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LA Angels Tuesday News Crash: ABS Boss

April 7, 2026

For catchers Logan O’Hoppe comes in second only to Dillon Dingler atop the leaderboard for ABS challenges. Fangraphs does some math trying to figure out what Jo Adell’s Win Probability Added should have been for those home run robberies.

The Mariners don’t turn the page. They flush.

The Red Sox sent Patrick Galle to the Cardinals as the PTBNL in the Sonny Gray trade. The White Sox claimed left-hander Doug Nikhazy off waivers from the Guardians. The Astros placed right-hander Roddery Munoz on outright waivers. He’s a Rule 5 guy. The Blue Jays designated right-hander Austin Voth for assignment.

Juan Soto has a right calf strain and is now on the 10 day IL. Left-hander Matthew Boyd has a left bicep strain. The Cubs will place him on the 15 day IL. Alejandro Kirk will have surgery to repair his fractured left thumb.

Here is the April 6 Roto Riteup for you fantasy baseball folks.

Photo credit: Rex Fregosi

33 Comments

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Trusted Member

Terry

2 hours ago

Jose Soriano leads the majors with a 1.22 WAR

Editor

Legend

Turk's Teeth

59 minutes ago

Reply to Terry

And assuming we’re talking about bWAR (from Baseball Reference), Neto is #3 in the MLB at 0.9 WAR.

fWAR is a little less laudatory, but Soriano still cracks the top 10 at Fangraphs as well.

Trusted Member

Terry

2 hours ago

Early in season, but Moncada has 3 hits in 30 at bats, with 14 k’s. 3 rbi’s (one rbi last night from getting hit by pitch with bases full.) His defensive fielding % is .941. So, his batting has been abysmal. His fielding has been bad. No stolen bases. Yet his WAR is 0.00. Not even negative WAR, despite being generally awful this year.

Trusted Member

Born_in_59

1 hour ago

Reply to Terry

I guess being able to suit up and play counts for a lot.

Trusted Member

Terry

1 hour ago

Reply to Born_in_59

Considering Ohtani is slightly higher than Moncada so far this year .03 vs .00, makes me wonder about the whole WAR thing. I get it, Ohtani is a DH, but he has also hit the mound for six innings, bats lead off, has more Homer’s, rbi’s, stolen bases etc.

Super Member

ryanfea

27 minutes ago

Reply to Terry

Ohtani has .3 hitting AND .3 pitching WAR for a total of .6. Also I’d say it’s much too early to give too much care to it right now

Trusted Member

Born_in_59

11 minutes ago

Reply to Terry

Considering Moncada has only 37 plate appearances at the moment, the total is easy to understand. His batting is a -.2 and the amount of time he’s spent on the field is worth +.1. Even though it doesn’t feel like it, his fielding is also a positive .1 to add up to a 0 WAR. To be fair, Total Zone rates his defense as a negative but Defensive Runs Saved must see something they like. By contrast, Ohtani’s hitting has been worth +.3 while his being a DH cancels out the number of games he’s played. For what it’s worth both Judge and Stanton have the same WAR even though Stanton is currently knocking the cover off the ball.

Last edited 6 minutes ago by Born_in_59

Super Member

YOUknowulovetheIE

1 hour ago

Reply to Terry

More war than pujols put up his last 4 years here

Trusted Member

KelN90

2 hours ago

As much as I love having Neto lead off the game with a bomb, I wonder if it’s not more prudent to have Schanuel or Trout hit first and Neto second. Obviously there’s no guarantee that he’ll see the same pitches batting second, but Neto will probably end up being our best hitter OPS-wise at the end of the year so having him in the two hole makes more sense

Last edited 2 hours ago by KelN90

Super Member

PedroCerrano

2 hours ago

Reply to KelN90

I thinks Adell’s comments about Trout getting Bonds-like treatment are telling. He needs someone hitting behind him that pitchers have some apprehension of facing with men (Trout) on base. Adell hasn’t exactly been lighting it up but would still be my choice.

Super Member

PedroCerrano

1 hour ago

Reply to PedroCerrano

oops, think.

Member

EHC

4 hours ago

They could win 6 out of 11 games this season: 6-5 = 12-10 = 24-20 = 48-40 etc. Why not? The schedule so far has not been easy. I see improvement in all areas – except too many K’s , still…reason for hope.

Super Member

2pints

3 hours ago

Reply to EHC

While I want to agree with you, I feel like we’ve seen this same story many times in recent years. They get off to a decent and somewhat surprising start that lasts maybe through May. But eventually, injuries pile up and the lack of depth causes them to sputter in the back half of the season. Hope I’m wrong and this is the year they don’t follow that script, but its hard for me to get too excited.

Member

EHC

2 hours ago

Reply to 2pints

True. The last couple of years, the team that plays in August and September looks like a spring training line-up. Hopefully, this year might be a small turning point.

Legend

Eric_in_Portland

25 minutes ago

Reply to EHC

I’m in favor of winning 88

Trusted Member

Born_in_59

9 minutes ago

Reply to Eric_in_Portland

At the start of the season I’d have said only losing 88 games would be an achievement.

Trusted Member

Biggiswrth

5 hours ago

1am Shuffebot. He must have been out to a party and then had a late night meal at Del Taco. I’m glad he has appreared so early into the seson.

Super Member

smithy610

5 hours ago

I love how Fangraphs totally geeked out on Adell’s robbery game. I especially like this part:

For instance, Josh Lowe and Oswald Peraza each made great defensive plays during the game on would-be singles, but we can’t presume to know what would have happened had those hits landed. The difference with home run robberies is this clear line between all or nothing.

Super Member

HalosFanForLife

6 hours ago

I do like ABS. What I don’t like is the gamesmanship in using challenges. You know what would be even cooler -ABS calls every pitch – the ump gives the signal. No box on the screen. Just the umps getting it right. No need to waste times on challenges. No team getting one sided in the equation. Balls are balls, strikes are strikes. The home plate ump just signals the result and calls the other important parts of the game. It’s hard to stay focused on 300 pitches a game. This makes it easier and better. They aren’t getting abused by the dugouts for missing too many on them – like we’ve already seen happen. And the umps don’t get butt hurt when a player challenges 3-4 pitches and wins.

Last edited 6 hours ago by HalosFanForLife

Legend

JackFrost

5 hours ago

Reply to HalosFanForLife

Yeah, totally agree. This would have been the logical thing to do, so of course MLB does not do it. As for the presence of the umpire behind the plate, you would still need him to call things like player HBP or foul tips caught by catcher, plays at the plate etc.. It is just that the area of most common abuse and/or mistakes would be eliminated.

Last edited 5 hours ago by JackFrost

Trusted Member

milehigh

5 hours ago

Reply to HalosFanForLife

Fans are having fun with the challenges. MLB doesn’t want to be a no fun league. This will stay for quite a while.

Super Member

2pints

4 hours ago

Reply to milehigh

Agree. I like it, and think going all ABS would be way too much. It’d be like reviewing every single play in the NFL.

Super Member

TrojanBoiler

2 hours ago

Reply to 2pints

I think Halo was calling for electronic balls and strikes with no umpire decision making – he would just get the call in his earpiece and signal ball or strike on the field.

There wouldn’t be a “review” because every call would be automatically transmitted.

Super Member

TrojanBoiler

2 hours ago

Reply to milehigh

Agree 100%. This keeps some of the classic human element in the game while also helping alleviate egregious mistakes.

It adds some strategy and gamesmanship at the same time which is fun for the fans.

Editor

Legend

Turk's Teeth

52 minutes ago

Reply to milehigh

I like that it adds several new levels of strategy to the game, and also presents a way for umpires to compete as well – and be publicly assessed by fans, players and coaches in a more rigorous way.

If baseball is a game of failure, it allows us to concede the human fallibility of umpires, but also gives umps objectives to aspire to, just like the players themselves.

Full ABS would take all that away. It would just be humans vs software, much like the AI revolution we’re all living through – which no one asked for or really wanted.

Trusted Member

BruinsAngelsKings

4 hours ago

Reply to HalosFanForLife

I think over time that’s exactly what we’ll see. It’ll be interesting to look back at the end of the season and see what percentage of calls were actually incorrect. Ideally, you’d want that trend to decline as the season goes on, showing that umpires are adjusting and improving.

I’ve already been pretty impressed,not just with the system itself, but also with some of the umpires. When a missed call is off by something like 0.1, that’s incredibly close for the naked eye.

Super Member

Roy Hobbs

4 hours ago

Reply to BruinsAngelsKings

At least we’re getting rid of the really bad calls.

Trusted Member

toad2065

1 hour ago

Reply to BruinsAngelsKings

I know. It’s early. Small sample size. Yadda Yadda. However, the huge improvement in the performance of the ball/strike umpiring is undeniable. I wonder why that is. Fear of embarassment leading to improved concentration perhaps?

Super Member

AnAngelsFan

1 hour ago

Reply to BruinsAngelsKings

Some of those 0.1 differences might not even be missed calls. The official strike zone extends over all of home plate, but the ABS system only looks at the midpoint of the plate, which means a ball with movement can be a strike per the rulebook (touches the strike zone at the front of the plate) and a ball per ABS (moves outside the zone before reaching the midpoint of the plate), or vice versa.

In other words, because pitches move, it is possible to win an ABS challenge for a correctly called ball/strike.

Super Member

clover_black

3 hours ago

Reply to HalosFanForLife

Love the gamesmanship and umps getting butthurt (or vindicated). brings a whole new dimension to the game and its actually FUN. big miss if they take it away, imho.

Super Member

YOUknowulovetheIE

2 hours ago

Reply to HalosFanForLife

I think that’s what we’re heading to in regards to the abs system.

Editor

Legend

Turk's Teeth

44 minutes ago

Reply to HalosFanForLife

I also like that ABS challenges are essentially replacing framing as a catcher art/science.

Framing as a quantification of catcher strike zone awareness was sort of fun, but it’s hard not to have some misgivings about it, as neither the batter or pitcher are getting a true fair shake when the catcher “steals strikes” and dupes an umpire in the process. Yeah, that’s a skill, but it’s a skill like counting cards or using magnets and mirrors to influence casino outcomes.

ABS actually tests catcher strike zone awareness against true results – can the player outwit the ump vis-a-vis the ground truth? That’s a real skill, and one that a good catcher should take pride in.

Super Member

smithy610

7 hours ago

It looks like O’Hoppe has settled down after some early season jitters. And if he continues on his ABS Jedi crusade, he can be something special this year.