Another week at 3-3. The home series win over the Rays followed a home series win over the Astros so there were plenty of good vibes to be had. An injection of young talent and a better record means Angels fans should feel better than we have in a while.
That vibe was dampened a bit with the series loss in Arizona. Clearly that series loss was due to the DFA of all world great guy Trey Mancini.
And, oh no. The bad juju from the Mancini release continues as I type this. Mike Trout is headed to a familiar spot: the IL. And Christian Moore is coming back to Anaheim. Well, first Sacramento.
I am excited to see this new look Christian Moore. Kid has been on fire lately.
Moore will land in left field where he has played in Salt Lake City. That should move Wade Meckler and Jose Siri into centerfield. Siri is definitely a better defender than Trout and Meckler likely will be as well.
I interviewed Meckler this week and am behind on the second installment. He really is a good dude. I met him at the Angels free baseball clinic and saw him having fun running kids through the drills. He is a combination of really driven but also down to earth. Even in a fun setting you can tell he’ll give you everything he has every game.
Side note: Turns out it is really important to add the word “baseball” between the “free” and “clinic” or you get some interesting looks at times.
And to circle back to the Mancini angle, I absolutely love the dude. My first interview with him is my favorite interview I’ve ever done. This week I was lucky enough to interview him again and it was just as awesome.
If there’s anything I’ve enjoyed most about having greater access it is getting to interact with some of the players. Reid Detmers and I laughed about me trying to pitch to my 5 to 7 year old baseball team last year, for example. He’s just a regular dude who happens to be great at baseball.
Hopefully you enjoy the interviews with your morning coffees. I will get more.
Are you enjoying the youth movement? I am. Walbert Urena is giving me hopium for a brighter future.
This could be just the beginning of something really good. If Arte was intelligent (I know) he would sign Mike Maddux for life right now.
We will need another kid to step up, at least temporarily, as Grayson Rodriguez is back on the IL. I really am digging Caden Dana’s WHIP and would give him a shot. I’d also love to hear Maddux’s take on the golden locked righty.
And I’m loving Reid Detmers starts. He is pitching lights out. Which means he would fetch a haul if he was traded.
There are a ton of logical reasons to trade him. I think the best reason to hold onto him is Perry Minasian, who sucks at identifying talent.
From around baseball:
The College World Series has been great. North Carolina has been the best overall team in my eyes. Oklahoma has come on strong once the playoffs started. The Sooners starters have come up big for them.
Those two will square off in the finals starting tomorrow night.
Chicago is having a really nice season. No, not that one, the other one.
Bryan Woo is a stud and he looked like a stud again this week.
And this ball was absolutely crushed:
Enjoy your weekend and link what I missed. Summer is in full effect and I really wish it was light this late year round. If you grew up in OC you have no idea how blessed you are to have the best summers in the world. I wake up and feel like I’m on vacation every day.
