Angels are lowering the right field fence to 8ft

[JustATroutFan]

It might even help Pujols out, too. He's become to pull-happy since he joined the Angels. The shift has taken a lot of hits away from Pujols and if he starts to use the whole field again, his batting average should go up a lot, to about .270-.280 if he actually is lock in at the plate more often than since he's joined th Angels.

[jordan]

7 hours ago, Throwman91 said:

I think the decision was made because Eppler and gang assumed pitchers would be throwing the right-handed heavy lineup a ton of pitches away to keep them in the park.  This helps our right handed hitters Calhoun Valbuena and Ohtani all at once.  Now pitchers will think twice about pitching our power hitters away, it's arguably easier to hit one out to dead right than left field now.

Very good take.

[Troll Daddy]

Is the big A now a ‘hitter friendly park’?

[Docwaukee]

17 minutes ago, Troll Daddy said:

Is the big A now a ‘hitter friendly park’?

Probably neutral.  Maybe even slightly a pitchers park still.  

[Tank]

it'll be interesting after this season to look at the stats and how much of a difference this did or did not make. i'm guessing it's effect will be minimal overall.

[jordan]

Yep, the ball still has to travel through the marine layer.  Lowering the fence does not add a wind stream like in Arlington.  Like Tank said, the effect will likely be minimal. 

[disarcina]

the Ohtani era has begun..........let's re-design the ballpark........perfect.

[disarcina]

and trout kicks a late inning field goal to win the game for the Halos  24-22.

team ERA is lowered to 17.56

[disarcina]

Arena Baseball.........

[Troll Daddy]

43 minutes ago, jordan said:

Yep, the ball still has to travel through the marine layer.  Lowering the fence does not add a wind stream like in Arlington.  Like Tank said, the effect will likely be minimal. 

I think 10 ft will produce more than a minimal effect. 

[jordan]

5 minutes ago, Troll Daddy said:

I think 10 ft will produce more than a minimal effect. 

Just my guess, it’ll add 1-2 HRs a week, that includes both home and away teams. That isn’t significant IMO. 

[Inside Pitch]

4 hours ago, Torridd said:

How long have we had the 18 foot fence?

Since the Disney remodel.

BTW  the year before they made the changes...   the park indexes were Batting - 97, Pitching - 98  The first year of the new OF alignment they rose to Batting - 106, Pitching - 105.  For most of the next five seasons -- the park ran pretty much neutral...   

So, it's very likely the park remains fairly neutral moving forward, it just won't be death valley for LHBs.

[ten ocho recon scout]

On 2/20/2018 at 10:51 AM, Warfarin said:

Solid thinking.  So Trout - Harper - Goldschmidt - Machado - Ohtani?  Seems decent.

"We still dont have a real leadoff hitter." - ohtaniland

[Angel Oracle]

I still marvel that AK hit 3 HRs in one 2002 ALCS game, being a LHH.

[NorCal Halo]

13 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

I still marvel that AK hit 3 HRs in one 2002 ALCS game, being a LHH.

Yep, plus another double that would now be a home run. 

I wonder if The Show still has time to make the changes to the ballpark before its late March release.

[zenmaster]

This could have all kinds of impact that we don't think about. Guys try going opposite field for once, pitchers not going away from righties as much, guys swinging just a bit harder to try and hit it out of the shallow part, homerun robbing attempts, etc...

[jordan]

6 minutes ago, zenmaster said:

This could have all kinds of impact that we don't think about. Guys try going opposite field for once, pitchers not going away from righties as much, guys swinging just a bit harder to try and hit it out of the shallow part, homerun robbing attempts, etc...

Perhaps a Gold Glove in Trout's future???

[JarsOfClay]

3 hours ago, Angel Oracle said:

I still marvel that AK hit 3 HRs in one 2002 ALCS game, being a LHH.

Yep, and the 3rd homer came after Scioscia asked him to bunt, he failed on the bunt try and ended up hitting another homer that gave the angels the lead.  Nice call Scioscia. 

[NorCal Halo]

17 hours ago, JarsOfClay said:

Yep, and the 3rd homer came after Scioscia asked him to bunt, he failed on the bunt try and ended up hitting another homer that gave the angels the lead.  Nice call Scioscia. 

Of course, to be fair, that was the only time AK's upper-cut swing seemed to be effective.  Still one of the greatest performances and greatest memories in Angels history.

[Dtwncbad]

1 hour ago, NorCal Halo said:

Of course, to be fair, that was the only time AK's upper-cut swing seemed to be effective.  Still one of the greatest performances and greatest memories in Angels history.

OMG I hated that swing.  Hated it.  I had spent way too much time complaining about how ridiculous that swing was and then at that legendary AK game when he was smashing homers all my friends and family were (jubilently) in my face!  "How do you like that swing now?????"

A blind squirrel found three nuts!

[Dtwncbad]

Mr. Kennedy.  I understand you have an interest in delivering a legendary performance. . .

[Angel Oracle]

1 hour ago, NorCal Halo said:

Of course, to be fair, that was the only time AK's upper-cut swing seemed to be effective.  Still one of the greatest performances and greatest memories in Angels history.

And I was fortunate enough to be there in person for it, and celebrate the long awaited hoisting of the AL pennant.  

[NorCal Halo]

4 hours ago, Angel Oracle said:

And I was fortunate enough to be there in person for it, and celebrate the long awaited hoisting of the AL pennant.  

So here's the real question: was AK's performance and that title worth the trade of Jim Edmonds?

[lbjames]

18 minutes ago, NorCal Halo said:

So here's the real question: was AK's performance and that title worth the trade of Jim Edmonds?

Edmonds would have been a free agent after the 2000 season.  There was reportedly some friction between Edmonds and the other Angels players which prompted the trade and made it seem unlikely he would have signed an extension with the Angels.   Edmonds signed a 7-year extension with the Cardinals in May 2000.

[Hubs]

5 minutes ago, lbjames said:

Edmonds would have been a free agent after the 2000 season.  There was reportedly some friction between Edmonds and the other Angels players which prompted the trade and made it seem unlikely he would have signed an extension with the Angels.   Edmonds signed a 7-year extension with the Cardinals in May 2000.

Don't forget we also got Kent Bottenfield.