I’m a big fan of pageantry. I love a good college band playing before a football game, the fight song afterwards. I crave the electricity in the air during the ring walks before a fight.
So it should come as no surprise I absolutely love Opening Night at the Big A. That huge flag with the military flyover always gets me and being a part of a packed house during Mike Trout’s introduction is always great.
And we are welcoming a winning team home tonight. Yes, the Angels went 4 and 2 across the Midwest and a new star is emerging. On Sunday he hit an 8th inning home run after a long rain delay to get the Angels a win. And he was just getting started.
KP is definitely stealing the show, but Nolan Schanuel had some big moments in St. Louis and is driving the ball with more authority than we saw last season.
Like most of you I highly doubt Nolan turns into the 30 HR per year first baseman. But I wouldn’t put it past him to hit 30 doubles or something close to it on a routine basis. Do that, keep the OBP .350+ and carry a good glove and you’ve got a nice player.
Regular season games = the return of the Highlight of the Week. With the thrillers in St. Louis that is really difficult to select this week. But I’m going with Logan O’Hoppe’s grand slam on Wednesday. The kid competes so hard and is trying to will this team to the post season. He did his all, but he couldn’t pitch.
One last link about the kids before I move on. This group is missing one key member who is working his way back. Zach Neto is on a rehab assignment and absolutely crushed this ball.
As of now Neto is acting as a DH and still hasn’t been cleared to play defense. He’s been doing drills for over a month but has yet to see any game action at shortstop. I caught part of a Salt Lake game the other night and while the farm still has a ways to go the overall level of talent has risen significantly the last couple of years.
If you are wanting to follow the next wave of kids, here’s where the Angels prospects are playing. Most of the notable names are in Rocket City including most of the pitching prospects. Projecting prospects, especially on the pitching side, is tough but it isn’t hard to look at that roster and think we’ll have some solid MLB players on the way soon.
From around baseball:
The Braves just can’t buy a win right now. They are 0 and 7 and already taking a hit to their NL East chances.
MLB teams handed out tons of extensions on Wednesday. Here’s why extensions are becoming more common.
Young talent is the name of the game and the Angels have a prime chance to add some in the 2025 draft. Nolan is following the top NCAA prospects and the list is evolving. Make sure to keep up to speed as we head towards the draft.
I love defense. I live for Web Gems. Here are this week’s best defensive plays.
Enjoy your weekend and link what I missed. My farm team Angels play the Dodgers this Saturday. One of the Dodgers players is a kid I coached two years ago who gives me a huge hug before and after each game. We cheer for him to get a hit, his parents cheer for our son, and the kids will play together after the game. It is everything youth sports should be. That will be followed by Little League Day at the Big A on Sunday and me taking my squad on the field before the game. Family and baseball makes for a great weekend.
