Calhoun

[stormngt]

1 hour ago, BackUpTheTruck said:

You could make a case for 3 games. April 22, 25, and 27.  Close games where he did not reach base. That DP in Colorado almost makes it 4.  I know Boston and NY beat us, but 3 games is what separates us from them right now.

I wouldnt say 4 games.   April 22nd a close loss to Houston and he leaves 4 men on base.

April 25th I wouldn't blame on him.  He went 0-3 in a tough loss against Houston and Verlander.  Cole did not leave anyone on base so unless you expected him to hit 2 HRs against Verlander you really shouldn't pin that loss on him.

April 27th is debatable.  He went 0-3. However he leaves no one on base and no one got hits immediately behind him so no one would have drove him in had he got on base.

No argument on Colorado.  That DP with tying run on was a killer.

[stormngt]

44 minutes ago, BackUpTheTruck said:

I almost feel like I am re-living Alberto Callaspo over Trumbo at third and Jeff Mathis over Napoli again.  Jabari Blash hit a 1-2 fastball down and away 116 mph to center field in Colorado.  Can Kole do that?  Can Chris Young do that?  I bet Pujols can't even do that anymore.  I say we give Blash 120 at bats before we give up on him.  After all, we just signed Upton for five years, and we already know what he's like defensively.

Not to argue your point because I agree that Blash deserves a longer look, but you are arguing that we give playing time because saguy hit a single.

[stormngt]

1 minute ago, BackUpTheTruck said:

I appreciate that, but you have to admit that wasn't exactly a seeing-eye single. To compare Trout's 2012 AAA numbers and Blash's 2018 AAA numbers (Both w/93 PA): Trout had 1 HR, 4 doubles, 5 triples, and 11 walks.  Blash has 10 HR, 8 doubles, 1 triple, and 10 walks.  Obviously, Blash will never be Mike Trout.  But Blash is definitely a better option than Calhoun and Chris Young at this point.

Wasnt Trout 19 as well?

[Stradling]

2 hours ago, BackUpTheTruck said:

I almost feel like I am re-living Alberto Callaspo over Trumbo at third and Jeff Mathis over Napoli again.  Jabari Blash hit a 1-2 fastball down and away 116 mph to center field in Colorado.  Can Kole do that?  Can Chris Young do that?  I bet Pujols can't even do that anymore.  I say we give Blash 120 at bats before we give up on him.  After all, we just signed Upton for five years, and we already know what he's like defensively.

Blash had the longest swing I have ever seen.  He is a AAAA player.  Kole's upside is worth more than anything Blash and his "defense" and long swing can provide.  

[Stradling]

9 minutes ago, BackUpTheTruck said:

Bryce Harper has a long swing too.  Josh Donaldson has a high leg kick.  Justin Turner was a late bloomer.  Remember Craig Counsell's hand placement?  I'm not saying Blash would be as productive as those guys, but Kole?  I have my doubts that Kole is even capable to hit oppo consistently at Inland Empire.

Ok.  

[Dick B Back]

3 hours ago, BackUpTheTruck said:

You could make a case for 3 games. April 22, 25, and 27.  Close games where he did not reach base. That DP in Colorado almost makes it 4.  I know Boston and NY beat us, but 3 games is what separates us from them right now.

Ok, lets take a look...

April 22: Angels lost 4-2 to Giants. Granted Kole went 0-4 with 4 LOB, but Upton went 0-3, Ohtani 1-4 with 2 Ks, Valbuena 0-4 with 3 LOB, Maldonado 0-2 with 2 LOB, and Cozart 0-3 with 3 Ks. Yet Kole lost the game for them?

April 25: Angels lost 5-2 to the Astros and the Angels had a total of 4 hits. Kole 0-3 with 2 Ks and zero LOB. Kinsler 0-4, Trout 0-4, Upton 0-4 with 2 Ks, Valbuena 0-3 with 2 Ks and 2 LOB, Rivera 0-3 with 2 Ks, and Tropeano 5.1 innings and 4 ER. Yet Kole lost the game for them?

April 27: This is the game the Angels lost to the Skanks 4-3. No Angel hitter had more than 1 hit (Ohtani was 1-2 with a HR). The Angels were ahead 3-2 going into the 9th, Middleton blew the save in the 9th and Parker gave up the HR to Didi in the 10th for the loss. Yet Kole lost the game for them?

May 8: Angels lost 4-2 to Rockies where Kole hit into the DP as a pinch hitter. Kinsler 0-4, Trout 0-3, Mr Blash 0-2 and pinch hit for by Ohtani who went 0-1, and Cozart with 4 LOB. Yet Kole lost the game for them?

Any others you’d like me to check?

[Blarg]

What the hell does that have anything  to do with what he posted? 

[Lou]

5 minutes ago, Blarg said:

What the hell does that have anything  to do with what he posted? 

He said ROLL TIDE so pipe down!!

 

sorry for yelling 

[Stradling]

1 minute ago, BackUpTheTruck said:

I responded no when he asked "Any others you'd like me to check?"  And as far as "playing not to lose," even if Kole wasn't the #1 reason we lost a particular game, it would still be nice to play the best lineup possible.  Right now, I think there are better options in RF than Kole, and not just Jabari Blash.

You’re right, they should have started Kole the game he ended the game with the double play.  

[Lou]

On May 5, 2018 at 6:16 PM, Lou said:

Calhoun's OPS+ is now 13 points higher than mine. 

I'm gaining on him.

Only 8 points behind him now. 

[stormngt]

2 hours ago, Dick B Back said:

Ok, lets take a look...

April 22: Angels lost 4-2 to Giants. Granted Kole went 0-4 with 4 LOB, but Upton went 0-3, Ohtani 1-4 with 2 Ks, Valbuena 0-4 with 3 LOB, Maldonado 0-2 with 2 LOB, and Cozart 0-3 with 3 Ks. Yet Kole lost the game for them?

April 25: Angels lost 5-2 to the Astros and the Angels had a total of 4 hits. Kole 0-3 with 2 Ks and zero LOB. Kinsler 0-4, Trout 0-4, Upton 0-4 with 2 Ks, Valbuena 0-3 with 2 Ks and 2 LOB, Rivera 0-3 with 2 Ks, and Tropeano 5.1 innings and 4 ER. Yet Kole lost the game for them?

April 27: This is the game the Angels lost to the Skanks 4-3. No Angel hitter had more than 1 hit (Ohtani was 1-2 with a HR). The Angels were ahead 3-2 going into the 9th, Middleton blew the save in the 9th and Parker gave up the HR to Didi in the 10th for the loss. Yet Kole lost the game for them?

May 8: Angels lost 4-2 to Rockies where Kole hit into the DP as a pinch hitter. Kinsler 0-4, Trout 0-3, Mr Blash 0-2 and pinch hit for by Ohtani who went 0-1, and Cozart with 4 LOB. Yet Kole lost the game for them?

Any others you’d like me to check?

Let's stay focused on this.  I can't speak for others but I wasnt analyzing the Angel's losses and identifying which Angel cost them the game.  All losses have contributing factors of play and I dont think any loss can be blamed on a single person.

However, I was looking to see which games did Koles slump contribute significantly to the loss.  Not solely responsible but contributed significantly.

I found two games April 22nd when he went 0-4 and left 4 men on base in a close loss. Where there others....YES.  but his play hurt us because had he not played poorly we could have won despite the poor performance of others.  

The second was May 8th.  Others may have played worse and contributed to the loss more than Kole.  However his DP to end the game really hurt us.

Personally I am surprised it was only two games and believe Kole will snap out of it.  His defense helps us win games (if I am not mistaken Blash misplayed a fly ball in right that Kole probably gets in the May 8th loss) finally I am glad it looks like he is snapping out of it.

[Dick B Back]

6 minutes ago, stormngt said:

Let's stay focused on this.  I can't speak for others but I wasnt analyzing the Angel's losses and identifying which Angel cost them the game.  All losses have contributing factors of play and I dont think any loss can be blamed on a single person.

However, I was looking to see which games did Koles slump contribute significantly to the loss.  Not solely responsible but contributed significantly.

I found two games April 22nd when he went 0-4 and left 4 men on base in a close loss. Where there others....YES.  but his play hurt us because had he not played poorly we could have won despite the poor performance of others.  

The second was May 8th.  Others may have played worse and contributed to the loss more than Kole.  However his DP to end the game really hurt us.

Personally I am surprised it was only two games and believe Kole will snap out of it.  His defense helps us win games (if I am not mistaken Blash misplayed a fly ball in right that Kole probably gets in the May 8th loss) finally I am glad it looks like he is snapping out of it.

I wasn’t replying to you, I was replying to Mr. Truck who started this whole thing when he stated Kole needed to stop costing the Angels games.

[stormngt]

2 minutes ago, Dick B Back said:

I wasn’t replying to you, I was replying to Mr. Truck who started this whole thing when he stated Kole needed to stop costing the Angels games.

Fair enough

[floplag]

At his worst he put up a 2.1 WAR, hes 3 pts below that right now.

To me there are 3 possibilities... 
#1 hes just lost it, maybe an eye issue or some other physical thing that hes just not capable any more.   Now i dont really see that. 
#2 its bad luck.  Hes hit a few balls that just havent dropped.  
#3 its stubbornness and the shift. 

His K rate per AB is actually down from last year, 3.6 to 4.2,. 
His walk rate is what is killing him, up to one every 30.5 AB from last years 8.4. 
That and his apparent refusal to adjust to the shift people are putting on him.   If he had a brain in his head he would drop a bunt up 3B every at bat and hit over 400 or more till they stop it.

Im sort of choosing to look at it like this, if he gets back to anything near his norms, we will see much better performance over the rest of the season.   I guess im being the optimist as i think he is better than he has been so far this season, and we need him to be.  

[Stradling]

10 minutes ago, floplag said:

At his worst he put up a 2.1 WAR, hes 3 pts below that right now.

To me there are 3 possibilities... 
#1 hes just lost it, maybe an eye issue or some other physical thing that hes just not capable any more.   Now i dont really see that. 
#2 its bad luck.  Hes hit a few balls that just havent dropped.  
#3 its stubbornness and the shift. 

His K rate per AB is actually down from last year, 3.6 to 4.2,. 
His walk rate is what is killing him, up to one every 30.5 AB from last years 8.4. 
That and his apparent refusal to adjust to the shift people are putting on him.   If he had a brain in his head he would drop a bunt up 3B every at bat and hit over 400 or more till they stop it.

Im sort of choosing to look at it like this, if he gets back to anything near his norms, we will see much better performance over the rest of the season.   I guess im being the optimist as i think he is better than he has been so far this season, and we need him to be.  

I think he will be fine going forward.  I think it is too late for him to make it all up and be a 2 win player this year, but at this point what he is going forward is what is important.  We had the bunt discussion and it isn't as simple as that.  Placing a bunt is hard at the big league level.  Doing it enough to get them to change the shift is harder.  Doing it once or twice doesn't really solve the fact that he is pulling the ball too often.  So if he doesn't solve that then it doesn't really matter because once they shift again he will hit it right back to the shift.  Kole will never be a guy that bunts every single game, and quite frankly that is what it would take to get managers to stop shifting because math tells them where guys hit the ball.

[floplag]

19 minutes ago, SuperTroopers said:

I think he will be fine going forward.  I think it is too late for him to make it all up and be a 2 win player this year, but at this point what he is going forward is what is important.  We had the bunt discussion and it isn't as simple as that.  Placing a bunt is hard at the big league level.  Doing it enough to get them to change the shift is harder.  Doing it once or twice doesn't really solve the fact that he is pulling the ball too often.  So if he doesn't solve that then it doesn't really matter because once they shift again he will hit it right back to the shift.  Kole will never be a guy that bunts every single game, and quite frankly that is what it would take to get managers to stop shifting because math tells them where guys hit the ball.

its a game of averages, either way i think he will be much better the rest of the way than he has been, assuming hes completely healthy 

Placing a bunt is hard in the bigs, i agree, against a normal defensive config... but when the damned third baseman is at SS its not really that hard, i could damn near beat that out and i have no knees.   Hell just slap it down the 3B line and take the pitcher out of it, Cole can run, he would beat that even if the SS gets to it.   Its ego preventing it as he hasnt even tried to know if it would work or not. 

Why not bunt every game if they are going to give it to you every game?  The shift against him has been silly, use it.  At least freaking try.  Slap up the 3B line still looks like a line drive in the scorebook. 

[Stradling]

Don't get my wrong, I'd love to see him try.  There is a reason, that goes beyond ego, that is preventing most of major league baseball from doing this.  

[Tank]

5 minutes ago, floplag said:

Placing a bunt is hard in the bigs, i agree, against a normal defensive config... but when the damned third baseman is at SS its not really that hard, i could damn near beat that out and i have no knees.   Hell just slap it down the 3B line and take the pitcher out of it, Cole can run, he would beat that even if the SS gets to it.   Its ego preventing it as he hasnt even tried to know if it would work or not. 

Why not bunt every game if they are going to give it to you every game?  The shift against him has been silly, use it.  At least freaking try.  Slap up the 3B line still looks like a line drive in the scorebook. 

Im Tank, and I approve this message.

[zenmaster]

18 minutes ago, floplag said:

Why not bunt every game if they are going to give it to you every game?  The shift against him has been silly, use it.  At least freaking try.  Slap up the 3B line still looks like a line drive in the scorebook. 

That’s bush league man!

/s

[floplag]

6 minutes ago, zenmaster said:

That’s bush league man!

/s

Perhaps, but its still ruled a hit.    

[UndertheHalo]

Alright. 

Enough is enough. Calhoun has to go. Demote or DFA. There’s no way Chris Young is worse.  There’s no way Blash is worse. 

[GrittyVeterans]

He was expected to be a contributor this season and next and it isn't working out. 

I'm willing to accept that it might be time to move on now

[Stradling]

Blash is worse.  No idea if Young is.  He’s not getting DFA. 

[Ohtaniland]

Aw come on guys, what's $15M. Just cut him a check and be done with it.

[UndertheHalo]

2 minutes ago, SuperTroopers said:

Blash is worse.  No idea if Young is.  He’s not getting DFA. 

I don’t know man. It’s quite a thing to be batting .150 with the number of ab’s Kole has.  

Edited May 13, 2018 by UndertheHalo