So did Vernon Wells just hate the Angels?

[beatlesrule]

He is hitting .317 with 5hr and 8 rbis.  He was horrible with the Angels and now all of a sudden looks like a new hitter.  I am 100% glad he is gone because I would rather see him do well on another team over stinking it up as an Angel but does anyone have any theories?  My cousin is a Yankees fan and I was telling him how bad the trade was when it happened and I am currently looking quite foolish.

 

BTW, what's with the the no spell check?  Sorry if it's been discussed already.

[tdawg87]

My biggest WTF was when I saw that he has 8 walks already. Did he even have 8 walks as an Angel?

[tennischmp]

If he keeps hitting like that you would have to wonder whether it was something within the organization. Or it can just be playing half his games at Yankee stadium as opposed to Angel stadium.

[tdawg87]

If he keeps hitting like that you would have to wonder whether it was something within the organization. Or it can just be playing half his games at Yankee stadium as opposed to Angel stadium.

 

Oddly, he has absolutely destroyed the ball away from NY, and has been Angel-Vernon at home.

[SoWhat]

You'd think he'd have more RBI's with 5 HR's. I'm guessing he's still hitting a bunch of meaningless solo shots?

[Marsaka]

Honestly, his swing looked much better this year in spring training, mostly line drives.   Similar to the old Vernon from Toronto and the Yankees saw that.  That is why they traded for him and it looks like they were right to do so.

 

I dont think he hates the angels, I think he just finally recaptured his old swing.

[DropOfAnaheim]

He was turning a new leaf last April when he hurt his hand. The man is playing how Tony envisioned he would. just years too late. The entire Angels lineup gets infected with swatting at flys. This organization talks about controlling the count as hitters, but free swinging is still the order of the day here in Anaheim. Hitting is muscle memory, and the only good memories Wells has is from the AL East. It's still home to him. He may hit 30 homers again. As long as Hamilton gets his act together, Wells won't sting us.

[AZMike]

You'd think he'd have more RBI's with 5 HR's. I'm guessing he's still hitting a bunch of meaningless solo shots?

His homers are mostly meaningless solo shots (And one three run shot on a game that was already a large lead for the Yankees) but the difference his he's worked walks late in games, stolen bases in non-blowout situations, and plated the go-ahead run for the Yankees more than once now. 

[Jobu]

Two words:

Plate.

Alignment.

[DropOfAnaheim]

 

Goodnight Sweet Prince...

[rageous]

They should allow you to set the amount you pay on a contract during a trade contingent on performance.

[HeavenlyHalos]

Wells' numbers as an Angel: 748 AB, .222 avg., .258 OBP, .667 OPS, 36 HR, 95 RBI, 24 doubles, 36 BB, 121 Ks.

 

Wow.

[John Taylor]

Yeah, he really worked on his approach during spring training and was poised to have a better year this year, now had he stayed on the Angels no way he is hitting what he is hitting in Yankee-land, I think the fact he has something to prove, and felt welcomed in NY unlike here, are big parts in his success. 

[HeavenlyHalos]

How didn't he feel welcome here? I remember some Angels fans weren't upset that we traded for him. No excuses, he just sucked. Badly.

[AngelArcher]

The most walks he's ever had in 1 month with the Angels was 5, and he only did that 2 or 3 times. Now he already has 8 and there's still over a week left in April.

[AngelsAndRamsFan]

I think he hated Angel fans.

He's off to a good start, but I still don't think he'll end up being much better than he was with the Angels.

[disarcina]

well, he did play this past weekend series in Toronto -- and if you will recall, even with the Halos, he tended to hit well north of the border.

 

some may recall the series two years ago where he hit 3 homeruns (2 in one game) in a series at Toronto.......didn't do much against anyone else or anywhere else, but in Toronto, he hit well,

 

perhaps he should have stayed there.

[dimitrig]

The dude really sucked here, despite us having hopes for him. Maybe he needed a change of scenery. Maybe he will revert to the mean.

[Tank]

well, he did play this past weekend series in Toronto -- and if you will recall, even with the Halos, he tended to hit well north of the border.

 

some may recall the series two years ago where he hit 3 homeruns (2 in one game) in a series at Toronto.......didn't do much against anyone else or anywhere else, but in Toronto, he hit well,

 

perhaps he should have stayed there.

Yeah, but that would have meant keeping Napoli and wading through a couple hundred more "why does Sosh hate Napoli?" Threads.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

My biggest WTF was when I saw that he has 8 walks already. Did he even have 8 walks as an Angel?

 

You aren't far off. He had 36 walks the entire time he was here - 20 in 529 plate appearances in 2011, and 16 in 262 plate appearances last year.

[ineedanap]

He still is hitting a ton of infield flys. 

 

He'll probably hit a bunch of HRs, but I don't think he'll keep up this pace. 

[ineedanap]

You aren't far off. He had 36 walks the entire time he was here - 20 in 529 plate appearances in 2011, and 16 in 262 plate appearances last year.

 

We'll he's a "run producer" with the Angels.

[Reveille1984]

Seems like a lot of players that come here have a mental relapse for some reason, at least over a certain span of time.  Pujols was Mathis-esque last April, Hamilton looks like a joke, Blanton and Vargas both look completely lost, Vernon was terrible, Wilson looks like a bust so far as well. 

 

I really feel like we need a new pitching coach.  Who knows if it would help, but nobody on this team can challenge hitters effectively.  Our starters don't have the stuff to miss bats (besides Richards), but they try and pitch like they do by throwing junk they can't control and getting behind every batter. 

[mota_madness]

[Inside Pitch]

They should allow you to set the amount you pay on a contract during a trade contingent on performance.

 

Arbitration process says hello.