How Much Longer Until Something Is Done About Calhoun?

[Troll Daddy]

27 minutes ago, rafibomb said:

Sadly in terms of Angels players that will be given long leashes if in a slump, Calhoun is near the top of the list.

I don’t know about sadly but the Angels have a lot of time and money invested in his success to give up because he’s slumping in April. I don’t know of any teams who would give up this soon. 

I think a platoon is going to happen sooner than later. 

[fan_since79]

If this keeps up and the average dips below .100, can we search for some guy in the stands that looks like Calhoun, and get him into the batter's box in his place?

Oh yeah, he has to hit lefthanded so nobody will be suspicious.

This is how bad it's getting with him.

[Lou]

6 hours ago, Torridd said:

Does he bunt well?

Does it matter?

[Lou]

4 hours ago, Taylor said:

We need to keep playing him to build his confidence. If Scioscia sits him, it will shatter his confidence.

Who cares? 

He's shattered his own confidence, not Scioscia 

[Angelsfan1984]

When we're 2 games back in September aren't we going to wish we benched this turd

[ten ocho recon scout]

I mentioned it a few years ago, and it wasnt too popular. Calhoun is trumbo with way less power and a glove. Trumbo in the OF is bad (which isnt his fault, hes a 1B). When his bat goes cold, hes still likely a 20 plus home run guy. So even when hes not hitting, hes still a bit of a force in the lineup.

Calhoun when hes not hitting doesnt bring a whole lot. His glove is great, and he can run. 

I think he'll come around, but he'll never be a front of the lineup hitter. Which is fine if the rest of the lineup hits. 

One of the biffest problems we had the last few years was using calhoun as a moto bat with trout...and pujols. 

[ten ocho recon scout]

Thankfully harper will replace him next year. Or maybe at the deadline for baldoquin.

[ettin]

"How much longer until something is DONE about Calhoun?"

I mean what else can we do he is already swimming with the trout fishes....

[stormngt]

4 hours ago, eaterfan said:

https://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/38922/baseball-therapy-bunt-joey-bunt/

Here's a nice article on bunting against the shift. Basically, people who don't bunt are almost as good at getting a bunt down as those who do. They are about 2% worse. Non bunters successfully get a bunt down about 42% of attempts. Given 3 attempts this should be about 81% of plate Appearances. Bunters reach base about 58% of the time against the shift. This would lead to a .470/.470/.470 line. While Calhoun will strike out bunting 20% of the time, he has struck out just under 28% of the time since the start of 2017. 

Since the start of 2017 Calhoun has 46 XBH, 20 of them HRs. They would most likely all be gone. But if he hit .470 bunting then he would have made 84 fewer outs. 3 games worth of outs all by himself.

The article here focuses on Joey Gallo, but it's even more true for Calhoun. He should be bunting until they stop shifting.

Calhoun is not the power hitter that Gallo is.  By bunting more often Cole can get his groove back and make them adjust the shift. 

[stormngt]

3 hours ago, JarsOfClay said:

lol this isn't little league.  Scioscia's job is to win ballgames and playing Calhoun right now is contradictory to that goal.

Angels missed the playoffs by a only a couple games last year.  It's time to take a more stern approach.

 

Question is it better in the long run for the Angel's to stay with Kole and build his confidence or roll your dice with someone else

[Troll Daddy]

3 hours ago, JarsOfClay said:

lol this isn't little league.  Scioscia's job is to win ballgames and playing Calhoun right now is contradictory to that goal.

Angels missed the playoffs by a only a couple games last year.  It's time to take a more stern approach.

 

You’re right, this isn’t little league or he would be gone. Don’t blame Scioscia if his boss signed Calhoun to a multi year deal. Most everyone here liked the deal. 

There’s a reason why baseball is played for 162 games. 

[eaterfan]

1 hour ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

I mentioned it a few years ago, and it wasnt too popular. Calhoun is trumbo with way less power and a glove. Trumbo in the OF is bad (which isnt his fault, hes a 1B). When his bat goes cold, hes still likely a 20 plus home run guy. So even when hes not hitting, hes still a bit of a force in the lineup.

Calhoun when hes not hitting doesnt bring a whole lot. His glove is great, and he can run. 

I think he'll come around, but he'll never be a front of the lineup hitter. Which is fine if the rest of the lineup hits. 

One of the biffest problems we had the last few years was using calhoun as a moto bat with trout...and pujols. 

Trumbo doesn't walk. He's not good with the glove, even at first. Calhoun could walk, run the bases, and play defense. I don't see how they are similar players except that neither are good players at the moment.

Kole has fallen off a cliff, but he was much better than Trumbo was.

[Tank]

2 hours ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

I mentioned it a few years ago, and it wasnt too popular. Calhoun is trumbo with way less power and a glove. Trumbo in the OF is bad (which isnt his fault, hes a 1B). When his bat goes cold, hes still likely a 20 plus home run guy. So even when hes not hitting, hes still a bit of a force in the lineup.

That's because he's naturally a third baseman.

[Tank]

6 hours ago, artesmustache said:

guys should be bright enough to realize if they drop bunts down to beat shift on a regular basis they will stop shifting, but have yet to see anyone do it. 

Went to the dodger game tonight and saw something beautiful. Bellinger was up and Marlins had a shift on for him. He got a pitch he could handle and slapped it right down the third base line for a double. It was terrific to see someone do his. If Calhoun can learn to do this somehow, boy would that be a bonus for both him and ultimately the team.

[ten ocho recon scout]

1 hour ago, eaterfan said:

Trumbo doesn't walk. He's not good with the glove, even at first. Calhoun could walk, run the bases, and play defense. I don't see how they are similar players except that neither are good players at the moment.

Kole has fallen off a cliff, but he was much better than Trumbo was.

Yew, they are both completely different hitters. My point being is that neither are complete. Neither are big contsct hitters. Calhoun walks more. Trumbo has a lot more power.

Below is calhoun and trumbo. Kole literally has had 2 years where hes looked solid as hell. But even throwing away this year because its so early, look at the rest. The OPS+ is identical.

When I first brought this up was back when Trumbo first went to Baltimore. And everyone was pointing out how bad he was in arizona, but he was a different hitter his half year in seattle. He went off his first year in baltimore, fell apart the second.

But my point being, both had these standout years with meager ones mixed in.

Like i said, calhoun still has value with his glove alone, and he could run. Edge over trumbo. But his bat isnt better than trumbo. Not at all. Better on base skills, less power. Its debateable which is more important. But i could argue at his peak, trumbos power is elite. Calhouns on base skills arent.

[arch stanton]

I haven’t seen a lot of his ABs lately but what I did see he was getting pitched hard inside. Might not be that easy to get a bunt in a place where it won’t be fielded by either the pitcher or catcher. It may or may not get teams off the shift but it can’t be much worse than the Ks

[Taylor]

5 hours ago, JarsOfClay said:

lol this isn't little league.  Scioscia's job is to win ballgames and playing Calhoun right now is contradictory to that goal.

Angels missed the playoffs by a only a couple games last year.  It's time to take a more stern approach.

I should have included the sarcasm tag in my post.

[Taylor]

4 hours ago, Lou said:

Who cares? 

He's shattered his own confidence, not Scioscia 

Woah, even Lou missed my sarcasm.

[Lou]

Did not!!

 

 

 

 

shut up. 

[Troll Daddy]

No worries Trout will get him back on track

[Taylor]

Just now, Troll Daddy said:

No worries Trout will get him back on track

Or Pujols. Right, @yk9001?

[ten ocho recon scout]

1 hour ago, Tank said:

Went to the dodger game tonight and saw something beautiful. 

Yeah, they lost with Kershaw on the mound.

[Lou]

4 minutes ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

Yeah, they lost with Kershaw on the mound.

To the Marlins. He walked SIX batters in 5 innings.

I guess they aren't ready to compete with the good teams

Edited April 26, 2018 by Lou

[VariousCrap]

15 hours ago, stormngt said:

Sorry but I did not know if you were talking about Upton or Calhoun.  Upton has been struggling and it wouldn't be the first time someone suggested we bench one of our high paid players like its realistic.  You said LF so it's easy to make my mistake.  Dont call me a douche because your said LF.

The thread is about Calhoun.  It was an obvious mistake that you chose to assume the ridiculous about.

[VariousCrap]

Jeff Fletcher was just asked about Calhoun's leash on Facebook and here was his reply:

"Calhoun has been a pretty consistent everyday player in the majors for more than four seasons. He’s going to get longer than four weeks to figure it out. They may sit him against a few more lefties while they’re waiting. Bringing up someone like Blash is problematic because the roster can’t fit Calhoun, Young and Blash. If they release Young, that’s not a reversible decision when Calhoun gets hot or Blash gets cold. Calhoun could be optioned, but within about a month he’ll have more than five years of service time so he’ll have the right to refuse a demotion. It’s a pretty safe bet that Calhoun will turn it around before it gets to that point. The most likely way for Blash to get called up is if someone gets hurt. -JF"