The good news is the Angels are on a two game winning streak. This ties their second longest winning streak of the year and puts them one game away from matching their best. The bad news is the Angels have the worst record in the AL and seem certain to set a new franchise record in losses.
How bad might it get? The schedule is about to get brutal and Yusei Kikuchi is hurt (not that he’s been great this year. The Angels again reshuffled the pitching staff this week which may or may not improve the club.
Who is to blame for the first Angels team likely to lose 100+ games? I blasted the organization with both barrels.
Fun story. When Molly Jolly was promoted I ran a piece on her. She emailed me to say thank you for the profile and that she appreciated the article. Seeing an opportunity I emailed back and asked for an interview. At that time she added the new Sr. Director of Communications to the email thread. He started asking me about my outlet and what the interview would cover. Kind of odd when the email address literally has “SI” at the end of it, but I digress.
I replied I just wanted to introduce Molly to the fans and get some insight into her plans for the franchise. No response. I finished my Japan trip and sent a “just wanted to follow up on this” type email. Nothing. Finally this week I sent a salvo stating Molly could be a reason for optimism with the team being in the cellar and that I had no intentions of asking about the Skaggs settlement. Still nothing.
Anyway, looking at the future, Raudi Rodriguez is looking really good after a rough introduction to AA.
As far as the future, the trade Mike Trout brigade is out again. Trout is great, but is he trade-able? Me thinks probably not. That said, I did jump fully on the Trout search engine gravy train and postulate is this the year the Angels trade Mike Trout.
One thing I am curious to see is Kirby Yates working with Mike Maddux again. The last time the two were together it was magical. If they can repeat even a part of that he will be a big boost.
Now to get Ben Joyce back. He is throwing gas and due to get injured again soon so best not to waste those bullets in A ball.
The Angels did make some history this week. Getting hit by pitches three times with the bases loaded had never been recorded before. Take that, rest of baseball.
This crew is a good follow on Twitter. Looks like Zeferjahn has changed his pitch mix.
From around baseball:
Framber Valdez is a total ass hat. Even his manager threw him under the bus.
There could not be a worse time for a Detroit starter to get shelled then suspended with Tarik Skubal going under the knife. He could miss two months.
RIP John Sterling. Baseball on the radio is a magical thing when done properly.
Look out baseball world, the Cubs are on fire. Wrigley is such a fan place.
Combining good MLB teams with media, RIP Ted Turner. Thank you for tons of Braves games on TV when I was a teenager. It was a genius idea and helped fill the 100 degree days when school was out.
Enjoy your weekend and link what I missed. A HUGE thank you to the most important people in the world: moms. I’m blessed that my mom will be here with us this weekend. I’m also blessed in that my wife is the super mom of super moms and is so amazing with our son. Moms make the world go round. Happy Mother’s Day.
