Cowart

[WeatherWonk]

49 minutes ago, stormngt said:

Trout will be walked a lot if Babe Ruth was hitting behind him.

Teams would prefer taking that kind of chance on a 2-3 run HR over a solo HR? No way. You are dramatically underestimating how good Ruth was.

In any event, it would be nice to actually take more advantage of all these walks. I dont have much faith in Albert or Upton to provide this. Trout might score 140-150 runs with Machado behind him.

 

[GrittyVeterans]

4 minutes ago, Stradling said:

I’ve always liked Cowart, but yea he’s certainly in the bottom 3 right now.  Marte, EYjr, who else?

Akeel 

i was including pitchers too 

[WeatherWonk]

1 minute ago, John Taylor said:

I've noticed Cowart keeps changing up his batting stance as well, I remember a couple years ago he was trying more of a John Olerud type swing with the bat resting on his shoulder, how he holds the bat farther out and it looks like he response time to the ball is worse.

I was a bigger fan of his previous batting stance but I noticed that when I check my voicemail I currently have no offers from any baseball team to be a hitting coach, so my opinion on this matter is worth about as much as Valbuena meant to this team.

Seems like he's emulating Matt Olson. He also seems like he's moved closer to the plate and he's swinging right over the top of cutters and sliders from righties, which is about all he faces. 

[Stradling]

30 minutes ago, GrittyVeterans said:

Akeel 

i was including pitchers too 

I agree but I assumed he was sent down when Skaggs was activated. Also I’m not sure today he’s better than EYjr.   

[tomsred]

11 hours ago, mulwin444 said:

Ward at least seems to know how to take a walk and make contact which is encouraging...

Cowart has had only 36 AB's this year (Fletcher by comparison 156 AB's), and Cowart has walked 6 times (Fletcher 10 times).  I don't have his contact rate, but I don't think it is out of line with Fletcher.  I will look up Ward's PCL rates and see if anything is unusual.

Edit:  The glittzy part for Ward is the batting average and OPS (.350 and .973).  He has had 60 K's in 223 AB's (that is pretty high and slightly higher than Cowart at the major league level).  He has also only walked 35 times, about the same rate as Cowart at the major league level this year.  But again Cowart has a pretty small sample size to work with at the major league level this year.  I'm trending toward Jeff on this one, somehow the PCL just doesn't really give a great indication of major league performance right now.  I guess we will find out more in September.

While digging in the stats, I did see one thing that jumped out about Cowart.  Among today's starters Cowart has hit for the highest average distance of any Angels starter - 220.3 feet.  But that is with a small sample size, and since his average launch angle is high 16.1 degrees that probably means he has a disproportionate share of fly ball outs.  One thing that is good is that I think they seem to be focused on keeping him in the lineup for the rest of the month, so we will see if he can adjust to something better than he is showing now.  If not, I'm sure we will see Ward in September. 

[tdawg87]

Ward is kinda a wildcard at this point. Since 2017, his walk rate has been 14.5%, so he's shown a good eye even before the change to 3rd.  

There's really no telling what he can do. He actually raised his ceiling quite a bit this year. Could he be a Donaldson type, .275/.370/.500? Or a Candelario, .240/.325/.400?

I think he'll stick, but whether he's a good MLB player or just a guy remains to be seen.

 

 

[stormngt]

3 hours ago, WeatherWonk said:

Teams would prefer taking that kind of chance on a 2-3 run HR over a solo HR? No way. You are dramatically underestimating how good Ruth was.

In any event, it would be nice to actually take more advantage of all these walks. I dont have much faith in Albert or Upton to provide this. Trout might score 140-150 runs with Machado behind him.

 

It's called sarcasm.  

[UndertheHalo]

Cowart is what he is.  He’s a bench player with a decent glove.  Teams have use for these guys.    I’m not sure why we keep obsessing over this.  All of the scouting publications say Ward is still working on his glove.  Eppler says Ward is still working on his glove.  Why isn’t that an acceptable answer ? He’s not ready yet, when he is he’ll come up. 

I’m sure he’ll get his 50 AB’s or whatever when the rosters expand in September. 

Edited August 12, 2018 by UndertheHalo

[WeatherWonk]

37 minutes ago, stormngt said:

It's called sarcasm.  

Sorry, sometimes hard to recognize in print.

[tdawg87]

56 minutes ago, UndertheHalo said:

Cowart is what he is.  He’s a bench player with a decent glove.  Teams have use for these guys.    I’m not sure why we keep obsessing over this.  All of the scouting publications say Ward is still working on his glove.  Eppler says Ward is still working on his glove.  Why isn’t that an acceptable answer ? He’s not ready yet, when he is he’ll come up. 

I’m sure he’ll get his 50 AB’s or whatever when the rosters expand in September. 

Where did Eppler say that? Serious question.

I would still say that's not an acceptable answer because we aren't competing. The pressure is off. Let him get some swings in and take his bumps at 3rd. 

Are 19 days really going to determine if he's ready at 3rd or not? That's dumb. Release Marte and bring him up. We have a hole at 3rd and a guy killing it in the minors yet we're coming up with every excuse imaginable to not let him play. We need to see if he's a viable option for 2019. Hell even if his glove doesn't stick, maybe his bat will? 

[UndertheHalo]

31 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

Where did Eppler say that? Serious question.

I would still say that's not an acceptable answer because we aren't competing. The pressure is off. Let him get some swings in and take his bumps at 3rd. 

Are 19 days really going to determine if he's ready at 3rd or not? That's dumb. Release Marte and bring him up. We have a hole at 3rd and a guy killing it in the minors yet we're coming up with every excuse imaginable to not let him play. We need to see if he's a viable option for 2019. Hell even if his glove doesn't stick, maybe his bat will? 

It was one of the interviews after they traded Kinsler.  I’m all for cutting Marte.  Maybe you’re right, it doesn’t matter whether Ward comes up now or not.   But I just continue to think all the rage about it is pointless.  The front office has its reasons.  Maybe they’re planning on trading him and don’t want him to come up and scuffle.  I mean, who knows. 

Edited August 12, 2018 by UndertheHalo

[tdawg87]

1 minute ago, UndertheHalo said:

Maybe you’re right, it doesn’t matter whether a

RIP UtH

[UndertheHalo]

1 minute ago, tdawg87 said:

RIP UtH

My stupid phone shat itself. 

[tdawg87]

11 minutes ago, UndertheHalo said:

My stupid phone shat itself. 

We call that "The stormngt"

[ettin]

2 hours ago, UndertheHalo said:

Cowart is what he is.  He’s a bench player with a decent glove.  Teams have use for these guys.    I’m not sure why we keep obsessing over this.  All of the scouting publications say Ward is still working on his glove.  Eppler says Ward is still working on his glove.  Why isn’t that an acceptable answer ? He’s not ready yet, when he is he’ll come up. 

I’m sure he’ll get his 50 AB’s or whatever when the rosters expand in September. 

There are still a lot of people who want Cowart to be more than he actually is, is the answer.

But you are 100% correct he is a utility guy, now.

[stormngt]

2 hours ago, tdawg87 said:

Where did Eppler say that? Serious question.

I would still say that's not an acceptable answer because we aren't competing. The pressure is off. Let him get some swings in and take his bumps at 3rd. 

Are 19 days really going to determine if he's ready at 3rd or not? That's dumb. Release Marte and bring him up. We have a hole at 3rd and a guy killing it in the minors yet we're coming up with every excuse imaginable to not let him play. We need to see if he's a viable option for 2019. Hell even if his glove doesn't stick, maybe his bat will? 

Does the service time have anything to do with it?

I maybe wrong, but if we bring him up now (when he us not ready defensively ) dont we lose a year of club control than if we bring him up in June 2019?

[tdawg87]

3 minutes ago, stormngt said:

Does the service time have anything to do with it?

I maybe wrong, but if we bring him up now (when he us not ready defensively ) dont we lose a year of club control than if we bring him up in June 2019?

I would say at this point it shouldn't matter. He turns 25 in December. No need to worry about starting his clock too early.

I mean if they don't feel he's ready then there's nothing we can do. I just don't understand keeping him in AAA. I understand there isn't a roster spot for him currently but that can be easily fixed.

[stormngt]

6 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

I would say at this point it shouldn't matter. He turns 25 in December. No need to worry about starting his clock too early.

I mean if they don't feel he's ready then there's nothing we can do. I just don't understand keeping him in AAA. I understand there isn't a roster spot for him currently but that can be easily fixed.

Paying 500k when he is not ready? Also it's a year or two earlier for arbitration.  Dont you want to pool at that money when he isnt a defensive liability?

[tdawg87]

18 minutes ago, stormngt said:

Paying 500k when he is not ready? Also it's a year or two earlier for arbitration.  Dont you want to pool at that money when he isnt a defensive liability?

500k is literally pocket change in baseball. 

And if he sucks, we don't have to worry about arbitration. If he is great, we still don't have to worry about arbitration for him until 2021 at the absolute earliest. We kinda need to win now.

[Jeff Fletcher]

There are really no meaningful roster or financial reasons not to bring Ward up. 

Sure, you’d gain a year of control with him if you wait till mid April 2019, but that’s not really something that matters with this type of guy. It’s really only a consideration with franchise type players. 

Thaiss is a different situation because he doesn’t need to go the 40-man till next year. 

[DMVol]

3 minutes ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

There are really no meaningful roster or financial reasons not to bring Ward up. 

Sure, you’d gain a year of control with him if you wait till mid April 2019, but that’s not really something that matters with this type of guy. It’s really only a consideration with franchise type players. 

Thaiss is a different situation because he doesn’t need to go the 40-man till next year. 

Not sure Thaiss would be ahead of Fernandez for 1b AB’s....Ward is a different story with Cowart...

[TroutAdell]

Ward will be up in September and should see plenty of playing time. For now, Fernandez should get the bulk of playing time at third. Cowart has had plenty of time to show what he has and he just doesn’t hit enough to stay. Next season Cozart will plug into either second, third or utility infielder. Fletcher will at least be an utility man. There is no room for Cowart. 

 

[Taylor]

23 hours ago, Memories of 02 said:

With Ward, the Angels number one pick of 2015, having torn up both the Southern League, and the PCL, this year with almost eerie, consistency, and within a hare's breath of stepping on stage, in the show, has the time arrived to give up on Kaleb?

I'd like to hear @EnglishCop's take on this.

[Lou]

27 minutes ago, Taylor said:

I'd like to hear @EnglishCop's take on this.

I, think he may, have an, issue or two with, some of the punct,uation.

Just a , hunch on my, part.

[Lou]

Cowart blows.