LA Angels Thursday News Crash: Dirty Sodas – Crashing the Pearly Gates

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FungoAle

39 minutes ago

Someone please get a mic in front of Arte. Keep the “damning” momentum going, a new owner has never felt closer to me.

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2002heaven

1 hour ago

Florida pro teams have a gigantic bandwagon following, just ask Tom and LeBron.

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Roy Hobbs

2 hours ago

I believe we are going to play the major leaguers and not the kids, so we are going to be really bad this year, worse than normal. Which actually might be like watching a car wreck.

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gitchogritchoffmypettis

5 hours ago

Welp. As I explore the new and chilling land of hockey in preparation for my losing even more interest in baseball during the 2027 lock out I am beginning to form incredibly stupid opinions based on near total ignorance.

I still like the Penguins. I like Pittsburgh. I like the teams history. I like the incredible focus that the flightless sea bird on their logo seems to have. But they are far away.

I kinda like the Carolina Hurricanes. Raleigh is a cool town and I like the small market thing. Their logo is a very Bauhaus/DeStijl hurricane. That’s cool. They like to party. I like to party.

The Winnipeg Jets old logo is rad and they fall into the same category as the Canes as a fan base. Connor Hellebuyck is one of the reasons I’m suddenly interested in hockey. But Winnipeg? Eh. I’m never going there….

I’ve always kinda liked the Edmonton Oilers, I like Draisaitl…. but with McDavid on the team it feels like I’d be one of those asshole fans that just latches onto what ever team Ohtani is on…. though they haven’t bought a Stanley Cup yet. I will also never be going to Edmonton.

I kind of want a team with history. A team that is American. A team that is not the Boston Bruins or NY Rangers. I like the Detroit Red Wings. I like some of their up and coming players/roster. I like their unis… cause I need more GD red in my life. The fanbase is fun. I like Detroit…. eh, maybe.

I like the St Louis Blues. Why? I don’t know. Because I have a hat? Probably.

I want to like a western team. Trouble is, I don’t like them.

The Ducks? Christ what a stupid team. I’d rather walk around naked and bleeding then wear their shit. And the OC is nice, but it’s also not my vibe. The Kings? I’m trying. I can see their games, go to Reign games too. But they just remind me of the Lakers. I hate the Lakers.

The Sharks? Silicon Valley? meh. Las Vegas seems like a team for douche bags. Like Californians who love the Dallas Cowboys. Seattle? Nope. Not gonna do it. Utah? Get in on the ground floor with the Mammoths? But now we are getting far enough away that I might as well just root for an Eastern team….

Oh. And then there’s baseball. The Angels. Still a professional baseball club to this day!

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Legend

Fansince1971

4 hours ago

Reply to gitchogritchoffmypettis

Chicago Blackhawks are a storied franchise. Very cool sweaters as well.

Last edited 4 hours ago by Fansince1971

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Super Member

HalosFanForLife

4 hours ago

Reply to Fansince1971

Great logo too.

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Legend

FungoAle

3 minutes ago

Reply to Fansince1971

The Blackhawk Jersey is like none other. Maple Leaf second.

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RexFregosi

4 hours ago

Reply to gitchogritchoffmypettis

if you’re picking an American team with history and the best logo with good prospects (#4 on one list), the answer would be Chicago.

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ihearhowie3.0

4 hours ago

Reply to gitchogritchoffmypettis

I stand by my Minnesota Wild suggestion from yesterday.

They’ve never won it but are in the playoffs frequently. They traded for Quinn Hughes, they have Kaprizov. Local market is hockey-crazy.

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Jeff Joiner

4 hours ago

Reply to gitchogritchoffmypettis

Went to a Golden Knights game when I was in Vegas a few weeks ago. Incredible venue and live experience. I’d been to fights at T Mobile before but this was my first hockey game.

Only thing is half the crowd was Dallas Stars fans. Kind of felt like going to a Chargers game or an Angels game when we play the Yanks. Maybe not quite as bad as Angels vs. Yanks but definitely not a huge home edge.

I don’t follow hockey much at all but I’ll root for the Ducks if I happen to catch them on TV.

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Trusted Member

2pints

4 hours ago

Reply to Jeff Joiner

I kinda feel like all sports in Vegas will be like that, lots of out of towners there supporting the opposing team. Which I don’t think is a bad thing at all.

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steelgolf

1 hour ago

Reply to gitchogritchoffmypettis

You like those flightless birds known as Penguins, there is a hockey team called The Penguins, and Gretsch makes a guitar model called a Penguin. So you could buy the Gretsch, and strum it while watching The Penguins, whilst wearing a Penguin jersey, or in a pinch, something made by Munsingwear since their logo is a penguin. All settled!

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grichmanpoorman

6 hours ago

“Dirty Soakers” would also track.

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Legend

Pineapple12

6 hours ago

Sam Blum moving on from the Angels beat. Makes sense because he’s never covered the team as a traditional beat writer and wasn’t churning out enough content imo.

An update:

My time as an Angels beat reporter is ending. I’m moving into a national baseball writer role at @TheAthletic.

This team may have stunk. But covering them, for this audience, sure didn’t.

I wrote about the change, and why I’m not going far: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7071479/2026/02/26/sam-blum-angels-beat-writer-assignment/

https://x.com/i/status/2027053432750895476

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2pints

5 hours ago

Reply to Pineapple12

Sounds like a promotion. Maybe not monetarily, but getting to cover all MLB instead of just the Halos seems like a massive upgrade.

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Pineapple12

5 hours ago

Reply to 2pints

1000%

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Editor

Super Member

Turk's Teeth

4 hours ago

Reply to 2pints

100% a promotion – as a journalist, moving from the regional beat to national reporting is the direction you want your career to take. The Athletic has been diversifying his assignments for a couple years now – pre and postseason reporting, even prospect coverage.

Good for him. Whenever he’s been handed a meaty piece, the Skaggs trial, human interest stories, etc, he always nails it. Writing the same story again and again with the Angels was doing him no favors.

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2pints

3 hours ago

Reply to Turk's Teeth

“If he can handle covering an f’d up franchise like the Halos, he can handle anything we throw at him” – The Athletic editor

“You merely adopted the dark, I was born in it” – ~~Bane to Batman~~ Sam to other MLB reporters.

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Super Member

Turk's Teeth

2 hours ago

Reply to 2pints

Apt quote (2nd).

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MarineLayer

5 hours ago

Reply to Pineapple12

I will miss him. He wrote the truth. Hopefully he isn’t replaced with an Arturo PR type.

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gitchogritchoffmypettis

4 hours ago

Reply to MarineLayer

I’m pretty sure that anyone who doesn’t bitch my bitch for me is an “Arturo PR Type”. So it will be an Arturo PR type.

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MarineLayer

1 hour ago

Reply to gitchogritchoffmypettis

Actually, I depend on a good journalists and journalism to inform my opinions. Other types of fans think they know everything and criticize anyone who disagrees with them, some in a snarky and nasty way.

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gitchogritchoffmypettis

1 hour ago

Reply to MarineLayer

But is a journalist who doesn’t bitch about what I want him to bitch about all the time a good journalist? I’ll decide.

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ihearhowie3.0

5 hours ago

Reply to Pineapple12

I noticed they put him on some other legal/controversy type stories at the Athletic and it may have just been a case of that catering more to his “shine light on shitty stuff” ethos where a beat writer is really doing robot work with the occasional insight about how a team may or may not be doing something wrong.

He seemed to reverse that and focus on all the problems with sprinkles of normal beat writer stuff.

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2pints

4 hours ago

Reply to ihearhowie3.0

Maybe since he’s proven himself worthwhile at focusing on and writing about stuff that isn’t all the pleasant to read about (Skaggs, fumbling Ohtani, the Halos org as a whole) his editors plan to have him focus on the upcoming labor dispute and work that beat. Going to be a big story in the sport if it all goes to crap, like most are assuming it will.

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Super Member

RexFregosi

4 hours ago

Reply to 2pints

wherever there’s a shit storm, I’m confident he will be on it.

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Editor

Super Member

Turk's Teeth

4 hours ago

Reply to 2pints

That would be a strong fit for him. He’s good with procedural detail.

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Super Member

HalosFanForLife

4 hours ago

Reply to Pineapple12

Sam the Glum ultimately was a pretty good prognosticator. Maybe ahead of his time. I used to get so mad and realize he was right about a lot.

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RexFregosi

4 hours ago

Reply to Pineapple12

buh bye

only sad part is he likely won’t be replaced. Many teams don’t have a beat writer.

Ideally Fabian comes back- that won’t happen 100% but maybe he can share two teams, like Eric Stephens does covering the Kings, Ducks, and Sharks.

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Super Member

Roy Hobbs

6 hours ago

Schanuel has plenty of power. he is 6’4″ 220lbs, he’s a big guy. It’s all mechanics. If he fixes the mechanics he can become a monster. Pitcher’s aren’t afraid to throw him strikes because he’s a soft contact guy. If he starts hitting the ball hard he’ll see fewer strikes and walk even more. He has tremendous potential. I’d love to see him hit 25 HRs. he and Logan have the biggest potential upside if they can find it.

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Legend

Pineapple12

6 hours ago

Reply to Roy Hobbs

Nolan Schanuel continues to look for more bat speed.

The Angels’ first baseman improved his average bat speed by 2.3 mph from 2024 to 2025, which was the sixth-best jump in the majors.

He said he spent his winter doing the same type of drills, while acknowledging that he needs to maintain his swing too.

“I worked on a lot of barrel control too,” he said, “because I feel like with the bat speed, you lose that barrel control because you’re so worried about swinging as hard as you can that you kind of lose the end of the barrel. And the worst thing you could do is hit a bunch of pop-ups. Pop-ups are outs in the big leagues. So just worked on like a good trajectory, keeping it between 10 and 26 (degrees) launch angle. Just worked on that a lot. So far in camp it’s been translating, so I just gotta keep after it.”

https://www.ocregister.com/2026/02/18/angels-nolan-schanuel-hopes-increased-bat-speed-leads-to-power/

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PedroCerrano

5 hours ago

Reply to Pineapple12

The Athletic had an article recently stating that his bat speed last season was still in the fourth percentile with one of the shortest swings in baseball. Big enough guy but that is S-L-O-W

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Trusted Member

milehigh

4 hours ago

Reply to PedroCerrano

For a team that led the league by a significant if I recall correctly, Nolan had the least amount of strikeouts on the team. It’s great that he wants to improve and be valuable to the team. But if he is batting second or third, I’m find with contact and hits. I hope he isn’t trying to make himself into something he isn’t. And I hope that the altitude in Tempe doesn’t give false hope like Salt Lake City does.

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Senator_John_Blutarsky

2 hours ago

Reply to Roy Hobbs

He strikes me as the type of player that if he finds power it will be at the expense of average.

I’d be happy with Schanuel getting his OPS+ consistently above 115 regardless if he hits more than 10 HRs or not.

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Pineapple12

7 hours ago

Pickles has quite the pitch mix.
Thank you Mr. Dombrowski

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grichmanpoorman

6 hours ago

Reply to Pineapple12

This is cool. Am I reading it right? Four-seamer breaks arm-side like a screwball and rises. Meanwhile, his slider didn’t appear to break at all? More or less flat.

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Legend

Pineapple12

6 hours ago

Reply to grichmanpoorman

Yep. 98 mph FB with that type of movement is borderline unfair as long as it’s kept in the upper quadrant of the zone. Best FB in the system

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Legend

Pineapple12

5 hours ago

Reply to Pineapple12

Look at this 😷😷😷

https://x.com/i/status/2026759654424895808

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Editor

Super Member

Turk's Teeth

4 hours ago

Reply to Pineapple12

Since the FB often has a <50% in zone rate (like yesterday), slider command is his friend. Hitters will tend not to chase it expecting to wait out a walk, but if he lands it in the lower quadrant he can surprise them. He can get a lot of whiffs with the travel on the FB as hitters expand the zone, but the slider is more hittable, so the sequencing is pretty key, as is introducing a little variation with the curve and change.

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Super Member

HalosFanForLife

3 hours ago

Reply to Turk's Teeth

Watching him – I think he purposely sometimes just spins it – and sometimes really gets over it. Don’t know if it’s on purpose – but I have a feeling it is.

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TrojanBoiler

3 hours ago

Reply to grichmanpoorman

Yeah I am not understanding the numbers on that slider. How is that thing not getting hit into the stands on every throw?

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Turk's Teeth

2 hours ago

Reply to TrojanBoiler

Well, he didn’t land it once until the second inning, so most batters try waiting it out. But due to high spin and an almost optimal VAA, it has the highest stuff rating of all the pitches he threw yesterday. The steep VAA is responsible for more grounders than line drives when hitters tag it.

I wouldn’t view the slider as categorically as this eight-pitch sample appears, though. While the depth may be similar, he can vary his breakers with multiple looks – slide, cutter, curve. He’s still working on commanding the latter, but the variation between slider and cutter gives him some options. It’s really not “flat” – you can see that in the video Pineapple provided.

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Turk's Teeth

2 hours ago

Reply to Turk's Teeth

Here’s a larger sample from his ’24 breakout:

https://twitter.com/NotTheBobbyOrr/status/1782393186863743412

You can see the IVB is steeper, strong VAA/HAA marks – a plus-plus pitch in this sample.

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Roy Hobbs

1 hour ago

Reply to Turk's Teeth

I’m thinking Klassen will be the 4th starter soon than later.

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TrojanBoiler

1 hour ago

Reply to Turk's Teeth

Can you explain this to me like I am a toddler?

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Super Member

Turk's Teeth

1 hour ago

Reply to TrojanBoiler

IVB measures pitch movement (“vertical break”), VAA and HAA measure the approach angle as the ball crosses the plate (does it appear flat, or steep?), vertically and horizontally. In combination, they give a sense of how the pitch moves and how it appears to the batter.

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TrojanBoiler

58 minutes ago

Reply to Turk's Teeth

Got it – so a high VAA would mean the pitch has a steep angle compared to the ground as it passes through the strike zone?

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Super Member

Turk's Teeth

54 minutes ago

Reply to TrojanBoiler

Basically, yes – what launch angle is to hitters, VAA is to pitchers.

Here’s a great short video that explains it (starts around the 1 min mark):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPUx8mAMgI0&t=47s

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TrojanBoiler

31 minutes ago

Reply to Turk's Teeth

This was awesome! Thanks for sharing.

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HalosFanForLife

4 hours ago

Reply to Pineapple12

Have to give them kudos on that trade. Was that Marsh or Estevez? Can’t remember. I think Aldegheri was part of it too. The type of stuff we need this July for sure.

Last edited 4 hours ago by HalosFanForLife

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Super Member

Turk's Teeth

4 hours ago

Reply to HalosFanForLife

Estevez, yes. Best trade of PM’s tenure – kind of anomalous.

Aldegheri is likely what we though he was – a taxi squad guy – but Klassen was the fetch. Either an excellent set-up man, or a volatile starter with #2 upside.

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Legend

gitchogritchoffmypettis

4 hours ago

Reply to Pineapple12

Yup. Pickles CAN be sick. If he manages to get ANY pitch to work consistently so that hitters can’t sit on that four seamer he’ll be good. May even be able to basically be a two pitch starter who has a “toss it in for effect” third pitch. That’d likely make him a five inning type starter, but we’d take that.

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Super Member

HalosFanForLife

4 hours ago

Reply to gitchogritchoffmypettis

But if he can develop a sinker to throw in – look out. Seeing the armside run on the 4-seamer makes me think he could add it. Even making it a little of a deadfish sinker. Or that high curve ball he can tunnel at the 4-seamer to set up the high chase. Has the potential to be special. Hey a bright spot.

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steelgolf

9 hours ago

Angels vs. Cubs today. Over/Under I’ll set at 3.5 (make it easy for everyone). Keep swinging for the fences with “launch angle”, since it has worked out so well for the past 10 seasons.

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Senator_John_Blutarsky

7 hours ago

Reply to steelgolf

The last 10 seasons were an outlier – too small a sample size. It’s going to be different this season just because….you know, I’m a real fan and it just will be.

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steelgolf

7 hours ago

Reply to Senator_John_Blutarsky

🤣🤣🤪🤪

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Super Member

HalosFanForLife

6 hours ago

Reply to steelgolf

Spring Training – going over again. And…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjkuJPvMrI8

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RexFregosi

4 hours ago

Reply to HalosFanForLife

Narrator: As it turned out, it wasn’t just the shoes.

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Editor

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Jeff Joiner

4 hours ago

Reply to HalosFanForLife

I just now realized that’s Heather Locklear. Perhaps I simply forgot.

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HalosFanForLife

3 hours ago

Reply to Jeff Joiner

In my early 20’s – I knew a woman that owned the modeling agency Heather started with. This woman for some reason loved me, and she was trying to set me up with Heather. It was supposed to happen and fell apart at the last minute. Shortly after she started dating Tommy Lee. Oh well. So close – and so, so far. LOL

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