The Angels limp back home today on the heels of an 0 and 6 road trip. What looked like two winnable series against the Royals and White Sox turned into an absolute dumpster fire of blown leads and bad baseball.
This is not the worst start in franchise history. No, that was the 1999 team. This squad compares to that one in some ways and not so much in others. What is cool in looking at the 1999 team was the emergence of the core of the glory days. Erstad, Salmon, GA, and a very young Troy Glaus were surrounded by a bunch of guys we’ve forgotten. And Chuck Finley.
Perhaps the Angels are building another good core offensively. We have to happy about the early returns on Oswald Peraza and Vaughn Grissom, right? Add in Neto, at times Adell, and there are some good young players.
Is this sounding too optimistic? Give it a minute.
What I do really like is the development of the starting rotation. Soriano, Detmers, and Kochanowicz is a solid trio with Walbert Urena having potential. Mike Maddux is likely a big reason why.
I talked about all of this and more with Trent Rush last week. Please give them a read through with your coffee.
Ok, now let’s get to the bullpen and the ranting and raving.
The Angels bullpen is atrocious and we all know it. Why is it so horrible? Rant against Arte and Perry here.
And if you think I was going to take it easier on Arte and Perry with my new platform, hah. Here’s a piece on why the Josh Lowe trade was an absolute disaster that is hurting the team in three ways.
Maybe the bullpen gets better soon? This is promising:
And, yes, I’m still big on George Klassen. He looked good this week as well.
Klassen might be needed as Kikuchi is questionable for his next start with a shoulder injury.
From around baseball (and not from me I promise):
In hopes to save a 2027 season, MLB owners and MLBPA are going to start talks on a new CBA. A salary cap is the center issue but in my eyes it must be accompanied by a salary floor. It is insane to me that a kid in Pittsburgh or Green Bay can legitimately expect to see a Super Bowl win or two in their lifetime but not a World Series berth.
The NL East is a trip. The one feel good story come from Atlanta where after a brutal 2025 the Braves are back to winning games.
Speaking of the NL East, Philly fired their manager this week. Rob Thomson is out and Donny Baseball is in. It helps Mattingly’s son is a big wig in the organization.
Nick Kurtz was a really good pickup for the A’s and he just keeps on walking. 19 games in a row and counting.
What put a smile on my face this week? This play in which the Marlins pulled off a great double play to beat the Dodgers.
Hey, folks, I’m trying to keep this column going while manning my real job and covering SI. If you think it is falling off, feel free to call me out. It is less than 50% my content this week and I’ll try to keep it that way.
Enjoy your weekend and link what I missed. It could not possibly be a better day for boxing tomorrow starting with Monster Inoue very early in the morning and ending with David Benavidez in the evening. I’m not going anywhere tomorrow. If you like pure action more than the sweet science, tomorrow night’s card on Amazon is for you. It is definitely for me.
