If Ohtani goes beast mode. How much of a difference will it make ?

[UndertheHalo]

Obviously a star MOTO bat is a big deal, but how substantial of an impact can he make ? It seems to me that if Canning can stick and Ohtani can be great that it may be enough to get this thing turned around.  Here’s to hoping !

[fan_since79]

Ohtani will provide a much needed spark but they'll probably sit him against left handers.

Canning could be a real boost too, but the rotation is still very uncertain. 

[Dick Enberg]

I'm hoping with Ohtani getting back in the line up, trout will go on a tear. Trouts been so "middle of the road" the last two weeks. 

I think Ohtani will be slightly overmatched his 3, 4, 5 games back. Wish he spent a few days at Salt Lake playing real time baseball. sure, Ohtani  has been facing minor league pitching, but in a controlled environment. 

 

[UndertheHalo]

They’ve said that they are not platooning him.  Which is right.  I will be extremely disappointed if they platoon a player like Ohtani.  

[Chuck]

23 minutes ago, UndertheHalo said:

Obviously a star MOTO bat is a big deal, but how substantial of an impact can he make ? It seems to me that if Canning can stick and Ohtani can be great that it may be enough to get this thing turned around.  Here’s to hoping !

Good post. 

I still think it will come down to starting pitching. 

So far the only two that I trust is an oft-injured inconsistent Skaggs and a rookie in Canning. Pena is good for 3-5 innings tops usually, but Harvey, Cahill and Stratton have been a steaming pile of horse dung. 

Barria doesn't look like the same guy as last year either as he's not getting AAA hitters out. 

Maybe if Suarez builds off his first start last night with the Bees he'll be a third arm in the rotation we can count on.

We should have signed Gio Gonzalez if we really wanted a chance to win. So dumb. While he's not a #1 or #2 guy, he's definitely that #3 arm that can log solid innings giving the team an opportunity to win ball games.

Eppler has misfired on so many FA signings and opportunities passed way too often. 

[Jeff Fletcher]

1 hour ago, fan_since79 said:

 

Ohtani will provide a much needed spark but they'll probably sit him against left handers.

 

Ausmus has said many times that Ohtani will play against lefties. When he does get a day off (once a week? Once every 2 weeks?) it’ll be against a lefty though. 

[Angelsjunky]

He's got to learn to hit lefties eventually, might as well do it now when the team isn't very good.

As for the question, who knows. La Stella and Goodwin have been playing over their heads, so there will be some evening out. But the big impact might be on Trout - he'll finally have a feared hitter behind him. and (hopefully) get more than one good pitch to hit per game.

[ScottT]

One win per month. Maybe a bit more since he'll be taking away at bats from Bour, who has been horrible.   Although I think he'd eventually perform better offensively, Bour's floor is ugly, and there's no reason to wait to see what happens with him.  I think the idea of lineup protection is overblown, but Ohtani should help Trout a bit.  Ohtani's ability to get on base should help those behind him a little, too, since batters generally do better with men on base.  

[UndertheHalo]

He hit lefties fine last year, especially towards the end of the year when they stopped being dumb fu*ks about it.  He also hit lefties fine in Japan.  This idea that maybe they’ll platoon him is completely insane.  (They’ve repeatedly said that they won’t) 

[Troll Daddy]

Ohtani doesn’t have to go beast ... once Justin joins the party the offense should compete with the best offenses in baseball. 

The team could be scary good if they can get the pitching under control. 

[Stradling]

5 hours ago, Chuckster70 said:

Good post. 

I still think it will come down to starting pitching. 

So far the only two that I trust is an oft-injured inconsistent Skaggs and a rookie in Canning. Pena is good for 3-5 innings tops usually, but Harvey, Cahill and Stratton have been a steaming pile of horse dung. 

Barria doesn't look like the same guy as last year either as he's not getting AAA hitters out. 

Maybe if Suarez builds off his first start last night with the Bees he'll be a third arm in the rotation we can count on.

We should have signed Gio Gonzalez if we really wanted a chance to win. So dumb. While he's not a #1 or #2 guy, he's definitely that #3 arm that can log solid innings giving the team an opportunity to win ball games.

Eppler has misfired on so many FA signings and opportunities passed way too often. 

If Gio Gonzalez was a #3 starter he would have been signed to a major league contract in the off season instead of a minor league deal with an opt out.  Or if he was a #3 starter then the Yankees when they had multiple injuries to starting pitchers would have brought him up and paid him like the contract he signed.  Bottom line is he is not a #3 starter anymore.  Still would be better than what we have seen from most of our guys, but like people like to point out, that isn’t a very high bar.  

[Chuck]

40 minutes ago, Stradling said:

If Gio Gonzalez was a #3 starter he would have been signed to a major league contract in the off season instead of a minor league deal with an opt out.  Or if he was a #3 starter then the Yankees when they had multiple injuries to starting pitchers would have brought him up and paid him like the contract he signed.  Bottom line is he is not a #3 starter anymore.  Still would be better than what we have seen from most of our guys, but like people like to point out, that isn’t a very high bar.  

Keuchel is a #3 guy and he's not signed. I really doubt it's because of the 2nd round pick too. 

Gio was sensational after he was traded to the Brewers, helping them make it to postseason play with 5 solid starts in Sept going, 25 IP, with 22 K and a 2.15 ERA, 0.96 WHIP. He's picked it up where he's left off so far over his two starts this season. 2.61 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP through two starts. He also has the track record of being a solid pitcher over a long period of time. 

Doesn't matter if you want to argue if Gio is still a #3 or not, he would have been a great addition on a minor league deal before he went to the Yankees, then again when he was a FA when the Brewers to sign him. 

 

[Stradling]

8 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

Keuchel is a #3 guy and he's not signed. I really doubt it's because of the 2nd round pick too. 

Gio was sensational after he was traded to the Brewers, helping them make it to postseason play with 5 solid starts in Sept going, 25 IP, with 22 K and a 2.15 ERA, 0.96 WHIP. He's picked it up where he's left off so far over his two starts this season. 2.61 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP through two starts. He also has the track record of being a solid pitcher over a long period of time. 

Doesn't matter if you want to argue if Gio is still a #3 or not, he would have been a great addition on a minor league deal before he went to the Yankees, then again when he was a FA when the Brewers to sign him. 

 

Keuchel has a draft pick attached, Gio didn’t.  Ok Chuck seriously, if you are going to sign a minor league deal in the off season do you sign with the Angels or the Yankees.  The Yankees in the off season put together a bullpen that I thought would take them to the World Series, but they have been decimated by injuries.  And when he opted out of the Yankees why would he choose the Angels over the Brewers who are better than us, who he is familiar with and was one game away from the World Series?  Yes he would be a nice addition. If he wanted to play here my guess is Eppler would have made it happen.  

[stormngt]

7 hours ago, UndertheHalo said:

Obviously a star MOTO bat is a big deal, but how substantial of an impact can he make ? It seems to me that if Canning can stick and Ohtani can be great that it may be enough to get this thing turned around.  Here’s to hoping !

There is no impact until we start having 60% of our starters have ERAs below 8

[stormngt]

6 hours ago, fan_since79 said:

Ohtani will provide a much needed spark but they'll probably sit him against left handers.

Canning could be a real boost too, but the rotation is still very uncertain. 

Ausmus was quoted otherwise 

[mmc]

He isn't pitching this season so not that much.

[Docwaukee]

I wouldn't expect much from Ohtani for at least a month.  Yes, he's been facing real pitching but not in real game situations.  

We're at -0.2 WAR from the DH spot so his presence should be positive sooner than later but it will likely offset some of the over achievement from Goodwin and La Stella.  Also, Cozart coming back likely won't help as well. 

Here is the WAR from each position and mlb rank.  Includes offense and defense:

DH - 18th rank.  -0.2 WAR.  Albert at -0.5.  
C - 19th.  0.3 WAR.  
1b - 18th.  0.3 WAR.  Albert at 0.5. 
2b - 19th. 0.2 WAR.   La Stella at 0.3
SS - 13th.  0.9 WAR.  
3b - 22nd.  0.2 WAR.  Fletcher at 0.5.  Cozart at -0.3.  La Stella at 0.2.  
RF - 11th.  0.8 WAR.  Goodwin 0.5.  Calhoun 0.3
CF - 14th.  (haha just kidding).  2.1 WAR.  
LF - 23rd.  -0.1 WAR.  0.2 from Goodwin (defensive butcher there so far though).  Bourjos -0.3 WAR in LF and -0.5 WAR overall in 26 games with 46 PA.  

16th in WAR overall with 4.1.  Still rockin' the lowest BABIP in the AL.  

The good news is that even if Goodwin and La Stella level off, others should have some regression in that regard.  

But it makes sense that two of the worst spots are DH and LF.  

We'll be a top 5 offense by the end of the year

for me, Rengifo stays for now and Ohtani moves out Bourjos.  He'll clear waivers if anyone is worried.  

I would also keep Ward on the roster with a bench of Fletcher/La Stella, Smith, Bour/Pujols and Ward.   Stratton would go.