After the first inning, the Angels lay 8 eggs on Easter Sunday

[Chuck]

FAIL! 

 

Shuck, Ibanez, Aybar and Freese have been absolutely atrocious at the plate (All hitting below the Mendoza line). Conger's arm was awful today. 

 

Can we have Conger's game calling ability, funny faces and Iannetta's throwing arm and plate discipline all in one catcher? #WeirdScience

[tdawg87]

How many times do we see them do this? They will score in the first and then collectively decide "yeah, that's probably enough" and literally just mail it in the rest of the game.

 

Such an unbelievably frustrating team to watch. So far the only reason they aren't in the same spot they were in last year is because they got to play the Astros and Mets early on.

[Willy J.]

A depressing game to watch all the way around.

 

Little offense, four errors. . . just sad.

[Chuck]

Yep. The starting pitching kept us in the game and so did our bullpen. You knew Jepsen was going to give up that ass once Conger gave the runner second base. 

[mtangelsfan]

Well, when keep trotting out old, tired vets who clearly have seen their best (average) days behind them, I don't know what you can expect.  This is why I have problems with the roster.  

[Jason]

These kind of performances are why they don't "free Conger" like many here want.

[AngelsLakersFan]

I may regret saying this, and you guys may hold it against me but... 

 

This is a bad team with some good players who will continue to fold against quality competition.

 

Pujols is a mistake hitter at this point, and a double play machine against good pitchers. Kendrick has always been an easy out for pitchers with a decent slider. Hamilton cannot hit lefties, and he's hurt. Teams will continue to play match ups against Trout to limit his damage and ability to change games in the last few innings. Calhoun is hurt, we'll see how he does when he gets back. Everyone else sucks.

 

Our pitching staff is composed of a bunch of guys pitching out of position. Weaver is masquerading as an ace, Wilson is a decent #2 I guess, but not a good #2 for a team without an ace. Richards is not a #3 starter (he could prove me wrong still), Santiago is a relief pitcher trying to get through 5 innings as a starter, he throws too many pitches to stick in the rotation long term, and we have a fifth starter is Skaggs who is better than just about every 5th starter out there, but this is probably the single worst advantage a team could seek out.

 

There are probably teams out there where not a single member of our bullpen would make their squad. We are hoping for replacement level performance at this point.

[Jason]

I 100% agree with you AngelsLakersFan

[seenoevil]

I feel bad for the starting pitching. They should hope just to fall on that lucky day when the Angels score all their runs in 1 basket.

[Chimi]

Had it not been for Conger, we would probably have won.

[Brandon]

The errors were the killer today with the bats....even our stallworths like Trout left guys in scoring position.

 

Bummer when Santiago pitches well.

 

I'm not gonna say anyone quits or just settles with scoring in the first, both pitchers pitched well. But when you limit guys like MCab, you are in position to win games and take that series.

 

I'm not sure of the team yet to make a statement about where they are or what the team consists of, mainly because there have been surprises like Pujols and starting pitching staff that was considered the weak link before the season started. I think this team will hit a patch where it puts it all together and goes on a run....just hope it's sooner than later.

[mulwin444]

Santiago has good stuff and needs time to work it out.  No way he's more valuable in the BP.  With a better defense, Santiago pitches 6 SO innings with 7 k's.  Its amazing to me how people forget about the struggles Weaver, Santiago, Lackey, etc all had early in their career.  

[AngelsLakersFan]

Santiago has good stuff and needs time to work it out.  No way he's more valuable in the BP.  With a better defense, Santiago pitches 6 SO innings with 7 k's.  Its amazing to me how people forget about the struggles Weaver, Santiago, Lackey, etc all had early in their career.  

 

It's not the effectiveness of Santiago, it's the pitch counts. He was nearly 1:1 balls to strikes today. You are right, he will be more valuable in the rotation than in the bullpen, but that is just the nature of the two roles. Just about every team will be looking to replace him in the rotation with someone who can pitch deeper into the game.

 

You have to take into account the additional 1 to 2 innings he is forcing the bullpen to pitch into the context of his starts.

[AngelsLakersFan]

The errors were the killer today with the bats....even our stallworths like Trout left guys in scoring position.

 

Bummer when Santiago pitches well.

 

I'm not gonna say anyone quits or just settles with scoring in the first, both pitchers pitched well. But when you limit guys like MCab, you are in position to win games and take that series.

 

I'm not sure of the team yet to make a statement about where they are or what the team consists of, mainly because there have been surprises like Pujols and starting pitching staff that was considered the weak link before the season started. I think this team will hit a patch where it puts it all together and goes on a run....just hope it's sooner than later.

 

On the flip side we also avoided Verlander and Sanchez in the series. We should've taken two out of three, just like when we faced Oakland. 

 

This team is going to continue to make a couple of mistakes per game, and to run out sub par relievers every night. This is going to severely limit their ability to win close games against good teams.

[mulwin444]

It's not the effectiveness of Santiago, it's thoe pitch counts. He was nearly 1:1 balls to strikes today. You are right, he will be more valuable in the rotation than in the bullpen, but that is just the nature of the two roles. Just about every team will be looking to replace him in the rotation with someone who can pitch deeper into the game.

You have to take into account the additional 1 to 2 innings he is forcing the bullpen to pitch into the context of his starts.

I get that but who do you replace him with? There is no one. Shoemaker is strictly AAAA/long relief fodder and he's the closest one on the depth chart in case of injury. Its not like we have Weaver circa '06 waiting in the wings. Maybe if we hadn't traded Bourjos/Grichuk for trash we might have some chips to trade for pitching talent. It might be that Kendrick and/or Aybar might have to be used at the All Star break to bring us something back.

[Docwaukee]

Santiago has good stuff and needs time to work it out.  No way he's more valuable in the BP.  With a better defense, Santiago pitches 6 SO innings with 7 k's.  Its amazing to me how people forget about the struggles Weaver, Santiago, Lackey, etc all had early in their career.  

 

I was actually going to post something similar.  Santiago is like Wilson.  He's better when you don't watch him. 

 

The rotation is fine.  The starters are 10th in baseball in IP.  On a per start basis, the halos are 3rd.  They are somewhat inconsistent and allow a lot of base runners.  It will end up middle of the pack.

 

The offense is very good.  Right now, it's the best in baseball if you don't consider high leverage situations.  But I think at some point you have to ask yourself why they continue to fail in those spots. 

 

They are batting .115 in high leverage.  Yep.  One. Fif. Teen.

60 points lower than the next worst in the league.

Their BABIP is .131.  Their wRC+ is 10.  TEN!  Holy Hell! Ten?

 

The bullpen is dreadful.  It really is just awful.  They've allowed 57% of their inherited runners to score.  

 

There are some anomalies here and a lack of talent really in one key area.  An obvious area that has lacked talent for 3 years in a row.  They knew they were going to need a good bullpen and here we are in April having tryouts again.  Putting Jepsen in in key spots.  Letting Josh Wall pitch when a 3r hr ties the game.  It's not gonna work out well if it keeps up.  How is this not obvious? 

[AngelsLakersFan]

I get that but who do you replace him with? There is no one. Shoemaker is strictly AAAA/long relief fodder and he's the closest one on the depth chart in case of injury. Its not like we have Weaver circa '06 waiting in the wings. Maybe if we hadn't traded Bourjos/Grichuk for trash we might have some chips to trade for pitching talent. It might be that Kendrick and/or Aybar might have to be used at the All Star break to bring us something back.

 

Oh there is nothing we can do about it.

[markb]

It's not the effectiveness of Santiago, it's the pitch counts. He was nearly 1:1 balls to strikes today. You are right, he will be more valuable in the rotation than in the bullpen, but that is just the nature of the two roles. Just about every team will be looking to replace him in the rotation with someone who can pitch deeper into the game.

 

Arguably our weakest starter in the rotation has gone 7 IP, 1 ER and 5.2 IP and 0 ER in his last two starts.  The rotation as a whole is 2nd in the AL and 4th in all of baseball in IP per start.   The fact that the bullpen is so bad that it creates a rift in the space-time continuum, causing every inning to feel like three, is drawing unfair criticism to the starters, IMO.  

[Waybackman]

How many times do we see them do this? They will score in the first and then collectively decide "yeah, that's probably enough" and literally just mail it in the rest of the game.

 

Such an unbelievably frustrating team to watch. So far the only reason they aren't in the same spot they were in last year is because they got to play the Astros and Mets early on.

They are in the same spot: 5 games out on April 20. Same crappy start. This team is going nowhere this year.

[nando714]

7 years of Jepsen

You'd think he's actually good

[AngelsLakersFan]

Arguably our weakest starter in the rotation has gone 7 IP, 1 ER and 5.2 IP and 0 ER in his last two starts.  The rotation as a whole is 2nd in the AL and 4th in all of baseball in IP per start.   The fact that the bullpen is so bad that it creates a rift in the space-time continuum, causing every inning to feel like three, is drawing unfair criticism to the starters, IMO.  

 

The rotation has been really good but I gotta feel like we are getting awfully lucky with their performance so far. No one has missed a start yet and they've all pitched towards their expectations or better. 

 

What happens when we are running our 7th or 8th starter out there? What happens when Santiago, Richard and Skaggs surpass their career highs in innings pitched? What happens when someone starts to seriously struggle?

 

So far the starting rotation has done everything we've asked and yet the bullpen is STILL proving to be a big problem late in games. Yes when everything is going right we can put the blame squarely on the pen, but when the starting staff starts to pitch a little more towards expectation the criticisms of it will become more clearly valid.

[Chuck]

The rotation has been really good but I gotta feel like we are getting awfully lucky with their performance so far. 

 

Oh man, really?

 

I disagree. Every team has some luck and unluck, but I don't think the Angels pitching has been lucky. 

 

One thing is for sure is that our offense has been unlucky with injuries to Calhoun and Hamilton. 

[Stradling]

I only agree with the luck part as it relates to Santiago. You can't walk that many and expect good results on consistent basis.

[AngelsLakersFan]

Oh man, really?

 

I disagree. Every team has some luck and unluck, but I don't think the Angels pitching has been lucky. 

 

One thing is for sure is that our offense has been unlucky with injuries to Calhoun and Hamilton. 

 

I hope you are right.

 

Just did a couple of quick, back of the envelope calculations using RA9 WAR for pitchers (includes defense, rather than take it out completely like with regular WAR) and this rotation, before todays game is on pace to be worth a little better than 1 win more than last years starters - or what you would expect if you replaced Joe Blanton with a replacement level pitcher. Looking at the numbers the pleasant surprises have been canceled out a bit by Weaver ... but we all have had concerns about Jared...

 

We are also 2 wins underachieving based on pythag record (small sample size).

[Justabitoutside]

Had it not been for Conger, we would probably have won.

Yet all I heard on here is how stupid Scioscia is for not seeing the greatness of Conger.