Do you blame starters or relievers (season, not this game)

[nando714]

Fire Butcher

Am I doing it right?

[Blarg]

Did we simply have too many schmoes in the bullpen like Morin and Bedrosian, or was our entire bullpen worn down at season's end because we had a below average rotation?

 

Discuss

 

The Angels had an over performing below average team, altogether. They had very little offensive cohesiveness coupled with a bunch of pitchers that timed out in terms of innings pitched and a weakened bullpen by the loss of Street which put roles out of order. 

 

Shoemaker, Richards, Heaney and Santiago were all gassed by season end having pitched more innings then ever before. The bullpen was always fragile in terms of having the right guys to transition from innings 7-9 but no dedicated long relievers. That seems to be a lost position these days in bullpen management, the guy that can take to rock from inning 4 through 7 when a pitcher has a bad start and keep the team in the game without burning up 5 arms to get 12 outs. Something to consider as an addition to the pen for next season, the true long relievers and not a bunch of 15 pitch guys.

[Angel Oracle]

Transition was the name of the game in 2015, and will also be in 2016.

2015 saw a new 2B, new LF, new utility man, eventually a new catcher, a starting staff with two vets either injury prone or nearing the end of the road and young otherwise, and a bullpen with experience in the 8th and 9th innings but otherwise a hodge podge of young guys and guys not very talented. It also saw Dave Kingman resurface to DH and play 1B until September, a shortstop who suddenly is helter skelter in the field sucks at base running decisions and barely has a .600s OPS, and as an example in the pen a loogy whose ERA really belied his reliability which the lack of showed up yesterday walking back to back lefties in the 7th with the season on the line.

Now the fun part for 2016, sifting through all of that taking into consideration the lack of solid position player prospects, the mediocrity that this coaching staff has become, and uncertainty how Arte Moreno, the FO, and Scioscia will all work together.

One can say that Scioscia is s solid manager of men which likely contributed to the 20-11 record down the stretch, but the strategy part has big question marks for sure, not helped by the likes of DiSar and sleeps like a baby Butcher.

Edited October 5, 2015 by Angel Oracle