Shoemaker starts tonight

[Glen]

I'm cautiously optimistic.

No whammy.

[totdprods]

I'm excited. It's a big deal if he's healthy this September. Encouraging that docs finally found what was wrong, and that it wasn't something chronic or a number of issues.

He's either a steady, back of rotation vet (which we need), a SP with options we can shuffle to AAA if needed (which we need), at his best, a great #3 and lite #2 (which we need), or if we make other moves, a pitcher who could be dealt to fill another need such as catcher....

Which we need.

Big month for Shoe. Hoping for the best!

[Glen]

Shoetember starts tonight!

[failos]

AWESOME

[greginpsca]

What kind of pitch limit is he on?

[Troll Daddy]

 

[Jeff Fletcher]

6 hours ago, totdprods said:

I'm excited. It's a big deal if he's healthy this September. Encouraging that docs finally found what was wrong, and that it wasn't something chronic or a number of issues.

He's either a steady, back of rotation vet (which we need), a SP with options we can shuffle to AAA if needed (which we need), at his best, a great #3 and lite #2 (which we need), or if we make other moves, a pitcher who could be dealt to fill another need such as catcher....

Which we need.

Big month for Shoe. Hoping for the best!

This is what Shoe believes, and if he’s right, it’s a significant thing worth keeping in mind. 

He didn’t have some joint issue (elbow or shoulder) and he hasn’t had a recurring string of injuries. He’s been out for a long time because the one thing that’s been wrong was really hard to find. But once they found it, it’s easy to fix. 

So he shouldn’t be lumped in with the other pitchers who get the injury-prone tag. 

 

[failos]

GRIT

[Jay]

Good to see Shoe back and healthy again.

 

[Angel Oracle]

Is his heat now better than it's ever been, due to the lack of stress on his arm the past two seasons?     Would be nice if he could use the splitter a little bit less, and mix up his pitches more. 

[totdprods]

11 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

Is his heat now better than it's ever been, due to the lack of stress on his arm the past two seasons?     Would be nice if he could use the splitter a little bit less, and mix up his pitches more. 

I saw a tweet that his fastball velocity was the highest it had been since '16.

[krAbs]

13 hours ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

This is what Shoe believes, and if he’s right, it’s a significant thing worth keeping in mind. 

He didn’t have some joint issue (elbow or shoulder) and he hasn’t had a recurring string of injuries. He’s been out for a long time because the one thing that’s been wrong was really hard to find. But once they found it, it’s easy to fix. 

So he shouldn’t be lumped in with the other pitchers who get the injury-prone tag. 

 

I know you are an Angels beat writer, so this isn't the kind of question you like to answer, but...I believe your analysis of Shoemaker - but, who ARE the pitchers who deserve the injury-prone tag, in your opinion? Meyer and Rich are obvious; Skaggs, Heaney, and Ohtani seem likely. Would you also throw Trop and JC Ramirez in there as well? A lot of these guys have pretty small sample size, but I trust your injury judgement more than I trust my own.

Side note, damn that's a long list of starting pitchers with an ugly injury history.

[Jeff Fletcher]

1 hour ago, krAbs said:

I know you are an Angels beat writer, so this isn't the kind of question you like to answer, but...I believe your analysis of Shoemaker - but, who ARE the pitchers who deserve the injury-prone tag, in your opinion? Meyer and Rich are obvious; Skaggs, Heaney, and Ohtani seem likely. Would you also throw Trop and JC Ramirez in there as well? A lot of these guys have pretty small sample size, but I trust your injury judgement more than I trust my own.

Side note, damn that's a long list of starting pitchers with an ugly injury history.

For starters, pitching is bad for you. 

Some guys are more susceptible to injuries because they throw really hard or have bad mechanics. 

Others just have had one big injury (TJ) that takes a long time to recover from but then usually leads to a decent stretch of arm health. 

So let me answer this way. Here are the pitchers I think are most likely to be healthy next year....

Barría, Shoemaker, Heaney, Skaggs. Three of them had no (significant) arm issues this year and Shoemaker’s (non elbow, shoulder) issue was fixed. I think it’s reasonable to get 25 starts from each of them. 

After that, obviously Ohtani is going to be something of a ticking time bomb because he throws so hard. I assume he’s going to have TJ someday, but maybe it’ll be 7 years from now. 

JC Ramírez ought to be OK after he comes back, but it probably won’t be till 2020 that he’s 100 percent. 

Meyer has had shoulder trouble, which is way worse than elbow trouble, so I think whatever he gives the Angels going forward is a bonus. That’s also why I’m not sure about Tropeano, although his is much less serious. 

I have no idea about Peña. He could be another JC Ramírez (reliever who blows out after extra work of starting) or he could be fine.

If i were building the rotation for next year I’d plan on Ohtani, Heaney, Skaggs, Barria and Shoemaker as the top 5, and I’d look to add one or two Gio Gonzalez types for some innings coverage. Maybe a Lance Lynn bounce back. 

[Angel Oracle]

Fletch, what are your thoughts on Canning, Suarez, and Sandoval?     The first two struggled some in a hitters' league (PCL) before settling down some.    Sandoval didn't give up much of anything in high-A ball or AA.

All still half a year to a year away?

[Jeff Fletcher]

1 hour ago, Angel Oracle said:

Fletch, what are your thoughts on Canning, Suarez, and Sandoval?     The first two struggled some in a hitters' league (PCL) before settling down some.    Sandoval didn't give up much of anything in high-A ball or AA.

All still half a year to a year away?

I am sure all 3 will be in the majors. I think it’s too early to count on any of them. 

[tdawg87]

Shoe has balls behind his beard.

[Docwaukee]

42 minutes ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

I am sure all 3 will be in the majors. I think it’s too early to count on any of them. 

I think it's a good idea to make a point not to.  

 

[Jobu]

On 9/4/2018 at 12:42 PM, Jeff Fletcher said:

 After that, obviously Ohtani is going to be something of a ticking time bomb because he throws so hard. I assume he’s going to have TJ someday, but maybe it’ll be 7 hours from now. 

 

Fixed.

[Angel Oracle]

Fletch, another question....does the heavy use of splitters increase susceptibility to elbow issues?    I've heard both sides for answers.

[Jeff Fletcher]

18 hours ago, Angel Oracle said:

Fletch, another question....does the heavy use of splitters increase susceptibility to elbow issues?    I've heard both sides for answers.

I don’t believe there’s ever been definitive proof of this. It might be a problem for some guys, but everyone is different. Garrett Richards thinks the changeup caused his problems in 2017.