Gameday Thread: Angels @ A's (7/20/21): Suarez on the mound, Ohtani DHing, 12:37pm start time

[Don]

At least he had the decency to get himself tossed.

[Lhalo]

Maddon getting himself ejected is the only productive thing he's done this game.

[jsnpritchett]

Umps have made some bad calls today for sure--but they're not why the Angels are losing 6-0. 

[Angel Oracle]

Hey Perry, you’re on thin ice if you don’t do about the pen by next season!

You’ve had EIGHT months to have scouts watch other relievers!

[Angel Oracle]

Alert Ripley’s!

1-2-3 inning from Bundy!

Now watch the toker claim that Bundy is fixed now.

[fan_since79]

Just tuned in, didn't realize it was a day game.

6-0?!!

Season most definitely over!!!

Sell everything!!!

[fan_since79]

James Kaprielian??

Who the hell is he?!

[Angel Oracle]

1 minute ago, fan_since79 said:

James Kaprielian??

Who the hell is he?!

A’s have a real pitching coach.

Dude is 27 and never did until this season.

Edited July 20, 2021 by Angel Oracle

[jsnpritchett]

3 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

A’s have a real pitching coach.

Dude is 27 and never did until this season.

Well, in his defense, he was hurt for basically 2 whole years.  He was the 16th overall draft pick in 2015, so it's not like he's just some bum.

[jsnpritchett]

Angels are now at a -34 run differential for the year.  By that measure, they're actually "lucky" to be only 2 games under .500.

[Mark PT]

5 hours ago, Chuckster70 said:

While I want the Angels to win every game, I'm at a point that now where I'm watching exclusively for player performances in the way of entertainment value. 

Ohtani alone is worth watching an entire baseball game based on what he's doing. 

Fletcher's recent hit streak and performances. 

Let the kids play! Suarez, Sandoval & Marsh. Hoping to see Detmers and a better Canning later on this season. 

Trade stock. Hoping Cobb, both Iglesias' and Heaney continue to play really well in hopes of boosting their trade stock to bring back a healthy return. 

Lastly, hope. While it doesn't look good in the standings in terms of being 6+ games out of the Wild Card with several teams ahead of them for the second WC spot, I feel like there's a good run left in this team once Trout, Rendon and Upton come back. 

 

Its funny you say this. This is what being an Angel fan is. Most years we hope the season isn't over before summer hits.

[Lhalo]

Ya their record is quite surprising.

[Angel Oracle]

Things that will happen before any of Trout, Rendon, and Upton return; or the team finishes over .500:

All politicians stop taking a salary.

China President Xi becomes an humanitarian.

It gets to below zero in Bixby Knolls.

 

Edited July 20, 2021 by Angel Oracle

[jsnpritchett]

 

[jsnpritchett]

 

[Lhalo]

2 minutes ago, jsnpritchett said:

 

He knows his BP is dogshit but takes out his starter at 73 pitches because the batter had a hit off him earlier? What a terrible excuse for an absolute piss poor decision.

[ThisismineScios]

Joe is right about needing the bullpen to perform. At some point you have to rely on them. But guess what? You have a pitching coach that doesn’t bring any value.

Have you seen Mayers’ face when he pitches? Guy has no confidence. Quintana? Bundy? Heaney? Canning? Guerra? Slegers? Do you know what all these guys have in common? They are significantly—significantly—worse by any metric this year than they were in 2020. Matt Wise could send the staff YouTube video links all day and be more effective than he is this year.

So, Joe, maybe you should be able to but you can’t. So let your youngest pitcher, a big part of your future, possibly an answer to your problems, pitch behind 73 pitches and figure out how to deal with situational pitching for himself. If Suarez allows a run to score, ok. They are his runners and he needs to learn from it. But bringing in Mike “Maybe” Mayers to allow Suarez’s runs to score provides zero opportunity for Suarez to learn. It just makes him mad. 

[ThisismineScios]

8 minutes ago, Lhalo said:

He knows his BP is dogshit but takes out his starter at 73 pitches because the batter had a hit off him earlier? What a terrible excuse for an absolute piss poor decision.

What’s worse is he’s pulled starters before facing guys that had gone 0-3 (Boston series, Bogaerts), so that reason is crap. 

[jsnpritchett]

The Angels' pitchers allowed 5.35 runs per game last season, 3rd worst in the AL.  The team was 8 games under .500 in a 60-game season.

This season, Angels' pitchers are allowing 5.18 runs per game, 4th worst in the AL.  The team is 2 games under .500 after 94 games.

The general consensus on this board seems to be that the pitching staff this year is at best no better (and likely worse) than last season's in terms of talent, yet the results are roughly the same.  I don't think you can blame the change in pitching coaches.

[failos]

19 minutes ago, jsnpritchett said:

 

I loathe this man

[ThisismineScios]

9 minutes ago, jsnpritchett said:

The Angels' pitchers allowed 5.35 runs per game last season, 3rd worst in the AL.  The team was 8 games under .500 in a 60-game season.

This season, Angels' pitchers are allowing 5.18 runs per game, 4th worst in the AL.  The team is 2 games under .500 after 94 games.

The general consensus on this board seems to be that the pitching staff this year is at best no better (and likely worse) than last season's in terms of talent, yet the results are roughly the same.  I don't think you can blame the change in pitching coaches.

Nice try. 

Last year, they didn’t have Ohtani. Take out his games pitched (14) and his runs (28), and they are up to 5.75 per game. Which is…last. .07 worse than the Diamondbacks. 

[eligrba4ever]

GO ANGELS!!! Hie thee to Minnesota!!

I missed this matinee debacle. Not sorry.

[jsnpritchett]

1 minute ago, ThisismineScios said:

Nice try. 

Last year, they didn’t have Ohtani. Take out his games pitched (14) and his runs (28), and they are up to 5.75 per game. Which is…last. .07 worse than the Diamondbacks. 

But Ohtani is pitching better than he ever has.  Does Wise only take the blame for the negatives in your opinion?

I'm obviously just joking--but my point is that whatever the hell is wrong with the Angels' pitching has very little to do with the change from Callaway to Wise. 

[ThisismineScios]

2 minutes ago, jsnpritchett said:

But Ohtani is pitching better than he ever has.  Does Wise only take the blame for the negatives in your opinion?

I'm obviously just joking--but my point is that whatever the hell is wrong with the Angels' pitching has very little to do with the change from Callaway to Wise. 

No, I think it’s pretty clear Ohtani re-dedicated himself to his health and went to Driveline in the off-season. 

It’s obviously not the only reason. To say it has very little? How do you explain that much regression from so many pitchers? Do you think he is doing a good job with them? 

[jsnpritchett]

5 minutes ago, ThisismineScios said:

No, I think it’s pretty clear Ohtani re-dedicated himself to his health and went to Driveline in the off-season. 

It’s obviously not the only reason. To say it has very little? How do you explain that much regression from so many pitchers? Do you think he is doing a good job with them? 

I don't know how to explain it--but the pitchers the Angels currently have weren't that good to begin with, so any regression maybe isn't all that surprising in the first place (and there are folks on here that argue that some of the pitchers haven't regressed and are doing just fine if you look at the advanced metrics (e.g., Alex Cobb--who gets credit for his performance?).  Someone like Bundy, who had by far his best metrics ever last year, sure seems to be something of a fluke in a shortened season (also, as I've noted in other threads, if you look at his game-by-games from last season, he really only did well for a few starts).  I just think we have a lot of crappy pitchers and any GOOD performances would actually be more surprising to me than what we're seeing.