POLL: What grade do you give Angels manager Brad Ausmus for his 2019 campaign

[Chuck]

Let us know.

I have voiced several complaints about Ausmus this season so I won't uncover them again, but here's just a couple that really bug me and why I gave him a D. If the Angels didn't suffer so many injuries and the unfortunate death of a key player in the org, he would have gotten an F. That said, the Yankees were hit the hardest as far as key injuries go in 2019 and they boast the best record in baseball, so this only goes so far. 

My top two complaints/concerns with Brad Ausmus. 

1. He has too quick of a hook for the starting pitchers, which has put a heavy load on the bullpen guys and IMO has blown out most of our quality arms in the BP as a result. 

2. His in-game decisions or lack thereof. Case in point, several mind boggling pinch hitting changes late in the game, the lack of the hit & run, SB attempts and bunts to name a few.

*Ausmus track record in Detroit in what was a great lineup and rotation and the fanbase and local columnists negativity are incredibly alarming considering he's been terrible here in his first full season with the Angels. This does not bode well for the future, even if we improve our rotation and overall 25-man roster via trades or FA signings. 

[mmc]

G

[Stradling]

I gave him a C based on the fact he was given no starting pitching to begin with, in addition to that the starting pitching that is left are all on innings limits based on their age and progression.  On the offensive side he stated early on it is a performance based game, and he treats the line up for that for the most part.  Albert is batting lower, and now that he is hitting he is hitting higher.  Upton isn’t playing every single day and losing at bats to Goodwin as is Kole.  He batted Upton lower in the line up and Ohtani lower in the line up.  Fletcher has played virtually every day.  I believe the bullpen is a result of the starting pitching failures.  

[Angel Oracle]

What Strad said, I gave him a C-, and so C is my vote.

[Docwaukee]

23 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

Let us know.

I have voiced several complaints about Ausmus this season so I won't uncover them again, but here's just a couple that really bug me and why I gave him a D. If the Angels didn't suffer so many injuries and the unfortunate death of a key player in the org, he would have gotten an F. That said, the Yankees were hit the hardest as far as key injuries go in 2019 and they boast the best record in baseball, so this only goes so far. 

My top two complaints/concerns with Brad Ausmus. 

1. He has too quick of a hook for the starting pitchers, which has put a heavy load on the bullpen guys and IMO has blown out most of our quality arms in the BP as a result. 

2. His in-game decisions or lack thereof. Case in point, several mind boggling pinch hitting changes late in the game, the lack of the hit & run, SB attempts and bunts to name a few.

*Ausmus track record in Detroit in what was a great lineup and rotation and the fanbase and local columnists negativity are incredibly alarming considering he's been terrible here in his first full season with the Angels. This does not bode well for the future, even if we improve our rotation and overall 25-man roster via trades or FA signings. 

I gave him a C mostly for #2.  

I believe #1 is a directive from the top down in trying to minimize exposure to the 3rd time through lineups and in the latter half of the season to help young guys manage their innings.  

I would have graded him higher but I think the performance based thing is also an org philosophy thing that I'm sure he agrees with but it's not coming just from him.  

I have disagreed with several late game decisions as mentioned like who he has pinch hitting, and who he brings out of the pen (albeit a good chunk of this is not his fault).  

I like that the kids have been given opportunities.  

The one thing I'm not a huge fan of is that he comes off as very aloof.  This has gotten a bit better as the season has progressed but it's still there and I think when there's more pressure on him like at the beginning of the season where the outcome had yet to be determined, it comes out more.   

[Stradling]

I absolutely would like to see more stolen bases and hit and runs, especially with the fact that our team is one of the better at putting the bat on the ball.  However I struggle to hold him accountable for this because I feel this is an organizational philosophy.  

[Docwaukee]

3 minutes ago, Baghdad Strad said:

I absolutely would like to see more stolen bases and hit and runs, especially with the fact that our team is one of the better at putting the bat on the ball.  However I struggle to hold him accountable for this because I feel this is an organizational philosophy.  

not only just the org but throughout all of baseball.  

[Stradling]

Just now, Dochalo said:

not only just the org but throughout all of baseball.  

Yep.  I loved it a couple weeks back when we pulled off a hit and run.  As for stealing, who do we have that can steal bases that should be stealing bases?  Rengifo?  I certainly don’t need to see Trout steal more, plus I am sure he has the green light as does Ohtani.  

[stormngt]

1.  Use of the starter for Pena.   C

2. Use of Starter for Suarez.  B

3. Use of Starter for Barria    F

4.  Lack of SB, hit n run, and strategic bunting.           F

5.  Questionable pinch hitting.   F

Overall F but dont thinkbhe should be fired.  Give him a second year.

 

[gurn67]

He was given historically bad starting pitching. No manager could have won with that.

[Stradling]

We have about 90 pinch hit attempts this year, so for every three games about two pinch hit attempts.  Most of which come in our NL park games.  Goodwin has the most pinch hit attempts followed by Shohei and then Bour.  We are giving him a shitty grade for the two times he had Bour pinch hit for Fletcher.  

[Chuck]

Let's turn the tables here a bit. 

What do you LIKE about Brad Ausmus from his tenure with the Tigers and first year with the Angels.

I'm struggling to find one good thing about this guy. It's bad enough his playing career was below average. 

[arch stanton]

I give a C mostly because I believe a big chunk of what they did this season was predetermined. It makes sense in my brain that they decided to use this year to try out a bunch of things at the major league level that they couldn’t do with Sosh in the dugout. 

The use of the openers and the limited times seeing a lineup. Matchups for Angels hitters in certain situations, not risking outs on the bases, the questionable pitch calling, the choice of free agent signings. All seems to me to be experimental to have some data points for the next few years when they start bringing up their crop of draftees and molding them to the 2020s version of the Angels way 

[Stradling]

4 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

Let's turn the tables here a bit. 

What do you LIKE about Brad Ausmus from his tenure with the Tigers and first year with the Angels.

I'm struggling to find one good thing about this guy. It's bad enough his playing career was below average. 

He used his best bullpen arm in the proper role instead of just penciling him in at closer.  He also moved guys that were struggling down in the line up or gave them extra days off.  

[Chuck]

4 minutes ago, Baghdad Strad said:

He moves the line up around and he used his best bullpen arm in the proper role instead of just penciling him in at closer.  He also moved guys that were struggling down in the line up or gave them extra days off.  

Fair enough, I do agree this was a positive. But at the same time it was a negative as far as using the best bullpen arm in crucial situations waaaaaaay too often and waaaaaay too early in the game, which Ausmus is guilty of. 

Let the starting pitcher give you a chance to get out of situations or stay in the game after he's given up a 2-run homer after he's been cruising throughout the game. 

This is what drives me the most crazy about Ausmus. 

[Stradling]

2 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

Fair enough, I do agree this was a positive. But at the same time it was a negative as far as using the best bullpen arm in crucial situations waaaaaaay too often and waaaaaay too early in the game, which Ausmus is guilty of. 

Let the starting pitcher give you a chance to get out of situations or stay in the game after he's given up a 2-run homer after he's been cruising throughout the game. 

This is what drives me the most crazy about Ausmus. 

I believe that this is another new organizational philosophy and with pitchers that can go deeper into games this won’t happen as much in the future.  I think we will see some irate people here next year when Ohtani is treated with kid gloves.  

[Chuck]

17 minutes ago, Baghdad Strad said:

I believe that this is another new organizational philosophy and with pitchers that can go deeper into games this won’t happen as much in the future.  I think we will see some irate people here next year when Ohtani is treated with kid gloves.  

I'm fine with easing him back in, which is why I would like him to be our 3rd best pitcher on the team. Hoping we can land two top tier arms via FA, or one via FA and another via a trade. 

I still think if Heaney and Canning (or someone else who beats him out in ST) can be our #4 and #5 guys out of the rotation, we should be in good shape. 

[angelsnationtalk]

I put D because majority of people would go with C. I'm not a fan at all of the early hooks of the starting pitching. Thy are managing workloads now, but earlier on they should have let them pitch. We have a really good bullpen, but they have been over worked. I also hate that MLB now is wayyyy to stat and tech driven. It's America's past time for god sake. PLAY THE FREAKING GAME. 

[Dick B Back]

A manager is only as good as what he has to work with.

That being said, I gave him a C because I haven’t seen him do anything really special to give him a higher grade other than moving Mang down in the lineup.

[Claude]

I gave him a C because the roster sucks.

I give Eppler a D for hiring a friend. 

I would love to see the essays that were submitted during the recruitment process. 

Edited September 6, 2019 by Calzone 2

[Jay]

I gave him a C because it's a shitty team to begin with.

I really don't care much for him so I think I'm being generous.

We'll see what he does next year.

 

[John Taylor]

I'll give him credit for his handling of the team during Skaggs' death, but I'm going to grade him on a purely baseball standpoint at which I gave him an F and want him replaced. I do think the guys in the clubhouse like him, but I don't think he is a very good manager from a baseball standpoint.

[Angel Oracle]

42 minutes ago, RBM said:

I would give Ausmus a C- for this season.

He didn't have a roster built to win. We don't have a pitcher with 100+ IP or a starter with 20 starts. I believe this would be the first time in MLB history both things happened.

I would give Eppler an F.

Harvey, Cahill, Allen, Bour, Lucroy, Sratton, Cozart...

I'd make it a D, because of LaStella and Goodwin.

[VariousCrap]

I give him a C as I feel he has done an average job with what he has to work with.

[Vlad27Trout27]

D

Willing to play the young guys, but doesn't offer much else. Don't expect him to be at helm by the end of next season.