I'm still upbeat

[Erstad Grit]

Got swept but we had no Trout, Hamilton, and had ghost Pujols.

 

 

If we get those 3 going we can easily go on a tear. If we do well and then sweep the A's at home this board will be lit up.

 

Go halos

[Jason]

Upbeat because they aren't playing the A's.

[NrM]

I agree with everything you said except for Pujols turning things around.

He will have a few hot streaks every now and then, but that's it.

[SoWhat]

I agree with everything you said except for Pujols turning things around.

He will have a few hot streaks every now and then, but that's it.

Yep. There's no excuse for Pujols, he's toast.

[bloodbrother]

I'm still upbeat because this team should contend for the wildcard

[tennischmp]

I never knew these 3 pitched as well. We gave up 26 runs this series, that's the problem

[Docwaukee]

that wasn't so much about the Angels as it was about the A's

 

They are a freaking juggernaut. 

 

They have a philosophy and we played right into their hands.  Their hitters work themselves into fastball counts and hammer the fastball.  Their pitchers keep themselves out of fastball counts and get outs on the breaking ball.  Everyone is on the same page because they only bring in certain types of players.  They all drink the cool aid because they have to.  If they don't, they get replaced by some other 27yo minor leaguer who will. 

 

Pretty much every big hit they had was on a fastball.  They key fastballs and piss on breaking balls all day.  It's so simple, but it works. 

 

They let other teams beat themselves. 

 

The Angels are a good team no doubt.  They have talented people.  They are a playoff caliber team, but they win because of baseline talent more than execution.  The philosophy is that guys should go out and do what they do best. 

 

The A's make every player do the same thing every time.  The lowest walk rate of any player on the team is about 8%. 

 

Juggernaut. 

[JAHV76]

that wasn't so much about the Angels as it was about the A's

 

They are a freaking juggernaut. 

 

They have a philosophy and we played right into their hands.  Their hitters work themselves into fastball counts and hammer the fastball.  Their pitchers keep themselves out of fastball counts and get outs on the breaking ball.  Everyone is on the same page because they only bring in certain types of players.  They all drink the cool aid because they have to.  If they don't, they get replaced by some other 27yo minor leaguer who will. 

 

Pretty much every big hit they had was on a fastball.  They key fastballs and piss on breaking balls all day.  It's so simple, but it works. 

 

They let other teams beat themselves. 

 

The Angels are a good team no doubt.  They have talented people.  They are a playoff caliber team, but they win because of baseline talent more than execution.  The philosophy is that guys should go out and do what they do best. 

 

The A's make every player do the same thing every time.  The lowest walk rate of any player on the team is about 8%. 

 

Juggernaut.

That's because they have a good hitting coach in Davis.

[ten ocho recon scout]

Good breakdown doc

Im still a believer this team is a wild card team. Oakland is the real deal. Not because of this weekend, but going back to last season. They are better than us....

....they are better than everyone else too. This is why I kind of chuckle that everyone is on suicide watch. Absolutely agree this weekend sucked. There will be more like it. But holy shit, 29otherteamswin.com are going to have the same complaints throughout the year.

[Halo4life714]

Well said Doc, agree 100% with what you said. I wish just a handful of our hitters had the same approach as those guys. Amazing that Oakland is doing what there doing with the payroll they have. Hats off to them. Dipoto needs to build our farm teams in the A's philosophy.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

Well said Doc, agree 100% with what you said. I wish just a handful of our hitters had the same approach as those guys. Amazing that Oakland is doing what there doing with the payroll they have. Hats off to them. Dipoto needs to build our farm teams in the A's philosophy.

 

When you have a system that works well and every player and coach knows it and executes it, good things happen. An NBA equivalent is the San Antonio Spurs. When you look at raw talent, they are nowhere near the top of the league, but where the rubber meets the road they get it done. They were a free throw away from knocking off a team in the finals a year ago who on paper should have wiped the floor with them.

Edited June 2, 2014 by Vegas Halo Fan

[Taylor]

that wasn't so much about the Angels as it was about the A's

 

They are a freaking juggernaut. 

 

They have a philosophy and we played right into their hands.  Their hitters work themselves into fastball counts and hammer the fastball.  Their pitchers keep themselves out of fastball counts and get outs on the breaking ball.  Everyone is on the same page because they only bring in certain types of players.  They all drink the cool aid because they have to.  If they don't, they get replaced by some other 27yo minor leaguer who will. 

 

Pretty much every big hit they had was on a fastball.  They key fastballs and piss on breaking balls all day.  It's so simple, but it works. 

 

They let other teams beat themselves. 

 

The Angels are a good team no doubt.  They have talented people.  They are a playoff caliber team, but they win because of baseline talent more than execution.  The philosophy is that guys should go out and do what they do best. 

 

The A's make every player do the same thing every time.  The lowest walk rate of any player on the team is about 8%. 

 

Juggernaut. 

 

Great post.

 

Something tells me that no one in the Angels organization noticed what you noticed.

[Troll Daddy]

There's a lot for Angel fans to be upbeat about this season. Teams go through a lot of changes during the course of a 162 game season . There is no doubt they are going the right direction.

I still believe we are one SP short for a real chance at going deep into the playoffs.

[tdawg87]

This series took the wind out of me. I expected to lose 2 of 3. Hoped to take 2 of 3. What we got instead was a complete disaster of a series that shows this team can't hang with the big boys of the AL. 11-20 record against teams who are currently above .500. That's pathetic.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

I suppose that the lone consolation is that, at least thus far, we aren't getting handled by the Astros.

[Jason]

I'm not convinced the Halos are a playoff team. We still don't know what to expect from guys like Richards and Skaggs late in the season and that will be huge. The line up has some incredible holes too, especially in the clean up spot.

[Adam]

Doc nailed it.

[Brandon]

That's because they have a good hitting coach in Davis.

lol

[Docwaukee]

Well said Doc, agree 100% with what you said. I wish just a handful of our hitters had the same approach as those guys. Amazing that Oakland is doing what there doing with the payroll they have. Hats off to them. Dipoto needs to build our farm teams in the A's philosophy.

by and large our offense has executed similarly.  they just haven't in high leverage. 

 

Oakland's wOBA overall?  .335. 

with risp? .337

in high leverage? .337

 

The Angels wOBA overall? .328

with risp? .316

in high leverage? .240 

 

they don't change their approach.  they don't go up to the plate and decide to swing at the first pitch.  it's pretty impressive. 

[ten ocho recon scout]

Kind of off topic, but since this thread is about us and oakland.

I tried to post this yesrerday but my phone was being moody. People praise oakland for keeping a low payroll and winning, and rightfully so.

But I think dipoto has quietly done a similar job. Weaver is expensive. The option would have been to flip him for two kids a la gio a few years ago. Take your pick on what you would prefer (no right or wrong answer). CJ is expensive. Pujols and hamilton are expensive.

So of the 3 FA's, CJ is the only one whos actually contributing. (Pujols has been ok, but we certainly havent bought a ring so to speak). Meanwhile, club friendly and not really expensive aybar and howie are augmenting a youth movement of richards-skaggs-cron-green-cowgill-conger-calhoun. That core group (iannetta has been decent but isnt in that group) is all young and very cheap. more directly they are a big part of the reason we're sitting in 2cd with a pretty good overall record considering the standings.

Cowgill and green, IMO, have been very beane like. Quiet acquisitions that are providing value for cheap.

Its obviously and unfonished product, and theres no guarantee this group doesnt collapse. But like oakland, these guys are holding their own whereas on paper no one would expect them to be winning.

[katrinab]

im still upbeat because its june 2nd with a ton more games to play

a couple wins this week for the halos and a couple of losses for the A's and we are right back in it, plus we are still leading the wild card race

it was 1 bad series, which is going to happen, they are going to have bad games and struggle

with hamilton back this week, trout feeling better (hopefully) and pujols hopefully pulling his head out of his behind, the team has the potential to kick some butt

[The God of Runs]

If you would have told me back when Hamilton went down that the team would be 4 games above 500 when he came back, I would have been thrilled. And, I'm pretty sure everyone here feels the same way.

[Jay]

I'm still upbeat because this team should contend for the wildcard

 

And the wild card is such a terrific prize.

[Blarg]

If you would have told me back when Hamilton went down that the team would be 4 games above 500 when he came back, I would have been thrilled. And, I'm pretty sure everyone here feels the same way.

Considering how the Angels started the last couple seasons being four over would be great news. But then you watch the play the last two months and even without Hamilton you have to think it could have been so much better.

I am still optimistic that this team can be better than their first two months and improve on their win/loss record in the coming months.

Edited June 2, 2014 by Eric Notti

[stormngt]

Yep. There's no excuse for Pujols, he's toast.

He is on pace for 45 HRs and currently batting OPS over 800.  That isn't bad for toast.  Not good for his contract but anyone who really expected him to play worthy of his contract was foolish from the start.