Gameday Thread: Angels vs. A's (8/12/2020) Let's get a SWEEP!

[Chuck]

Well we did take 2 out of 3 from the 1st place A's & we got robbed of a home run that would have tied the game at 5-5. The bullpen's results & management thereof may have played out differently in a tied game. That said, hold your heads up fans! This is the start of a good run!

[bloodbrother]

Saving their first sweep of the season for the Doyyers.

[Angels in 2030]

11 minutes ago, Lou said:

That's not catching on 

Not everyone is looking for attention. Anyways, I’m a lone wolf  

[Angel Oracle]

Meanwhile, A’th bullpen in 91 innings so far:

2.40 ERA, only 29 BBs, 3.3 Ks/BBs

Eppler, you think you can actually produce ANYTHING resembling that????

[rafibomb]

2 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

Meanwhile, A’th bullpen in 91 innings so far:

2.40 ERA, only 29 BBs, 3.3 Ks/BBs

Eppler, you think you can actually produce ANYTHING resembling that????

And we STILL took 2 out of 3 against them HELL YEAH!

[Angel Oracle]

Anyone know why Eppler didn’t re-sign Petit?

[tdawg87]

Season over.

[AngelsLakersFan]

7 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

Anyone know why Eppler didn’t re-sign Petit?

He asked for a raise.

[Tank]

1 hour ago, Revad said:

Like you’ve never had a broken heart?

i was a giver of broken hearts, not a receiver.

or something like that.

[Angel Oracle]

10 minutes ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

He asked for a raise.

It probably wasn’t a big one.

While it’s true you can’t have big money pens, you have to have 2-3 guys in there who can get it done and get paid solid money for it.

What’s Oakland total bullpen salary compared to the Halos?

 

[Slegnaac]

1 hour ago, Revad said:

As in toasted?

Marshmallows?

 

[eligrba]

2 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

It probably wasn’t a big one.

While it’s true you can’t have big money pens, you have to have 2-3 guys in there who can get it done and get paid solid money for it.

What’s Oakland total bullpen salary compared to the Halos?

 

Probably less than Justin Upton, or Albert Pujols.

[stormngt]

2 hours ago, Angel Oracle said:

Anyone know why Eppler didn’t re-sign Petit?

Damn good question 

[Jeff Fletcher]

4 hours ago, Chuckster70 said:

That last pitch by Middleton was 100 mph. Thing is, dude can't command his pitches half of the time so I don't think he'll be the closer anytime soon like @Jeff Fletcher suggested a few days ago.

He didn’t today. 
 

But the guy was pretty good in 2017 and the start of 2018 with no experience and no change up. Now he throws just as hard, and has a legit change up and has experience. 
 

I would give him a little more time before you guys toss him out the window. 

[Lou]

I love it when Fletch calls you guys ignorant dumbasses. 

[Angel Oracle]

What is the movement though on Middieton’s heat?   It seems that too often, it’s more straight than moving?

[Erstad Grit]

Other good news, Robles might have figured it out

[Puget Sound Angel]

I'll let this L  slide. Like me the team was probably looking forward to the Dog Turds after we won this series.

[Angel Oracle]

10 hours ago, Erstad Grit said:

Other good news, Robles might have figured it out

Getting there, sitting on 94-96 is definitely better than 91-92, and makes his changeup a much more difficult pitch to handle. 

[Erstad Grit]

13 hours ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

He didn’t today. 
 

But the guy was pretty good in 2017 and the start of 2018 with no experience and no change up. Now he throws just as hard, and has a legit change up and has experience. 
 

I would give him a little more time before you guys toss him out the window. 

I don't think anyone here is saying release the guy. I just view him as a mid-relief type guy not a late innings game on the line guy (yet). Most of the guys we put out there in huge spots late in the game have no business being there. No veteran experience at all. We used to spend for guys like Darrin Oliver, Joe Smith, etc and skimping here is costing wins. 

[Inside Pitch]

27 minutes ago, Erstad Grit said:

We used to spend for guys like Darrin Oliver, Joe Smith, etc and skimping here is costing wins. 

Smith fine...  but, Darren Oliver was seen as second tier guy, a middle innings or long man.  He was a failed starter with one year as a full time bullpen piece when he got to Anaheim.   He basically became the guy you remember IN Anaheim

Fact of the matter is the Angels were actually one of the teams ahead of the curve when it came to building cheap pens.  They were extremely good at turning failed SPs into quality RPs and building pens.   Oliver's first year in Anaheim the Angels had 4 home grown failed starters in the pen.  

Scott Downs, Justin Speier, Smith....  They were the exceptions to the rule, not the norm.   Meanwhile Kevin Gregg, Derrick Turnbow, Bobby Jenks all went on to become closers for other teams after failing as SPs and transitioning to the pen.  Jenks in particular was pretty much a finished product when the CWS snaked him. 

The lack of a farm system and dearth of pitching depth is the single biggest factor for the RP issues since 2012 or so...

[Angel Oracle]

57 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

Smith fine...  but, Darren Oliver was seen as second tier guy, a middle innings or long man.  He was a failed starter with one year as a full time bullpen piece when he got to Anaheim.   He basically became the guy you remember IN Anaheim

Fact of the matter is the Angels were actually one of the teams ahead of the curve when it came to building cheap pens.  They were extremely good at turning failed SPs into quality RPs and building pens.   Oliver's first year in Anaheim the Angels had 4 home grown failed starters in the pen.  

Scott Downs, Justin Speier, Smith....  They were the exceptions to the rule, not the norm.   Meanwhile Kevin Gregg, Derrick Turnbow, Bobby Jenks all went on to become closers for other teams after failing as SPs and transitioning to the pen.  Jenks in particular was pretty much a finished product when the CWS snaked him. 

The lack of a farm system and dearth of pitching depth is the single biggest factor for the RP issues since 2012 or so...

And that part of the issue is clearly on Dumbpoto, and somewhat on Eppler.   He has had over 4 years to put together a decent enough pen, and unfortunately has swung and missed on a lot of his acquisitions for the pen.   The exceptions are Petit and Robles. 

[Inside Pitch]

35 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

And that part of the issue is clearly on Dumbpoto, and somewhat on Eppler.   He has had over 4 years to put together a decent enough pen, and unfortunately has swung and missed on a lot of his acquisitions for the pen.   The exceptions are Petit and Robles. 

Meh...  Eppler didn't have a catcher, 3B, DH, LF, when he got here.  The farm system was just as barren and Arte wasn't spending.

He went high risk high reward because the system was devoid of the sorts of players that grow into stars.  To try to limit those risks he tended to lean towards position players because the attrition rate for pitchers is ridiculously high (think Hunter Green and Joe Gatto).   We have seen the shift towards pitching in recent years but it really doesn't matter -- the damage had already been done.

Whether or not Eppler sticks around to see the fruits of his labor pay off, dunno -- but whoever the next GM is he will at least have a workable foundation to pull from.

[Angels in 2030]

2 hours ago, Inside Pitch said:

The lack of a farm system and dearth of pitching depth is the single biggest factor for the RP issues since 2012 or so...

[Jeff Fletcher]

4 hours ago, Erstad Grit said:

I don't think anyone here is saying release the guy. I just view him as a mid-relief type guy not a late innings game on the line guy (yet). Most of the guys we put out there in huge spots late in the game have no business being there. No veteran experience at all. We used to spend for guys like Darrin Oliver, Joe Smith, etc and skimping here is costing wins. 

https://www.ocregister.com/angels-will-be-looking-for-relievers-but-mostly-in-the-bargain-bin
 

I wrote this two off seasons ago. The relievers who signed for big money didn’t work out so well.