Where is Taylor Ward?

[instant karma]

I keep asking.  Given his hitting in last years short season, his hitting in spring training and his gold glove level defense at 3rd, why wouldn’t he be used at 3rd versus Gosselin?  I am baffled for weeks.

[Stradling]

Just now, instant karma said:

I keep asking.  Given his hitting in last years short season, his hitting in spring training and his gold glove level defense at 3rd, why wouldn’t he be used at 3rd versus Gosselin?  I am baffled for weeks.

He isn’t gold glove caliber at 3rd. But Doc posted that Ward is one of two players listed as catcher at AAA. 

[UndertheHalo]

Hmmm makes you think.  What is wrong with Ward.  Probably not promising that some character called Phil Gosselin got a spot on the roster instead.  
 

Until proven otherwise, probably indifference to Taylor Ward is the correct outlook.  And hey, maybe he does turn out useful.  Probably not tho, given the evidence I’d say. 

Edited May 5, 2021 by UndertheHalo

[failos]

He has bad breath...not good for clubhouse chemistry.

[Vlad27Trout27]

Somewhere on a Taxi..

[Docwaukee]

1 hour ago, Stradling said:

He isn’t gold glove caliber at 3rd. But Doc posted that Ward is one of two players listed as catcher at AAA. 

I actually misspoke.  He's actually listed as an OFer but there is only one catcher on the AAA roster otherwise so I'm sorta putting two and two together.    

[beatlesrule]

[Angelsjunky]

I have been vocal about calling Ward up and benching Pujols, but the clamoring for Ward is not commensurate with his likely impact on the team. If Ward is our hope, we’re in trouble.

[ScottT]

Pujols needs to sit.

I don't care who takes those at bats. It's not like there are amazing options... but all of them will at least match what Pujols is providing.

Ward. Schebler. Rojas.  I don't really have a preference, but Pujols needs to sit.

[Taylor]

2 hours ago, UndertheHalo said:

Until proven otherwise, probably indifference to Taylor Ward is the correct outlook.  And hey, maybe does turn out useful.  Probably not tho, given the evidence I’d say. 

Couldn't have said it better myself.

[Pancake Bear]

Ideally we'd call Ward up and bench Pujols, but that won't necessarily fix this team's problems.

The Angels are tied with the White Sox for best team wRC+ in MLB. That's with Rendon missing half our games and Fletcher and Iglesias looking anemic (only five guys on the roster are hitting above league average on wRC+). Offense, at least so far, isn't something we have to worry about.

On the flip side, our defense is third worst in all baseball. The biggest culprits being Pujols, Upton, and Walsh.

While pitching WAR on FG doesn't look too bad, our ERA is second worst. Curiously, the FIP for hallf of our starters is significantly better than the results. Bundy is only a little bit worse from ERA to FIP, same with Canning (interestingly his xERA and xFIP are significantly better; same is true of Iglesias, actually). Ohtani's is, strangely, better than his FIP. Heaney, Quintana, and Cobb, however, have had a lot worse results than both their FIP and expected ERA/FIP show.

So, how is that fixed? I doubt Ward does anything to help RF. But putting Walsh full time at 1B where he has positive defensive numbers as opposed to dropping him in RF will help, as will benching Pujols (who hasn't been nearly good enough at the plate to justify anything more than occasional at bats). Upton...is what he is, probably at this point. Keeping Rendon healthy will help also. Iglesias has not exactly been as advertised, but I'd expect that to improve. Stassi starting regularly instead of Suzuki or Bemboom should also help.

Obviously it sucks playing this badly, but on the flip side: The Dodgers are on a 4-12 run. Even great teams struggle. The A's went 0-6 and 1-7 to start the year, then 13-0. They're now 2-4 over their last six. Two weeks ago, Jomboy was whining about how awful the Yankees are and how the run is over and they have almost no good players. Now they're 15-14 and 10-3 over the last thirteen.

Biggest things that need to happen for us to improve: Bullpen (LOB% is especially bad, but even leaving that aside, it is very mediocre; biggest problem has been Iglesias, but Guerra and Claudio have also sucked; Rodriguez, Mayers, and Watson have been the standouts, although Watson appears to have been helped by a solid bit of luck); rotation (second worst BB% in baseball); defense (bench Pujols and leave Walsh at 1B, and unless you have surefire hitter just play Lagares in RF); stay healthy.

[beatlesrule]

@Pancake Bear 

I'm just kidding. Very informative post.

[Angels 1961]

I think he is in Maddon dog house. I wonder if Jeff Fletcher would have any insight? Maria Torres would be all over this

[Lou]

1 hour ago, Angels 1961 said:

I think he is in Maddon dog house. I wonder if Jeff Fletcher would have any insight? Maria Torres would be all over this

Then why isn't she? 

I know. Because you're making shit up. 

[Angel Oracle]

I wonder if Ward is being groomed again to be the backup catcher here.

Suzuki is not getting it done behind the plate or at it, and is likely close to retirement.

Benboom has put in some solid work behind the plate but struggles to hit.

Edited May 5, 2021 by Angel Oracle

[Angels 1961]

2 hours ago, Lou said:

Then why isn't she? 

I know. Because you're making shit up. 

She works back east now

[Dtwncbad]

[Lou]

30 minutes ago, Angels 1961 said:

She works back east now

Good. She sucks. 

[Lou]

[Chuck]

3 at bats...

[Dtwncbad]

Nobody has any appreciation for the Fat Albert cartoon?  Pujols sitting on top of Ward trapping him with Madden also stepping on him?

Wow I thought it wasn’t bad.

[Stradling]

I like Ward just fine.  But last year in his break out season his OPS+ was 94. 

[T.G.]

2 minutes ago, Dtwncbad said:

Nobody has any appreciation for the Fat Albert cartoon?  Pujols sitting on top of Ward trapping him with Madden also stepping on him?

Wow I thought it wasn’t bad.

I didn’t focus on it... too much going on in that cartoon. Now that you’ve explained it, I give it an “A” for effort, but a C- for execution.

I’ll also give it a C for creativity. You failed to demonstrate the true pain of the situation. You also appear to be making this about a minority keeping a white man down and that’s just not going to play well in today’s climate.
 

 

[AngelsLakersFan]

4 hours ago, Stradling said:

I like Ward just fine.  But last year in his break out season his OPS+ was 94. 

It seemed like last year Maddon gave Ward and Thaiss way more chances than he should have, and now this year it seems like the opposite. Last year Maddon was trying to find creative ways to get these guys on the field, and now he's seemed to go out of his way to keep them off the roster. 

[Pancake Bear]

On 5/5/2021 at 1:59 AM, Pancake Bear said:

Ideally we'd call Ward up and bench Pujols,

 

On 5/5/2021 at 1:59 AM, Pancake Bear said:

bench Pujols and leave Walsh at 1B, and unless you have surefire hitter just play Lagares in RF)

Apparently someone up there agrees.