When Ohtani arrives...

[Torridd]

... do you think the team will get a lot better, get worse, or not change much? I really think they'll get better.

[Make Angels Great Again]

Are you really asking if adding a competent hitter to the lineup will improve this team?

[Dick Enberg]

Ohtani first game we'll be monumental. He'll hit 3, 4 homers, team, fans, go nuts. we ride that wave into a long winning streak and grab the second WC. 

[Angel Oracle]

Anything is better than having Pujols and Bour in the lineup regularly.

[Lou]

in before "can we get any worse?"

[Second Base]

I mean.....rate wise, it's the equivalent of adding a Bryce Harper level bat to the lineup, so that's going to be pretty effective.  Then there's the fact that Mike Trout leads the majors in walks by a fair amount and that's really because the guy hitting behind him (Andrelton Simmons mostly) just isn't that dangerous of a hitter.  So you put a dangerous hitter behind Trout and suddenly walking Trout isn't a carefree decision.  And then there's lineup balance to consider.  Putting a dangerous lefty behind Trout forces a manager to consider who he uses late in games. 

Then there's the fact that based on their barrel rate and contact rate, the Angels offense has been pretty unlucky so far.  They should be scoring more runs.  We can expect that to normalize at any moment unless the hitters take a nose dive. 

So yes, I believe the Angels offense will improve with Ohtani's presence. 

[Adam]

I'm sure Ausmus will fuck it all up somehow.

[Taylor]

2 minutes ago, Adam said:

I'm sure Ausmus will F*ck it all up somehow.

Ohtani will be pulled after 1 AB.

[T.G.]

Is he going to be the closer?

[HaloCory22]

The team will get better and more importantly Trout will get better. He'll actually get pitches to hit with Ohtani protecting him.

[Angel Oracle]

Is the unlucky hitting mainly due to hitting into the shifts?

[totdprods]

34 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

Is the unlucky hitting mainly due to hitting into the shifts?

I know there have been at least 3 games this year where I saw the Angels absolutely crush the ball over and over again and the opposing defense pulled off some great plays - shifting was a factor no doubt, but I think some of it was just plain luck. Game of inches. 

[Taylor]

43 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

Is the unlucky hitting mainly due to hitting into the shifts?

What's their EYE Ratio and BABPIP?

[101halo]

He's going to come back just in time for La Stella to return as La Stella of the last 5 years and not the dude who somehow has 7 HR in a month after 10 in 5 seasons and who has 16 hits, of which 7 are HR, right? 

If so, damnit. 

[IIIII]

Better obviously but don't necessarily expect him to come back and play like last year. He didn't have a proper offseason to prepare and sophomore slumps are legitimate. Even so if he is anything like last year he is obviously a massive replacement over Bour. 

[zenmaster]

Hi, Mr. obvious here, but getting the ROY back should help us I'd like to think. 

[jgimondo]

Who is let go when Ohtani comes back?

[Blarg]

Probably a reliever.

[floplag]

Functionally speaking, its clear he assumes his role as primary DH.  Our current primary DH has given us a 227/341/728 line with 3 HR and a 0.1 WAR to date.

Now, before any of you go getting too excited, it likely mean more Pujols at 1B considering our current 1B has given us a 188/319/610 line with 2 bombs and a -0.1 WAR.

That having been said Bour has done much better vs LH so a platoon is the logical answer.

None of them are going anywhere though, it will just be more reliever munching

[T.G.]

La Stella can probably play some 1B.

[T.G.]

28 minutes ago, jgimondo said:

Who is let go when Ohtani comes back?

Ausmus.  So he doesn't screw it up.

 

j/k

[Troll Daddy]

I wouldn’t be upset if Ohtani batted second 

[Jeff Fletcher]

2 hours ago, Blarg said:

Probably a reliever.

The Angels have 3 off days in a span of 8 days coming up, so that should ease some of the workload on the pitching staff and allow them to go with one less reliever. I haven’t counted the days but it’s possible they could also go with 4 starters and 8 relievers for a turn. Now they have 5 and 8.