It's still early in spring training...

[Glen]

[Support The Local Team]

Relief pitching is looking like a dumpster fire.

[bloodbrother]

[Ohtaniland]

Shoemaker pitched like he did in A ball.

[nando714]

Don’t trust this bullpen at all

[Keener]

Looks like another spring to enjoy Penguins hockey.

[Taylor]

The Angels had the third-best record in the MLB in Spring Training last year. That sure worked out for them.

[VariousCrap]

It seems like it is time to whip this out.......

 

 

[Chuck]

LOL.

All those those years we killed it in ST only to shit the bed once April came.

Chill you fairweather fackers.

[Chris]

Parker, Bedrosian, and Barria all scoreless today.

[fan_since79]

How about we crash and burn this spring, then rocket out of the gate to begin the season? I could deal with that.

Let's wait until at least the end of April before we panic.

 

 

[DMVol]

0-0 

[Taylor]

59 minutes ago, Chris said:

Parker, Bedrosian, and Barria all scoreless today.

Your positivity is not welcome here.

[nate]

[OregonLAA]

I like our bullpen options. Worried Shoe will start out slow like he does every year 

[Docwaukee]

rome is burning.  

[WeatherWonk]

3 hours ago, Chris said:

Parker, Bedrosian, and Barria all scoreless today.

I'd still like to see that replay at the plate. Looked safe to me. Bedrock gave up some ropes. One of the outs to right was hit pretty well, too.

[JustATroutFan]

Having a bad April doesn't mean panic time for the Angels. If the Angels still are struggling and end up with a horrible record in the month after April, then we can panic!

[Second Base]

A couple things...

1. Shoemaker's splitter is his best pitch. It's the reason why he's a major league starter. Splitters do not work in Arizona. The desert air does not offer the same resistance as sea level does. They do not drop or fade. On top of which, Shoe is coming off injury. He's progressing.

2. Spring Training will be particularly difficult for Ohtani. Hitters need reps to get their timing. Pitchers need innings to get a feel for their pitches and pitch through the dead arm phase. Shohei needs to get his timing like any other hitter, but with only half the reps, and he needs to gain a feel for all of his pitches, and work through things while splitting his focus.

Ohtani will be brilliant mid season, but I'd expect February through April to be difficult on an annual basis. May through July should look really good. August and September could be very trying as players tend to wear down at that time, and since Ohtani is pulling double duty and will be in his first season in American ball, the Angels may be best served resting him more in those months, especially if he is to be of use in October.

[WeaverFever]

1 hour ago, Scotty@AW said:

A couple things...

1. Shoemaker's splitter is his best pitch. It's the reason why he's a major league starter. Splitters do not work in Arizona. The desert air does not offer the same resistance as sea level does. They do not drop or fade. On top of which, Shoe is coming off injury. He's progressing.

2. Spring Training will be particularly difficult for Ohtani. Hitters need reps to get their timing. Pitchers need innings to get a feel for their pitches and pitch through the dead arm phase. Shohei needs to get his timing like any other hitter, but with only half the reps, and he needs to gain a feel for all of his pitches, and work through things while splitting his focus.

Ohtani will be brilliant mid season, but I'd expect February through April to be difficult on an annual basis. May through July should look really good. August and September could be very trying as players tend to wear down at that time, and since Ohtani is pulling double duty and will be in his first season in American ball, the Angels may be best served resting him more in those months, especially if he is to be of use in October.

Hey. If he’s brutal the whole year and he’s brilliant in October I’d still call that a successful year. In all seriousness I love the points, and eh most of us know what type of how Kershaw struggled in his rookie year. It might take some time for Ohtani. Who knows. 

[Billy_Ball]

[fan_since79]

If Ohtani goes 0-25 at the plate like Willie Mays did at the start of his career, will we write him off as a failure?

Long-term view, guys. The kid will be just fine.

 

[wopphil]

Are we concerned at all about Ohtani's pitching? Fastball isn't anywhere close to the speed advertised. And his control isn't very good, which shouldn't be a big surprise given some of his walk numbers in Japan.

[Second Base]

From a very non-human standpoint, there's almost no way signing Shohei will backfire. Uniform sales, advertisements, international coverage, and the fact that we only spent 22 million. 

Even if hitting doesn't work out, he'll probably still be a capable pitcher. 

And from a more human perspective, Shohei is doing a great job fitting in with his teammates, and is quickly becoming an important member of this team. He's a good presence in the clubhouse.

[Second Base]

Just now, wopphil said:

Are we concerned at all about Ohtani's pitching? Fastball isn't anywhere close to the speed advertised. And his control isn't very good, which shouldn't be a big surprise given some of his walk numbers in Japan.

The 102.5 mph fastball mislabeled who Ohtani is as a pitcher. He never sat above 100. He'd sit 97-99 on a good day and his best workable speed was 95-97, where Richards is at. He did have some games where he only threw 93/94.

In his three outings so far, he's sat 95-97, 97+, and 92-95. Basically perfectly matched where he was in Japan. 

Once the season starts, he'll settle in right where he was at in Japan which is hovering around 97 with his 4-seam.