Gameday Thread: Angels vs. Rays (5/18/2018) Hermosillo In/ Calhoun Out

[Waybackman]

Glad the cleanup hitter is up

[Lou]

1 minute ago, OHTANILAND said:

Come on Albert, you can do it!

Are you drunk?

[Ohtaniland]

They should allow 42 year old players to use aluminum bats.

Oh well...

[Lou]

Just now, Waybackman said:

Glad the cleanup hitter is up

and the #3 hitter 

[fan_since79]

The book on Angels hitters: 

High fastballs. They will swing.

[Ohtani&Trout]

Pujols has a .685 OPS now. How much longer will this be tolerated before he’s released? If the guy had any pride or dignity he would retire but he’s only in it to pad his HR and RBI totals 

[Jason]

This is Scioscia's last season with the Halos so you would think he'd just drop Pujols in the line up and put Ohtani there without worrying about pissing people off.

[IEAngelsfan]

15 minutes ago, Erstad Grit said:

Can't believe I went to the game and I'm  home watching it on TV and its the 5th still.  

Before you judge,  my 3 year old loves going to the games but he's done at 830 or melt down.  We normally go to the Saturday 6pm games but he wanted the monkey.  

Good thing you left the game.  You don't want Child Protective Services accusing you of subjecting your son to cruel and unusual punishment for watching the Angels play.

[TroutField]

1 minute ago, Jason said:

This is Scioscia's last season with the Halos so you would think he'd just drop Pujols in the line up and put Ohtani there without worrying about pissing people off.

Seriously, it’s kinda sad at this point that the Angels continue to think he is worthy of hitting 4th. Marte is a better option at this point in Albert’s career. 

[Warfarin]

1 minute ago, Ohtani&Trout said:

Pujols has a .685 OPS now. How much longer will this be tolerated before he’s released? If the guy had any pride or dignity he would retire but he’s only in it to pad his HR and RBI totals 

If you knew you would be paid 100 million dollars over 4 years so long as you just show up to work and didn't quit, I doubt you would quit.  I think 99% of our society would fall into this category, too.  No one is walking away from that kind of money.

[Highsteppingbruin]

1 minute ago, Ohtani&Trout said:

Pujols has a .685 OPS now. How much longer will this be tolerated before he’s released? If the guy had any pride or dignity he would retire but he’s only in it to pad his HR and RBI totals 

Isn't his contract guaranteed? Bad contract. But that shouldn't stop them from giving him "more rest".
 

[fan_since79]

1 minute ago, Jason said:

This is Scioscia's last season with the Halos so you would think he'd just drop Pujols in the line up and put Ohtani there without worrying about pissing people off.

Maybe he knows something we don't.

If we even sniff the playoffs there will be a short extension, maybe two years. Book it.

[Erstad Grit]

Mariners just tied their game

[Jason]

Just now, fan_since79 said:

Maybe he knows something we don't.

If we even sniff the playoffs there will be a short extension, maybe two years. Book it.

Playoffs? With this offense and bullpen? I wouldn't count on it.

[TroutField]

2 minutes ago, Ohtani&Trout said:

Pujols has a .685 OPS now. How much longer will this be tolerated before he’s released? If the guy had any pride or dignity he would retire but he’s only in it to pad his HR and RBI totals 

That’s my thinking... how does playing like this not hurt his ego enough to walk away. 

 

If if I was top of my profession and fell off so much that I was one of the worst at my job I would probably just call it quits. He has enough money to never have to worry about it for a couple of generations for his family. 

[JarsOfClay]

1 minute ago, fan_since79 said:

Maybe he knows something we don't.

If we even sniff the playoffs there will be a short extension, maybe two years. Book it.

You're crazy lol. Scioscia is so done after this year, he may not even last the season.

Eppler is too smart to keep Scioscia around.

[TroutField]

1 minute ago, JarsOfClay said:

You're crazy lol. Scioscia is so done after this year, he may not even last the season.

Eppler is too smart to keep Scioscia around.

Eppler ignored the bullpen on a team expected to make the playoffs...

[Warfarin]

Looking at the bright side, Ramirez had another solid outing and Parker is looking pretty good again.  We'll need these guys to step up with Middleton down.

In reality, it's clear we are not as good as our 13-3 start indicated, but likewise I don't think we're as bad as our recent stretch, either.  When the season started, I felt we were a mid-high 80s win team (86-88 wins), enough to be in the thick of the second wild card.  We appear to likely be on that kind of trajectory, which is a significant improvement from last year.  We are making good, positive progress.

[Erstad Grit]

Mariners just took the lead

[fan_since79]

1 minute ago, JarsOfClay said:

You're crazy lol. Scioscia is so done after this year, he may not even last the season.

Eppler is too smart to keep Scioscia around.

LOL. 

Scioscia is a survivor. GM's around here come and go, but he remains. 

[TroutField]

How long of a leash does Bedrosian get? He’s very very bad, his fastball isn’t even that firm anymore and he always leaves his pitches over the heart of the plate. 

[stormngt]

8 minutes ago, Ohtani&Trout said:

Pujols has a .685 OPS now. How much longer will this be tolerated before he’s released? If the guy had any pride or dignity he would retire but he’s only in it to pad his HR and RBI totals 

At least two more years.  

[Warfarin]

1 minute ago, TroutField said:

Eppler ignored the bullpen on a team expected to make the playoffs...

Eppler has made some fantastic changes to our organization, but he isn't perfect.  The Valbuena signing has been a poor one.  The Kinsler acquisition so far hasn't generated results.  Cozart started off nicely, but as the season wears on, it appears that perhaps his 2017 season was a fluke and he was more of the player we saw in previous years. 

Sometimes, things just don't work out, but overall, we've improved considerably since he has taken over.

[Angelsfan1984]

23 minutes ago, Lou said:

I don't recall you bitching like a little schoolgirl when wee were winning 7 of 9 games. 

You sure about that? I've said from day one that bad decisions are irrelevant of outcome. Go ahead and verify that 

[JarsOfClay]

2 minutes ago, TroutField said:

Eppler ignored the bullpen on a team expected to make the playoffs...

A lot of the bullpen arms were a bit unproven. He probably wanted to wait it out and see how it goes. And then address it during the season.