The Angels "could" have a really good supporting cast behind Ohtani in the rotation

[Chuck]

Look at where Stripling ranks amongst the best pitchers in the game.

Ohtani, Stripling, Teheran, Canning, Heaney, Bundy is solid folks. We even have Sandoval who I really like as well, in addition to Andriese for depth. 

Let's talk about Stripling who I believe the Angels will increase his workload. 

Here's an outing by Stripling early on in the season in 2019 where he went 8 innings. 

[tdawg87]

I mean, I'd say with this trade our rotation has become "average" on paper. "Middle of the pack", if you will. Given the upside of guys like Canning, we could actually have a decent rotation this year. That + our offense = playoff contender. Plus, our depth is pretty absurd. Canning is our 6th starter. 

[Chuck]

[Chuck]

11 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

I mean, I'd say with this trade our rotation has become "average" on paper. "Middle of the pack", if you will. Given the upside of guys like Canning, we could actually have a decent rotation this year. That + our offense = playoff contender. Plus, our depth is pretty absurd. Canning is our 6th starter. 

I think if you have an average rotation, a good bullpen and a great offense and defense... you're going places in October and I don't mean the golf course. 

[Ochocinco!]

I think people need to really temper expectations with Ohtani this year. He will pitch around a 100 innings MAX. I agree we have an average rotation IF all healthy. While also having one of the best offenses in baseball... but we aren't passing up the ASStros or the A's without a true ace.

[tdawg87]

9 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

I think if you have an average rotation, a good bullpen and a great offense and defense... you're going places in October and I don't mean the golf course. 

Yep. This team will hit themselves into contention and the pitching will hold the fort this time around.

I'm excited.

[tdawg87]

Just now, Ochocinco! said:

I think people need to really temper expectations with Ohtani this year. He will pitch around a 100 innings MAX. I agree we have an average rotation IF all healthy. While also having one of the best offenses in baseball... but we aren't passing up the ASStros or the A's without a true ace.

The A's don't have a true ace. They have a ragtag group of high upside pitchers, but no true ace. 

Also I disagree with your assessment of Ohtani. If he can make 25 starts he'll pitch 125 innings minimum. And health is always a concern but we now have the depth to overcome significant injuries.

[Chuck]

Nobody knows how many innings Ohtani will pitch. 

Nobody! 

If he's pitching just once a week I don't see any reason why he won't go 5-6 innings, if not more a start. 

He's already completed his entire TJ surgery rehab and there have been no setbacks. 

[kevinb]

Stripling with an avg era of 3.51 is solid and a huge upgrade to our starting pitching corp. With the additions of Teheran and Bundy and the young kids getting better this rotation is light years better than the one we left 2019 with. 

[krAbs]

https://www.fangraphs.com/depthcharts.aspx?position=ALL&teamid=1

 

Worth noting: Fangraphs predicts that we will be the best "non big-3" team in baseball. This assumes basically no contribution from Adell.

[T.G.]

8 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

Nobody knows how many innings Ohtani will pitch. 

Nobody!

Not true.

[PattyD22]

11 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

Yep. This team will hit themselves into contention and the pitching will hold the fort this time around.

I'm excited.

I'm excited too tdawg.  We've heard about the upgrades to the offense and the pitching from last year, but this team will also have a massive upgrade defensively at 3rd base with the addition of Rendon.  This cannot be understated.  The ability of Rendon to cover more ground helps Simmons on the whole left side.  Getting Fletcher and LaStella to focus solely on 2nd base (and SS occasionally) can certainly help also.

Yes we lost Calhoun, but Trout is still Trout in Center Field.  He's the field general.  I'd expect better defense from Upton as he is hopefully healthy and Pederson can play a decent Right Field so while the offense can certainly carry this team, but I'm excited to see where this team is defensively.

I'm hoping the Angels won't need to try and win every game 11-8.  With the defensive upgrades and the pitching improvements, maybe we won't need to.

[tdawg87]

This team is casually reminding me of the 2002 team. An average all-around pitching staff with a severely underrated bullpen and an offense that can't be kept out of games. Also 2020....2002. Coincidence?

Yes.

Edited February 5, 2020 by tdawg87

[T.G.]

Just now, tdawg87 said:

This team is casually reminding me of the 2002 team. An average all-around pitching staff with a severely underrated bullpen and an offense that can't be kept out of games. Also 2020....2002. Coincidence?

Yes.

There it is.

The jinx.

[tdawg87]

1 minute ago, True Grich said:

There it is.

The jinx.

I don't have those powers. Only @Glen and @Angelsjunky can summon the Whammy.

[Glen]

15 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

I don't have those powers. Only @Glen and @Angelsjunky can summon the Whammy.

I ain't sayin' nuthin'!

[Erstad Grit]

It's the most solid and best depth we've had in a long while. Still missing a number one, but adding that mid-season is always a possibility. At minimum our rotation has improved from bottom of the league to average. 

[Claude]

1 hour ago, Chuckster70 said:

Ohtani, Stripling, Teheran, Canning, Heaney, Bundy is solid folks. We even have Sandoval who I really like as well, in addition to Andriese for depth. 

Let's talk about Stripling who I believe the Angels will increase his workload. 

Here's an outing by Stripling early on in the season in 2019 where he went 8 innings. 

 

F Cole! This team is going to be solid. 

[ten ocho recon scout]

50 minutes ago, PattyD22 said:

I'm excited too tdawg.  We've heard about the upgrades to the offense and the pitching from last year, but this team will also have a massive upgrade defensively at 3rd base with the addition of Rendon.  This cannot be understated.  The ability of Rendon to cover more ground helps Simmons on the whole left side.  Getting Fletcher and LaStella to focus solely on 2nd base (and SS occasionally) can certainly help also.

Yes we lost Calhoun, but Trout is still Trout in Center Field.  He's the field general.  I'd expect better defense from Upton as he is hopefully healthy and Pederson can play a decent Right Field so while the offense can certainly carry this team, but I'm excited to see where this team is defensively.

I'm hoping the Angels won't need to try and win every game 11-8.  With the defensive upgrades and the pitching improvements, maybe we won't need to.

Ill add that we will also be getting Ohtani back to some degree, and while of course shit will still happen, the odds are better that simmons and upton rebound, and la stella doesnt break his leg, than the opposite.

Id still prefer a really solid front end pitcher, but yeah.... this team is vastly improved.

And as already stated, adell isnt even part of it yet.

[Docwaukee]

Could be very interesting to see how they deploy their depth.  

they could give additional days off or shorten starts vs. tough/deep lineups.  

 

 

[Pancake Bear]

3 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

Could be very interesting to see how they deploy their depth.  

they could give additional days off or shorten starts vs. tough/deep lineups.  

 

 

Maddon values flexibility. He’s gonna love these additions. 

[Pancake Bear]

2 hours ago, Ochocinco! said:

I think people need to really temper expectations with Ohtani this year. He will pitch around a 100 innings MAX. I agree we have an average rotation IF all healthy. While also having one of the best offenses in baseball... but we aren't passing up the ASStros or the A's without a true ace.

Dunno where you got that “MAX”, but I disagree. 100-120 is probably his most likely outcome. 

2 hours ago, tdawg87 said:

The A's don't have a true ace. They have a ragtag group of high upside pitchers, but no true ace. 

Also I disagree with your assessment of Ohtani. If he can make 25 starts he'll pitch 125 innings minimum. And health is always a concern but we now have the depth to overcome significant injuries.

125 seems very high for a minimum. Keep in mind. He threw no major league innings in 2019 or in Japan in 2017. In 2018, he threw about 50 innings. His arm isn’t exactly stretched out for long innings. He’ll get there, but 125 as a floor seems high. 

2 hours ago, Chuckster70 said:

Nobody knows how many innings Ohtani will pitch. 

Nobody! 

If he's pitching just once a week I don't see any reason why he won't go 5-6 innings, if not more a start. 

He's already completed his entire TJ surgery rehab and there have been no setbacks. 

As noted above, he’s thrown 50ish innings over the last three seasons, not counting rehab. I think there’s a reason there is talk of holding him back to start the year. They want him to be more available late in the year for a playoff push. 

Edit: Correction - Ohtani threw 25 innings in 2017 in Japan. So, 25-50-0. 

[tdawg87]

Well 100 as a "MAX" is far too low. I think we're just arguing semantics at this point.

I think he'll reach 125 innings at least. If he doesn't, something has gone wrong. He can't just slowly work his way up there. If that's the case he won't reach 125+ innings until 2022. Obviously take it easy, but I think 5 innings per start over 25 starts max isn't much to ask. If he can't even do that then just make him the full time DH.

[John Taylor]

2 hours ago, Chuckster70 said:

Ohtani, Stripling, Teheran, Canning, Heaney, Bundy is solid folks. We even have Sandoval who I really like as well, in addition to Andriese for depth. 

Let's talk about Stripling who I believe the Angels will increase his workload. 

Here's an outing by Stripling early on in the season in 2019 where he went 8 innings. 

 

lol, if Assmus was his Manager he would have been out in the bottom of the 3rd.

[ettin]

2 hours ago, Glen said:

I ain't sayin' nuthin'!

It's not you I am worried about, it's f*ck*ing AJ who will blow the lid off the whole thing!