigan and Ohio St. The problem is the rich old guy probably cares more about the Dodgers than the Astros.
I find it mildly lame that the draft is Sunday/Monday versus Saturday/Sunday.
Whoever does the scheduling is an idiot. The draft should be sat. The same with the home run derby and all star game. Do it on a Saturday- sun not sun – mon.
We’re MLB, not the NFL or NBA who are both way better run.
The NBA and NFL have their drafts on Saturday? Am I in an alternate universe? Please, someone help me. I need to be told what to be angry about.
Dood you’re always in a alternative universe..
Spaceballs movie to be exact. BTW Michael Busch….hee hee
The NASCAR driver?
What time does it start on Sunday ? I was thinking about going to the game, but that would suck if it overlaps with the Draft ? Does the MLB Draft start around 5:15pm PST ?
I thought it was around 3 pm pacific time.
Yep. 3 pm our time.
Sucks for people going to the game …. Didn’t MLB used to hold it on one of the off days after the All-Star Game ?
That’s an annoying time, but will be easy enough to stream while I’m at the game.
A Soriano masterclass + selecting Holliday/Hernandez will make for a euphoric Sunday.
you never know what you’ll get with Sori but after the last one he’s due for a gem
Thou dares to question the wisdom and savvy of King Manfred the Last?
I know! I want it today! I bet they scheduled so it wouldn’t interfere with any Yankee game.
Rengifo with 3 hits, Trout’s OBP is now .355 and Neto will almost certainly break the Angel record for leadoff homers in a season – currently tied with Brian Downing at 7.
For us OBP fans we love to track it …. Trout continues to get on base. Last night 4 times ! That included a scorching double with 100 mph + exit velo and 3 walks !!
At least this team has somebody who knows how to work a walk !!!
Based on current season performance for BA, OBA, and SLG%, I would adjust the 1st five in the line up to be as follows:
If Nolan ran better, I would lead him off and hit Trout 2nd. Either way, Trout and Schanuel get on base more often than everyone else by a significant margin and should be at the top of the line up. Neto never walks but has a high BA and SLG%. Adel and Ward have near identical SLG% but Adel has a higher BA and OBA.
The correct order 😤
Yeah, Neto will to bat leadoff for the time being because Nolan is a slug and we want Trout to de-emphasize running – though he looked pretty good on last night’s hustle double.
Healthy/Prime Trout was a devastating leadoff hitter
I actually recommended Trout at lead-off about a week ago during the Toronto series… The only place I differ with you on your list is with Jo. As regards Adell the numbers over the last little more than a month say he is the most productive batting 5th. When you bat in the middle of the order you need to drive in runs…
In the period since June 10th he has hit as follows
5th in order : .319 BA
6th in order : .321 BA
4th in order : .375 BA
I listed in descending order based on number of games/AB’s. Hitting 4th is a very small sampe here…. But to the point of productivity here are the stats for RBI’s per game :
5th : 1.08 per game
6th : .25 per game
4th : .33 per game
I think Jo needs to bat 5th in the order.
Jo vs Ward is no big deal but RBIs per game is a meaningless statistic without the context of opportunity. The fact that their SLG percentages are roughly equal and Jo’s BA and OBA are higher, says that by definition he would drive in more runs.
It is not meaningless… What you say about opportunities is inaccurate as long as the dude is batting in the middle of the order ; 4, 5, or 6. If a Major League hitter is batting in those spots there WILL be opportunities….
And the reason is obvious. It is because pretty much all MLB teams put their highest AVG and OBP guys at 1-3 spots in order, which means guys will be on base for the meat of order.
Now, there will be variability in terms of how much opportunity (the Dodgers will have more than the Marlins etc) but the point still stands as valid. Thus I stand by my original statement. Because of higher productivity Jo should bat 5th.
The other thing is that there is a psychology to batting in certain spots in the order… that is the reason Wash hit Jo 7th and 6th for quite awhile (spots he did quite well in) before moving him up… the added pressure causes some guys to shrink, and I don’t think we could exclude the possibility of that for Adell.
I’m also a confirmed money ball OBP fan.
Getting on base = runs in almost equation. This is also what frustrates me most about this team. Relatively low batting avg & OBP.
I’d sacrifice 40% of of our homers for a few .290+’hitters, better team OBP and speed.
Agree about the HR’s… Hitting a bunch of solo HR’s doesn’t help you that much…. But 2 run and 3 run HR’s are a different story…
Nice that they got a win, hopefully one of the players pumped up their trade value. Didn’t watch because I don’t like AppleTV games, and we have an AppleTV subscription for some reason.
Probably the only benefit to living in the mid-west is that the Angels are considered out of my viewing area for home games.
My garage rock group was playing a show tonight. When I left the house Neto had already hit his homer. When I got to the club it was 4-0. “A win!”, I thought. Left the club later, checked my phone and saw a friend had texted “can they push one across here?” My heart sank but this is a resilient team. I wish Tyler Anderson hadn’t given up 4 (trade value) but the baby got lit up. Yay!
I am happy that Logan and Rengifo both look like they are getting a clue at this point. Good stuff.
Man. This horrible team sure loves the close ones.
Congratulations to Yeferson Vargas who celebrated his Move up from the Low A IE to High A Tri City with an impressive debut giving up only 1 hit and 1 walk with 7 SO’s in 6 inning stellar innings tonight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHDwRECFL8M