Angels to juice farm system

[Mark68]

About time SuperDoppler 3000 is finally utilized.

[ScottT]

How does situational hitting and aggressive base running correlate with offensive continuity?

[arch stanton]

Probably better than constantly hitting solid liners directly into the shift or trying to play station to station when you don't have power to do so.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

Will Pujols continue to roll grounders to third ?

 

They're going to teach Albert how to bunt the runner over. Haven't you been paying attention?

[Second Base]

It's not that MS is going to have guys running or bunting or moving guys over any more than he already does.  He just wants them to be able to do it when he asks.  Bad baserunning, shitting bunting, and a lack of smart baseball starts from the ground up.  

 

Personally, I think that is Eppler's concession ie make sure guys can execute the fundamentals when they get to the bigs.  

 

Will it lead to more bunts?  I hope not and I don' think so.  But even from a statistical standpoint, bunting only marginally decreases the number of runs you will score on average and is about the same for runner on 1st no out vs. 2nd one out.  

 

Giving up an out actually increases your odds when you move 1st and 2nd to 2nd and 3rd.  

 

I've posted this before, but it's worth looking at again.  

 

http://www.tangotiger.net/re24.html

 

Of course the scenarios change relative to the player and you never want to take the bat out of Trout's hands, but you have to be able to execute.  

 

I don't even care about the bunting portion as much as I do the baserunning.  The delta between the best baserunning team and the worst is 19.1 to -27.3.  That's nearly a 5 wins difference.  We were essentially neutral last year.

The fact that we managed neutrality last year is an accomplishment in itself considering we had the worst 3B coach I've ever seen. DiSarcina has absolutely no instincts as far as deciding when to run and when not to.

Now he's over at 1B and I'm pretty sure the only thing of consequence he'll be doing is holding batting gloves and pointing at pitchers and saying "see that?" which convinces other people he can read a pitcher. Oh and occasionally he'll pretend to whisper something to a runner.

[Inside Pitch]

The fact that we managed neutrality last year is an accomplishment in itself considering we had the worst 3B coach I've ever seen. DiSarcina has absolutely no instincts as far as deciding when to run and when not to.

Now he's over at 1B and I'm pretty sure the only thing of consequence he'll be doing is holding batting gloves and pointing at pitchers and saying "see that?" which convinces other people he can read a pitcher. Oh and occasionally he'll pretend to whisper something to a runner.

 

I think my opinion on Disar is pretty well known so it may come as a surprise that I actually think Disar is the sort of idiot red ass that can be a good manager's sidekick.  Someone who can be the bad cop and keep a manager from being the heavy all the time.  1B coach may be the perfect spot for him.  Say what you will, he was pretty much loved by his teammates during his playing days...  Dude might be Larry Bowa redux...

Edited March 13, 2016 by Inside Pitch

[bloodbrother]

Probably better than constantly hitting solid liners directly into the shift or trying to play station to station when you don't have power to do so.

 

Angels were 10th in MLB last season in HR's. They didn't need to worry about playing station to station considering they struggled to get on base - bottom 5 in MLB in OBP%

[Docwaukee]

Angels were 10th in MLB last season in HR's. They didn't need to worry about playing station to station considering they struggled to get on base - bottom 5 in MLB in OBP%

I think one of the biggest problems was the lack of cohesion between Dipoto and MS.  I think MS understands the value of obp and hitting home runs but he doesn't like the team to be that one dimensional.  He manages to win close games.  His style propagates close games.  Your odds of getting that late inning HR off a reliever with a 100mph fastball and nasty slider aren't very good when all they have to do is pitch around Trout.  

 

Last year we had the lowest BABIP in baseball.  We were among the lowest in Hard contact, among the highest in Weak contact and second lowest in baseball in LD rate.  Our BB rate was lower third. Imagine those numbers if you remove Trout from the equation.

 

Eppler is going to try to get MS players more conducive to his style.  Guys that get on base but can do so via a hit.  Don't whiff and make hard contact.  Don't worry about the long ball.  

[Second Base]

I think one of the biggest problems was the lack of cohesion between Dipoto and MS.  I think MS understands the value of obp and hitting home runs but he doesn't like the team to be that one dimensional.  He manages to win close games.  His style propagates close games.  Your odds of getting that late inning HR off a reliever with a 100mph fastball and nasty slider aren't very good when all they have to do is pitch around Trout.  

 

Last year we had the lowest BABIP in baseball.  We were among the lowest in Hard contact, among the highest in Weak contact and second lowest in baseball in LD rate.  Our BB rate was lower third. Imagine those numbers if you remove Trout from the equation.

 

Eppler is going to try to get MS players more conducive to his style.  Guys that get on base but can do so via a hit.  Don't whiff and make hard contact.  Don't worry about the long ball.

Which excites me a bit. The Angels had that reputation in the early part of the century, and we've built a team alng those same strengths. We even brought back Black and Roenicke.

If nothing else, we get our little piece of nostalgia this year.

[ScottT]

If I were a baseball manager, my style of player would be a good player.  

[marcosantinia12]

That's great and all S but gathering information is entirely different from implementing and actually using it.

I'm not sure if you were referring to Soscia like Scotty, and I can't argue with that but I meant more along the lines of coaching and player development. Of course this is just more information, but its information that can be used to better evaluate what exactly needs to be altered in a pitcher/hitter. Perhaps its a poor spin rate that is generating more solid contact. In which case the coaching staff can focus solely on that as opposed to looking at his entire mechanics. Same goes for batters. A lot of times a hitter will go on a cold streak and try to make adjustments. Problem is, a lot of times these cold streaks are simply reflected on a bit of misfortune of where balls are hit and the hitter should not be changing anything. This can be gauged by looking at a hitter's exit velocity for instance. No need to change a thing if his velocities are high, regardless of onfield results. Many other more advanced things as well but just some examples.

[arch stanton]

Angels were 10th in MLB last season in HR's. They didn't need to worry about playing station to station considering they struggled to get on base - bottom 5 in MLB in OBP%

That's kinda the point. As power hitting plays less of a role in baseball then other offensive skills are more important. Teach them in the minors. Options are good.

[totdprods]

While browsing spring stats today, I noticed in the 90 some-odd at-bats that Nava, Gentry, Escobar, and Simmons have collectively, there's only 3 strikeouts between them. 1 for Gentry, 2 for Simmons.  Spring stats and all, but it seemed like Eppler focused on acquiring guys who didn't strike out much, and that seems to apply to his new acquisitions and this farm philosophy.

 

Supremely small spring sample size, but still is encouraging.

 

In fact, the Angels have the fewest strikeouts of all ML teams this spring. Only 67.

Edited March 14, 2016 by totdprods

[California Cajun]

The Angels were more successful when they had a diversified attack. Last year they really didn't have a running game. I'm glad to see them running more this Spring.

[bloodbrother]

I'm still not sure they have a running game. Looking at the regulars in the lineup, there's no speed anywhere other than Trout. Simmons, Calhoun, and Gia aren't slow but none of them have shown they can steal at a high rate or even attempt to really steal at all. Nava, Escobar, Perez/Soto, Cron, and especially Albert are all what I'd classify as either slow to snail's pace. Gentry is the only guy other than Trout with an established track record of being a successful base stealer

[itsTroutahere]

To get every drop of talent.

 

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For the first time this year, the Angels are installing a TrackMan Doppler radar system at all of their affiliate ballparks to gauge spin rate, exit velocity and many other analytical data points to better evaluate their prospects.

 

They'll employ a nutritionist and a mental skills coach for the second year. They'll start their Minor League practices a couple of hours later to ingrain proper sleeping habits ("fatigue management," as they call it). They'll preach the importance of solidified short- and long-term goals to their young players. And they'll do their best to keep the on-field instruction simple.

 

Position players will focus on "the red zone," a concept where hitters will be very selective until they get into two-strike counts. Pitching will be all about pounding the strike zone and generating weak contact.

 

 

http://m.angels.mlb.com/news/article/167154406/mike-gallego-in-charge-of-angels-farm-system

 

I have spent years requesting this information from the Angels, I am so happy to finally be able to get this valuable data. I have request Spin Rate on ball from the moment of inertia to end of flight, I also requested launch angles and length of MOI.  I am hoping that their team tech using the system will also provide data on what type of pitch thrown, pitcher name and zone location at impact.   The first time I requested this information during the 2010 SABR conference, a glossy eyed Angels staff member looked at me with the dumbest look I could tell he had no clue what I was even talking about.  In 2012, Dipoto never even gave my request a thought.  In 2015, only a hand full of clubs cared about spin rate and launch angles and now in 2016 almost every team showed interest.   It makes me feel giddy as a school girl.