Sell me on the new season

[California Cajun]

Skaggs can be a situational left hander out of the bullpen to start the year, although he can pitch a lot more innings than a situational left hander would. I think he could play a big role in the bullpen for the first half.

 

Skaggs will have an innings limit next year, so I think it would be wise to start in him the bullpen, so that he will be fresh down the stretch and they won't have to shut him down.

+1 on backloading Skaggs' innings.

[Second Base]

Skaggs can be a situational left hander out of the bullpen to start the year, although he can pitch a lot more innings than a situational left hander would. I think he could play a big role in the bullpen for the first half.

 

Skaggs will have an innings limit next year, so I think it would be wise to start in him the bullpen, so that he will be fresh down the stretch and they won't have to shut him down.

If I could situate it any way I wanted, I think I'd carry two #5 starters. Let's face it, Jered Weaver sucks now. He got old, he lost his ability to throw any sort of respectable fastball that keeps hitters honest. But he's got one HUGE advantage, his starts at home have been very good. Consensus indicates it's due to the rock pile and him being able to throw from an angle that hides the ball out with that in the background instead of the batter's eye, which I think is partially correct. The other part is simply it's a pitching friendly environment in his native area and he's just comfortable out there.

Whatever the case, Weav is still adequate at home, and terrible on the road. I say we have Skaggs take the away starts and serve in the bullpen otherwise, and Weaver take the home starts and handle mop up duty in the bullpen otherwise. It limits Skaggs' innings and protects us from Weav's disastrous showing away.

Things don't work like that in the majors, but I think it's a smart idea that a team with a more progressive manager than the Angels would be more apt to trying.

[Angels#1Fan]

I think the starting rotation has major question marks.

 

1.Jered Weaver has to either find a few mph on his fastball or learn to pitch with a 83 mph heater which I don't think is possible in the big leagues unless you throw a knuckleball.

 

2.Hector Santiago was Jekyll and Hyde last year and had no consistency from the first half of the season to the second half. Who will show up for 2016? First half Santiago or Second half Santiago?

 

3.Tyler Skaggs simply can't be counted on for the entire 2016 season. To begin with he's going to be on a serious pitch count and at best will start the season in the bullpen, or at worst he'll start at AAA. If everything goes perfect for him he'll still be limited. When was the last time something went perfect? 

 

4.Matt Shoemaker was great in 2014, he might have actually saved the Angels season. In 2015 he stunk. So was Shoemaker a one year wonder that is destine to return to the minors or can he find the magic he had two years ago?

 

5.C.J. Wilson is the second Angel starter to be coming off of surgery. Can he rebound? Will he be able to start the season in the rotation? And if he does will he be pain free and effective? Who knows.

 

6.Andrew Heaney looks good but he had a small sample of the big leagues last year while pitching only 105 innings. Can he pitch in the neighborhood of 200 innings this year? Hope so because he's going to have to if the Angels are going to challenge.

 

7.Nick Tropeano looks good also but he's only pitched 59 innings combined the last two years with 32 of those coming last year. He's very inexperienced and may or may not be in the rotation. Given that we have a couple of guys coming off of surgery and Shoemaker being a question mark I expect Tropeano to get more work this year.

 

8.Garrett Richards is going to be our ace going forward. If he's really an ace or not is yet to be proven but he's going to be our number one regardless because Weaver is in the process of falling off the face of the earth unless a miracle occurs.

 

So as I see the rotation there are 5 big question marks out of the 8 potential starters and frankly they are big question marks that only time can answer. The Angels are going to need some old fashion luck. It doesn't mean that some of these guys won't be able to bounce back (some will) but to expect all of them to perform up to expectations is just asking for disappointment because only in a best case senario will that happen.   

Edited March 1, 2016 by Angels#1Fan

[disarcina]

I think the biggest selling point for the 2016 Halos is that the other AL West teams really are not that great.

I see us competing.

The key, as always, will be pitching -- last year our starting rotation over-performed during the first half of the season and did quite well. Everyone got tired at the end and sort of a let down -- but few expected the rotation to do as well as it did the first half and into the second........this year the rotation will be bolstered by a better defense behind it....Simmons at SS is a major upgrade (although I liked Aybar) and Escobar at 3B is an improvement over Freese (has Freese signed with anyone yet?) We have some weakness at 2B -- I think Giovatella is going to have to work hard to keep the starting job coming out of ST..our pen looks good -- we have some depth in the starting rotation -- to the point that could see one of our starters -- Santiago ?? -- being dealt for a 2B during ST.

Halos defense should be better in 2016 than 2015 -- and we lost some games last year because of defense.

Could the Halos have done more during this past off-season -- Yeah -- but that's ok. We should be competitive.

[Billy_Ball]

The Angels have a good pitching staff. That's the #1 determining factor.

Other than that we need some surprise performances. I think we can win from 75 to 90 games depending on variables. Let's hope for 90.

The Angels needed to address at least LF in a meaningful way and didn't. But a pitching-based team gives us a shot.

 

I'm interested to see how Weaver responds to his new stretching excercises.  I have a feeling he'll be better than last year.  I really liked what I saw from NiTro late last year.

[Angel Oracle]

Underrated change:

Replacing Sleeps Like A Baby Butcher with Nagy

A new voice might be beneficial to the pitching staff.

[Angelsjunky]

[notherhalo]

We added some decent BOTO bats this offseason

[SlappyUtilityMIF]

Well, We've got Mike Trout!....

[Angel Dog and Beer]

I'm really looking forward to what Simmons can do on the field.  We've all seen the highlight reels of his spectacular plays, but I just hope he can solidify the left to middle part of the D, and make all the routine plays without the bonehead plays Aybar was sometimes prone to. I'm really hoping (as we all are) that his bat turns to a respectable level and become a major contributor. 

 

Also, I can't wait until he makes his first error and we all go apesh!t asking why we traded our #1 prospect for a hack. 

[Ace-Of-Diamonds]

I don't like our defense at second base or third base. Terrible defenders.

------------------------

 

The could improve defense at 3B practically for free by playing Cowart there. He maybe the the best defender on the team not named Simmons. I doubt Scioscia will use him there for more than for a late inning defensive replacement.

[Ace-Of-Diamonds]

First Angel game of the season tomorrow at 12:00. Angels and Giants. I saw AG post on the Rangers board on the Angels II thread. Maybe he will find his way over here, maybe.

[California Cajun]

I think the starting rotation has major question marks.

 

1.Jered Weaver has to either find a few mph on his fastball or learn to pitch with a 83 mph heater which I don't think is possible in the big leagues unless you throw a knuckleball.

 

2.Hector Santiago was Jekyll and Hyde last year and had no consistency from the first half of the season to the second half. Who will show up for 2016? First half Santiago or Second half Santiago?

 

3.Tyler Skaggs simply can't be counted on for the entire 2016 season. To begin with he's going to be on a serious pitch count and at best will start the season in the bullpen, or at worst he'll start at AAA. If everything goes perfect for him he'll still be limited. When was the last time something went perfect? 

 

4.Matt Shoemaker was great in 2014, he might have actually saved the Angels season. In 2015 he stunk. So was Shoemaker a one year wonder that is destine to return to the minors or can he find the magic he had two years ago?

 

5.C.J. Wilson is the second Angel starter to be coming off of surgery. Can he rebound? Will he be able to start the season in the rotation? And if he does will he be pain free and effective? Who knows.

 

6.Andrew Heaney looks good but he had a small sample of the big leagues last year while pitching only 105 innings. Can he pitch in the neighborhood of 200 innings this year? Hope so because he's going to have to if the Angels are going to challenge.

 

7.Nick Tropeano looks good also but he's only pitched 59 innings combined the last two years with 32 of those coming last year. He's very inexperienced and may or may not be in the rotation. Given that we have a couple of guys coming off of surgery and Shoemaker being a question mark I expect Tropeano to get more work this year.

 

8.Garrett Richards is going to be our ace going forward. If he's really an ace or not is yet to be proven but he's going to be our number one regardless because Weaver is in the process of falling off the face of the earth unless a miracle occurs.

 

So as I see the rotation there are 5 big question marks out of the 8 potential starters and frankly they are big question marks that only time can answer. The Angels are going to need some old fashion luck. It doesn't mean that some of these guys won't be able to bounce back (some will) but to expect all of them to perform up to expectations is just asking for disappointment because only in a best case senario will that happen.

I think more run support will make these pitchers better. I also wish Scioscia would stick with relievers longer when they're pitching well.

[Ace-Of-Diamonds]

I agree, but Scioscia already said Escobar was our third baseman.

Yeah but if Escobar is terrible on defense and for reason can't hit as well as he did last season. Maybe he will get injured and Cowart will get his chance. It's a long season and anything can happen.

[Ace-Of-Diamonds]

Escobar had a great offensive season last year in the eastern ball parks. He didn't do so great the previous 3 years in Tampa.

[Angels#1Fan]

I think more run support will make these pitchers better. I also wish Scioscia would stick with relievers longer when they're pitching well.

 

I don't think run support or defense is going to help Weaver with his fastball or help Skaggs and Wilson recover from their surgeries.

 

Shoemaker could once again be the key to the Angels success if he can regain his form..that's a big if.

 

I'm not trying to make a case for gloom and doom.

 

My point is some of those guys are going to rebound and some won't and the Angels better be careful about trading some of their surplus because there is a good chance they might be needed. An example would be Weaver. If he is as bad as he was last year someone will need to replace him. Skaggs is going to be limited in the best case scenario and he probably isn't going to start the season in the rotation. That's just two guys and cuts our 8 starters down to six and that includes Shoemaker who was ineffective last year.

[Angels#1Fan]

I would love to see Shoemaker bounce back.

 

He made a fan out of me in 2014 but mostly it would be huge for the Angels if he did.

 

As far as Weaver goes I'm not very optimistic that a stretching regime is going to help much. What I expect to happen is that Weaver will have an increase in his velocity early on, but that it will decrease the more he pitches. I'd really like to be wrong because of what he's given to the team over the years and he is of course a fan favorite. However, all things eventually come to an end and this could be it for Jered.

 

btw..this is Weavers walk year and unless he has a dramatic turnaround I don't expect to see him in a Angel uniform next year.

Edited March 1, 2016 by Angels#1Fan

[Angel Oracle]

I still like moving Shoe to the pen.

That splitter is better served in a late innings role, as opposed to throwing 200 innings a season throwing mostly splitters.

 

And we have NO proven third option behind Street and Smith. 

Al Al had a couple of nice seasons in Detroit, and that's it.

Morin pitched like Mor-Runs-In for a stretch of about a year from mid-2014 to mid-2015.

Tossed Salad is too up and down.

Bedrock Jr. is still truly not ready yet to pitch significant innings at the MLB level.   

[Adam]

By June, it will be easy to "upgrade" your seats during the games

[Angels#1Fan]

 

And we have NO proven third option behind Street and Smith. 

 

 

This a good point because the bullpen is where games are won now days.

 

Just look at 2002 we had a killer pen.

[WeatherWonk]

I think we will struggle offensively, again. I dont think adding Escobar (notwithstanding his outlier numbers from last year), the Nava/Gentry symbiosis and Soto will improve us, offensively. Simmons vs Aybar is probably a push, though Aybar probably had the potential to be better, offensively, that Simmons will be. 

 

Can we expect a better season from Pujols than what we got last year? Certainly not in HR numbers. Maybe marginally better in BA. Kole can certainly improve, but probably only back to his career numbers. Not likely to get more HRs from him than last year; could get less.

 

All of this probably wont make enough difference to improve a team that was 12th in runs scored, 13th in OBP, 14th in OPS. 

 

Mike Trout may set a new MLB record for BBs, unless he starts extending his strike zone as badly as he did in 2014. Why pitch to him at all, especially if he is stupidly kept at the #3 spot in the order, where he will come up many times with 2 outs and nobody on (given our low OBP)? He needs to be back at #2, where his chances of generating more runs increases. We need higher OBP near the top of the lineup. Aoki would have been really great, there, in front of Trout.

 

The pitching and defense BETTER be better, because we won't have many come-from-behind wins with this club's offense, IMO. There are a lot of good starters and good bullpens in the AL West. Tough sledding, ahead.

 

I really cant comment on OUR starting pitching. There are SO MANY QUESTION MARKS ! I wouldnt know what to say except "IF.........., then..........

 

Are you sold yet?