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Pujols


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33 minutes ago, Blarg said:

Pujols only appeared in the field 70 games last season and still he couldn't complete the season. I just don't see him logging that many more games in 2019 as a 1B/DH simply because Ohtani is too damn good to sit.

I don’t think it’s so much the total number of games he’ll play on the field in ‘19 that’s the threshold to cross, but more the  management of the frequency (by alternating off days and mapping his DH days to maximize days off of his feet) and the innings by either replacing him for a quicker player late in game, or having him enter in the 6th for a crucial RISP at-bat, then letting him play out the game at 1B since he’s still alright with the glove. 

I think if they did start working him into a role like this, it wouldn’t be too harmful to the team, and would make the most of what little he does still bring to the club.

Maybe it keeps him fresh enough to pick up 400 PA with a .250/.350/.400 for another season or two, making his roster spot a little easier to tolerate. Maybe the reduced playing time convinced him its time.

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Just what the Angels need !!! 350-400 AB’s from a guy that gets on base at a sub .300 clip and who literally can’t run. But hey ! He might run into 15 HR.  Maybe.  

Its crazy that we’re trying to convince ourselves that he might be usable.  Albert isn’t a major league baseball player anymore.  He’ll be worse then last year.  Almost assuredly he’ll end up taking AB’s from a better option.  They need to eat his contract and be done with it.  Let him hang out with the team or whatever like Ichiro, he shouldn’t be playing. 

Edited by UndertheHalo
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4 minutes ago, UndertheHalo said:

He’ll be worse then last year.  Almost assuredly he’ll end up taking AB’s from a better option. 

Maybe. Neither happened last year. I’m sure two years ago, people were saying he’d be worse in ‘18, and he wound up being better. And Marte not Valbuena wound up being better either, even though it was probably safe to say the board would have imagined either would have also been better than Bert in ‘18.

He’s here for at least another year...best we can do is maximize the few parts of his game that still offer something. 

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28 minutes ago, totdprods said:

Maybe it keeps him fresh enough to pick up 400 PA with a .250/.350/.400 for another season or two

I'm sorry, Tot, but that OBP is completely wrong. Pujols reaction time to pitches has dropped off to the point he can't sustain any reasonable OBP. He hasn't been able to for the last four seasons .250/.302/.435/.737

This is his slash line for the last two seasons .243/.287/.397/.684

No management of his off days is erasing four years of decline. 

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13 minutes ago, totdprods said:

Maybe. Neither happened last year. I’m sure two years ago, people were saying he’d be worse in ‘18, and he wound up being better. And Marte not Valbuena wound up being better either, even though it was probably safe to say the board would have imagined either would have also been better than Bert in ‘18.

He’s here for at least another year...best we can do is maximize the few parts of his game that still offer something. 

The bar was so low from 2017 that i don’t know man.  His numbers in ‘18 seem like a pretty Pyrrhic victory.  He was still awful.  You’re right to say that Valbuena and Marte were such dog shit that it could be legitimately argued that Albert deserved the AB’s last year.  In my mind tho Eppler has to do much better then Valbuena and Marte this year and again, we’re talking about a laughably low threshold to clear.  Both among the absolute worst hitters in all of baseball last year.  Which was cool, because it’s always awesome how the Angels get to claim having multiples of the worst hitters in baseball. 

If there’s one stain on Eppler it’s this.  He can’t keep doing this.  He’s got to bring in players that are decent major league contributors.  I like Billy, a lot.  I think he’ll figure it out and I think that he should get a good extension from the Angels.  But.  If he proves unable to find major league players.  Well, maybe he should be the farm and scouting director and not the GM or VP of baseball ops or whatever. 

Edited by UndertheHalo
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28 minutes ago, Blarg said:

I'm sorry, Tot, but that OBP is completely wrong. Pujols reaction time to pitches has dropped off to the point he can't sustain any reasonable OBP. He hasn't been able to for the last four seasons .250/.302/.435/.737

This is his slash line for the last two seasons .243/.287/.397/.684

No management of his off days is erasing four years of decline. 

I meant to type .300/.400/.700

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last year was supposed to be his comeback year where he spent the previous off season being healthy so he could prepare for the season and it help a little bit.  Then he got to game 100 and pretty much fell apart so they shut him down early with the intent of trying to get him healthy again.  Yet it sounds like he's had two surgeries this off season which started for him at the end of August.  

First of all, he played in 32 of the first 33 games last year.  That can't happen anymore.  

Second, Ohtani should get every single DH at bat.  He was good enough vs. lefties once he became full time DH that you can't justify playing Albert over him with any consistency.  Maybe a few games a year, but if he's gonna relegate Shohei to the bench, that's a huge mistake.  

They essentially need to treat Albert like they would a rookie pitcher and put him on an innings limit.  Whatever limited value he has is as a 1bman but the more he's out there the more he breaks down.  

I would prefer to see them prorate his time over the course of the season.  Perhaps set him at 100 games total.  Give him about 15 games and if he shows any sign of fatigue, then he gets a trip to the DL for 10 days.  Wash, rinse, repeat.  I know Albert is a trooper and wants to be out there, but they're going to have to make this very clear.  There were some plays where he dove at 1b last year and it took him 20-30 seconds to get up.  From being on his belly, slowly to his knees, then one foot up and pause.  Then the next foot up and pause.  It's like me getting up after I tripped on the keg hose at a company softball tournament.  

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Thanks @Dochalo that's a great and realistic summary.

There's a few telling splits over his last few years that start painting a picture of what might be going on, and what the Angels can try and maximize going forward. 
I won't go back and dig all of it, but I've watched his situational splits the last few seasons and they are consistent.

2018:
vs. Power pitchers: (53 G, 92 PA) .182/.217/.227/.445 with 2 XBH, 4 BB, 17 K,
vs. Finesse pitchers: (87 G, 274 PA) .276/.321/.472/.794 with 26 XBH, 16 BB, 31 K

w/ RISP: (86 G, 147 PA) .285/.347/.385/.732 - only 4 doubles, 3 homers, 14 walks, 15 strikeouts
w/ none on (111 G, 259 PA: .223/.259/.437/.696 - 11 doubles, 14 homers, 11 walks, 38 strikeouts
When Albert is up and the bases are empty, he doesn't try to walk, he doesn't try to get a hit, he goes straight for the HR. 
With RBI opps ahead of him, his approach changes dramatically - the dramatic decrease in SLG, increase in BA and OBP - he shortens up, works the count, and makes contact. 
Albert's highest SLG % (.464) also comes when the Angels are within 1 run.? Second highest? Tie games. 


They also back up the idea that Albert is still a threat in the right situations - I honestly think he know's he 75% toast. 
When the Angels are way down, or way up, he swings away, going for the HR, avoiding walks and base hits. 
When he's up and the Angels are threatening to score or within a run, he drops the HR focus and becomes a decent hitter. 
I think he knows he hurts the team when he's on the bases, so when he's up leading off an inning or with the bases empty, he swings away. 
Put guys on base and he does what's necessary to extend the inning - walks, works counts, doesn't go for the big HR. 

The problem is the Angels treat him like a full-time player when he really can't be that anymore.
As @Dochalo said, 32 of the first 33 games! That's reckless.
If he's full-time, yes, .250/.300/.400/.700 is probably the best we can hope for. 

If he's utilized more in a part-time role, with more resting days, a PH appearance each night in a key moment, then I actually think he could be closer to a .260/.320/.430/.750...but capped at 300-400 PA. Call it a 'Situational Hitter' instead of a PH or DH, and put him in when the pitcher and situation is right for where he succeeds. Start him as DH when in NL parks, give him a start when they're up against an obvious finesse pitcher, sit him against the power pitchers, bring him in the 5th inning in place of Kevan Smith or Zack Cozart or Kole Calhoun if there's two runners on and 1 out and let him do his thing, and either keep him in for 'defense' the rest of the game or replace him when it makes the most sense.
 
 

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6 hours ago, UndertheHalo said:

The bar was so low from 2017 that i don’t know man.  His numbers in ‘18 seem like a pretty Pyrrhic victory.  He was still awful.  You’re right to say that Valbuena and Marte were such dog shit that it could be legitimately argued that Albert deserved the AB’s last year.  In my mind tho Eppler has to do much better then Valbuena and Marte this year and again, we’re talking about a laughably low threshold to clear.  Both among the absolute worst hitters in all of baseball last year.  Which was cool, because it’s always awesome how the Angels get to claim having multiples of the worst hitters in baseball. 

If there’s one stain on Eppler it’s this.  He can’t keep doing this.  He’s got to bring in players that are decent major league contributors.  I like Billy, a lot.  I think he’ll figure it out and I think that he should get a good extension from the Angels.  But.  If he proves unable to find major league players.  Well, maybe he should be the farm and scouting director and not the GM or VP of baseball ops or whatever. 

I really think this has to do with the state of the farm.  Most of the Angels' free agent acquisitions have been busts over the years, and it has been the farm (even a low rated one) that helped the major league team.

Most of the high level prospects for the Angels are in the lower minors.  They can't help yet.

So the big club ends up depending on castoffs like John Lamb and Jabari Blash.  That makes a big difference in a long season.

 

We're still being Dipoto-ised. IMHO.

Edited by NotMyCat
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