Morning Angels fans, have some links.
Angels News
The Angels FINALLY won another game last night. It was only their 4th win since GA’s passing, and first win in a 9 inning game since APRIL 22ND. The Angels are 4-13 in their last 17 games.
Anyone who went prolly got a great deal. Some tickets went for 3 dollars.
Series finale vs the White Sox this afternoon, and the White Sox already won the season series. Urena is going for the Angels as the worst team in Baseball tries to win their first series since the April 10-12 series at the Reds.
Around Baseball
In funny news, the Dodgers have gone 3-11 in the last 14 regular season Ohtani starts. Tungsten Arm Indeed…
Jon Bois at Secret Base is documenting the history of mound charges and episodes 1 and 2 are out on Youtube. He notices that they do not happen much anymore, is that a good or a bad thing?
Anyway, in an unrelated note, Gerrit Cole beaned a guy who hit a home run off of him in a rehab start. Didn’t get mound charged at all…
There was a bench clearing non fight with the Tigers and Red Sox when Valdez drills Trevor Story. Valdez really isn’t liked anywhere, huh?
Check swing challenges are happening in the minors. What do you think of them?
Anything I missed? Post below for upvotes!
I just wanna know what set of Pokemon they were opening 😎😎😎
We know they pulled a Charizard.
Here’s hoping Neto pulls another Charizard card from Trout’s Pokémon stash
https://www.mlb.com/news/zach-neto-breaks-out-of-slump-to-lead-angels-to-win?adobe_mc=TS%3D1778093085%7CMCMID%3D37042006850851486589052913327641839649%7CMCORGID%3DA65F776A5245B01B0A490D44@AdobeOrg&affiliateId=mlbapp-ios_webview_news-index&rsid=mlbios.at.bat.new.implementation
Very cool story! Fun way to see Trout lead Neto.
It’s time for the young hitters to take a step up. The pitching, at least the starting pitching, has been solid recently. As per usual it coincided with the offense struggling. Maybe they’ll click at the same time and the angels can get back to like 4 games under .500
I’d love to see some more actually hitting than the KKKKKKHRKKKKKK sequence we see from a lot of streaky hitters, like the all .300 lineup we had for a minute.
I miss the 1st to 3rd days with good defense to support whatever pitcher was going.
I mean yeah it would be cool to have an all .300 lineup, but the entire MLB has like 9 .300 hitters a year these days so you may have to let that dream die
Situational hitting needs to be taught/coached/implemented more. Schanuel should be the perfect guy at bat for a hit and run. But it’s just not what the Angels preach anymore
Stability of CA sports franchises since ‘16
Shouldn’t we top the list? Ausmus, Maddon, Nevin, Wash, Montgomery, Suzuki
Exactly! Don’t know when that was updated and doesn’t include another socal baseball team on the list. Pulled from a Niners site (rams/49ers fans having a discussion about which franchise is California’s most stable. We are clearly on the other side!
Right?! Is this image from 2022?
Perry is such a loser
LMAOOOOOOOOO 😂😂😂😂😂😂
Angels transactions:
•Reinstated RHP Alek Manoah from injured list
•Following last night’s game, LHP Sam Aldegheri was optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake
https://x.com/i/status/2052071862574919718
at least we get the good lineup today 😇
It’s closer
Would like to see what Frazier can do from LF for a week or so, and at the top of the order.
Frazier LF
Trout CF
Grissom 2B
Soler DH
Peraza 3B
Adell RF
Schanuel 1B
D’Arnaud C
Neto SS
Take the pressure off of Neto for a week, and shift the OBP guys to the first half of the order.
That would be great. Any combination of Frazier, Grissom, and Peraza in the 1, 3, and 5 spots works for me. I would also be ok with Neto and Schanuel hitting in front of Adell. I just don’t understand the resistance changing things up for a while since what we’ve been doing isn’t working. And I have never understood Neto in the leadoff spot period.
Hellen Keller can see that Manoah is going to get absolutely lit the f’up over the course 3 ignominous starts and then DFA’d…..
Let Sam get more experience at AAA. Alek will be rocked but whatever, we are a 105 loss team so it does not matter.
Valdez: Very hot headed with a huge cranium that no hat could fit. Clearly steroids have been removed from the game.
https://youtu.be/xybLWdP119A?si=-UiXlW3EZjEzyHgi
Ted Turner passed away. In a weird way, I became an Angels fan because of him.
My friends and I would play neighborhood baseball and be able to watch Braves games together on TBS in the very early 90s. The whole worst to first team. They were fun and we could watch and play baseball together. The dodgers and angels came on much later when we were all home and it was more dinner time and bed time than watch TV.
In 2nd grade our school went to an after school field trip of sorts at dodger stadium to see the braves v dodgers. The game was 2-1 and we all were rooting for any offense, including from the braves! That didn’t sit too well with the locals and they decided to heckle some 8 year olds. I told my dad about it when we got home and he took me to an angels game shortly after and we had a bunch of fun.
TLDR Turner’s braves were fun and I could watch early as a youngster, dodgers fans dodgered, & an angels gameday experience made me a fan.
With Peraza and Grissom sitting a lot these days, we only have 2 players in the line up who are actually hitting (Trout and Soler). Neto is the only other player regularly in the line up whose OPS+ is over 100 and he’s only at 103 because of his HR last night. We’re a way worse hitting team right now than even last year.
I know it’s easy to critique roster moves in hindsight, but, damn, the numbers that Taylor Ward, Brandon Marsh and Mickey Moniak are posting are difficult to ignore.
Particularly when you consider that our catcher is injured (and sucked prior to that), the pitcher we traded for has yet to..you know, pitch and the LF we traded for is an absolute void in the lineup.
True. And it doesn’t help that Adell, Schanuel, and Neto have all been struggling so far at the same time.
Mostly a terrible approach by our hitters. Anderson seems useless. More Minasian badness.
Moniak move was the most shortsighted of the bunch. Let’s review why he was he DFAd —
Perry traded for Soler to occupy the DH spot. A dumb move that has had no impact whatsoever on this team winning. We still had enough room to roster Trout, Ward, Adell, and Moniak. Perry fell for Paris’ hot ST and decided that the natural infielder would take the backup outfielder role because Jo and Mickey apparently couldn’t co-exist any longer.
As we all know Paris was short-lived and sent back to the minors (currently in AA), Trout AND Soler got injured, and we ended up giving OF starts to Lamont Wade Jr., Campero, Lugo, Chris Taylor.
Perry did well trading Thor for Mickey. Perry then dumped Mickey for no good reason. Perry is a fucking moron.
You know, with Mickey, I don’t think it’s all Perry. For some reason he also just ended up on Wash’ doghouse. Wash made this flippant comment about telling Mickey “you’re not the kind of hitter who hit 14 HRs last year. You’re the kind of hitter who’s more gap-to-gap power than HR power.” I think that messed up his juju. Here’s a kid who just became an everyday player the season before, played well enough, and then was suddenly told “you’re not that kind of hitter, screw that.” From that point he started flailing, wasn’t playing everyday, wasn’t getting consistent reps, and so I wasn’t surprised Perry eventually rid of him.
I’ve always liked Mickey. Yes his platoon splits are bad but it’s not like our LH hitters are doing hot right now. Remember there was a time he was protecting Trout in the lineup! When Aaron Boone was asked why he didn’t walk Trout in one game, he actually said “well that guy behind him is batting .330” And it wasn’t Shohei. It was Mickey.
And now Wash is gone and Perry most likely too. Really good tag team of talent evaluators there.
Good point re: Wash’s comments, but Perry didn’t have to cut Mickey before the season started.
Trout got injured so early that Mickey would have gotten back in the starting lineup and remained there all season. There was no pressure to dump him and that’s on Perry
Indeed X one million.
Burke/Moniak >>>>>> Lowe
Daayaammm
While I tend to agree that Moniak was prematurely DFA’d, especially after his strong 2023 season only one year in the rearview mirror, some caveats are due here.
Moniak has basically learned to use Coors field to his advantage. But as an Angel, he would almost certainly be a variation of Josh Lowe – a bad glove, high-K, low BA guy who can’t hit lefties but runs into a HR every now and again.
You echoed what I was typing up. No. 2 was why he was limited here in Anaheim before being dealt. I think his lapses in the OF helped push him down further in Wash’s doggy house. Nice guy from Encinitas, but Angels need to do better.
He’s just not a solution – long-term or middle-term.
But short-term, for another year or two, he was better and/or cheaper than what he was replaced with.
Fantastic context, appreciate it. I’m critical of the decision making process which led to the DFA more than the DFAd player himself.
We already corner the market on those guys. 🙂
Don’t forget… Moniak won his arbitration, so the Angels were paying him more than they wanted.
Moniak and Marsh are still being coddled against LH starting pitching. Forever a platoon player it seems. Yes, better than what the Halos have today but ceiling is squashed.
Oh, I get it, but, positive production even in a platoon arrangement is still positive production.
Continuing to play Moncada and Lowe is killing us! In this day and age of “analytics”, just exactly what “analytics” are the Angels looking at?
When even hype men like Rodger Lodge and Trent Rush are urging the team to option Lowe and bench Moncada, you know there’s something bizarre afoot.
Afternoon game today, Walbert going up against 6’10” LH Noah Schultz, both talented young arms. Noah has had a couple of shutdown games against inferior teams, that’s what we are. Need to be patient, make him throw strikes. Moncada sure to ride the pine today against this Randy Johnson slinger type. Chi-Sox slight favorite -115. Grab your beers and peanuts.
I watched Noah in his second start against the A’s, and he was very impressive. A rare example of a high school first rounder making it to the Bigs and posting in under four years flat.
Appointment TV! Wally World is a tasty matinee appetizer to enjoy before tonight’s Ducks Golden Knights game.
FA, are you gonna tune in to the hockey game?
You bet! I expect a strong bounce back by the Ducks tonight. Love playoff hockey.
I thought we played pretty well in game 1. Gotta get this one!
I watched the game last night. I know the Angels won 4-3. And yet, when I read the headline, I had a moment of panic that the blowpen gave up 10 runs in the 9th to lose 4-13. It took a moment to remember I watched the final out.
Trout is 4th amongst all position players with 2.2 WAR, Soriano is 1st for pitchers with 2.3 WAR, and the Angels are 9 games under .500.
It’s like we took a time machine back to 2016 😂
2916 has been a long, long, long, long year.
Nothing good to see here, we are #27 and talk about Trout
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/48678810/mlb-2026-stock-watch-change-dodgers-yankees-braves-cubs
From his paper (or computer) to God’s ears. For the love of God.
fwiw I don’t think trout gets traded nor have I ever advocated for it. I image we just eat a bunch of salary and get nothing back/what we do get back doesn’t do anything for us but may elsewhere.
But what if offloading some of that salary makes the team easier to sell? Then I think we are all for it!
Sure nice to see Trout and Neto show up for the home fans!!
Lucchessi is back with the team on a minor league deal.
Kirby Yates has been activated.
Saucedo optioned.
Perry is eco-friendly and continually recycles his waste.
It’s sure looking like an intentional tanking.
He does it without thinking – it’s pure muscle memory after so many years of losing.
So does Yates and the eventual addition of Joyce fix our bullpen or are we still a broken mess?
Yates’ fastball averaged 90 in his rehab appearances. He’s more likely washed than not.
Bullpen’s success will depend on the younger relievers — Joyce, Bachman, Silseth, Zeferjahn, Fermin, and eventually Najer Victor
I’ve noticed that Silseth rarely pitches one full inning during his appearances (16 appearances / 11.1 innings). It’s often just one out. Given our dearth of options, you would think that the manager would have him go a bit longer with each appearance.
The way we’ve deployed Silseth has been weird. I agree and would like to see more of him. I’ll never forget that stretch in 2023 where he looked like an ace and then got taken down by a Trey Cabbage laser beam to the head
I forgot. The Trey Cabbage era was awesome.
For those who don’t remember. I forgot the unfortunate incident happened because O’Hoppe is the dumbest catcher of all time and threw an ill advised throw to begin with
https://www.mlb.com/video/chase-silseth-ball-to-daniel-vogelbach-aeguuc-x0955
Dumb and Dumber.
O’Hoppe is a great young man, I just wish he was a better BB player
Perry’s tenure encapsulated in a single moment
“The Trey Cabbage era” is about as memorable as the Jack Mayfield era.
Where the heck is he when we need him. The fact that there was even a Trey Cabbage era says everything you need to know about this organization.
I thought the team was deploying Silseth like Cleveland did Andrew Miller. Come in and get the guy on the other team you need to get out, finish out the inning and then start with a fresh reliever the following inning.
The fielding run value of all the guys in that first video of yesterday’s postgame is pretty depressing.
The Lucchessi crime family is back !!!!
Hopefully he remains in SLC where he belongs!
And by “crime”, I mean what he does when he’s on the mound. Haha