League Leading Angels

[WicketMaiden]

Fletcher and Ohtani - the best 1-2 punch in baseball. Baseball Reference American League leaderboards for the year to date:

Fletch leads the AL in:

Singles - 91

Sacrifice hits - 6

AB per SO - 9.4

Shohei leads the AL in:

HR's - 35

Extra Base Hits - 61

Slugging % - .684

AB per HR - 9.5

WAR - 6.2

Win Probability Added - 3.8

Power/Speed Combination - 19.0

So if you're the opposing pitcher starting against the Angels, you will first face the man who is simultaneously the most likely to hit you for a single and least likely to strike out, followed by the man most likely to take you for extra bases or hit you out of the park. Fun times!

[Angelsjunky]

Now if only Fletcher would learn to take a walk. He'd be quite a leadoff man.

[angelsnationtalk]

8 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

Now if only Fletcher would learn to take a walk. He'd be quite a leadoff man.

Fletcher is going to mash to lead the AL in BA and then Ohtani will keep doing his thing with the HRs and RBIs and collectively they will take the triple crown threat away from Guerrero Jr. 

Ohtani MVP haha

[WicketMaiden]

36 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

Now if only Fletcher would learn to take a walk. He'd be quite a leadoff man.

When you have the best bat to balls skills in the league you don't need to take walks, and trying to do so would take away from his elite skill-set. With his current hitting style, since returning to form in June his OBP was .378 with 5 walks. In July his OBP was .386 with just one walk. He has .333 OBP for the season after a terrible start. 

I hope he doesn't change. He's playing a different game and he's absolutely elite at it. 

 

[Second Base]

Just think how unstoppable this offense will be with Trout and Rendon actually healthy and in their MVP form. 

Fletcher, Ohtani, Trout, Walsh, Rendon, Upton, Marsh, Stassi and Iglesias. 

Crooked numbers galore. 

[Angelsjunky]

2 hours ago, WicketMaiden said:

When you have the best bat to balls skills in the league you don't need to take walks, and trying to do so would take away from his elite skill-set. With his current hitting style, since returning to form in June his OBP was .378 with 5 walks. In July his OBP was .386 with just one walk. He has .333 OBP for the season after a terrible start. 

I hope he doesn't change. He's playing a different game and he's absolutely elite at it. 

 

Bat to ball and taking walks aren't mutually exclusive. I'm happy with his turnaround this year, but obviously he would be even better if he took 50+ walks a year. That .333 OBP becomes .370, which is a very good leadoff hitter.

[WicketMaiden]

28 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

Bat to ball and taking walks aren't mutually exclusive. I'm happy with his turnaround this year, but obviously he would be even better if he took 50+ walks a year. That .333 OBP becomes .370, which is a very good leadoff hitter.

I think you're missing the point: if he starts trying to take walks rather than trying to hit he becomes a different hitter by leaving alone pitches he knows he can hit, and currently does hit. Sure his walks will go up but so will his strikeouts, and his hitting numbers will drop. So basically you would have a different player. His OBP for the season is tending towards .370 as it is (.378 June; .386 July), and his hitting numbers with RISP are ridiculous. 

Why try and change someone that is having elite results just as he is?

[Angelsjunky]

6 minutes ago, WicketMaiden said:

I think you're missing the point: if he starts trying to take walks rather than trying to hit he becomes a different hitter by leaving alone pitches he knows he can hit, and currently does hit. Sure his walks will go up but so will his strikeouts, and his hitting numbers will drop. So basically you would have a different player. His OBP for the season is tending towards .370 as it is (.378 June; .386 July), and his hitting numbers with RISP are ridiculous. 

Why try and change someone that is having elite results just as he is?

I get the point and actually agree with it: I don't think Fletcher can hit .315 and walk 50 times a year, given his approach. It is more of a wishful hope. 

I think you're cherry-picking OBP, though. His triple-slash since May 22 is .361/.392/.475. Meaning, in order to have even a .380 OBP, he needs to hit about .350, which is highly unlikely.

I think the best-case scenario is that he establishes himself as a .315/.350/.420 hitter - which would be really good.

[fan_since79]

7 hours ago, Second Base said:

Just think how unstoppable this offense will be with Trout and Rendon actually healthy and in their MVP form. 

Fletcher, Ohtani, Trout, Walsh, Rendon, Upton, Marsh, Stassi and Iglesias. 

Crooked numbers galore. 

Yes, but huge uncertainties (and mysteries) on the injury front.

Sick and tired of it.

[WicketMaiden]

And the best 1-2 punch in baseball lands again. Both scored in the 1st: Halos 2-0 up.

[ten ocho recon scout]

10 hours ago, WicketMaiden said:

And the best 1-2 punch in baseball lands again. Both scored in the 1st: Halos 2-0 up.

To echo what @Second Base said above, and we've all said multiple times.

Now imagine Trout hitting 3rd behind them.....

Sigh

[WicketMaiden]

26 minutes ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

To echo what @Second Base said above, and we've all said multiple times.

Now imagine Trout hitting 3rd behind them.....

Sigh

And then add Tony Too-Sick batting behind Trout, with Walsh slotting in at 5, then J-Up and Stassi 6 and 7... we can only dream hey? Maybe next year. 

Talking of next year, we don't need another big bat at SS, in this line-up a really good defender that hits .240 would do just fine.

[Second Base]

3 hours ago, WicketMaiden said:

And then add Tony Too-Sick batting behind Trout, with Walsh slotting in at 5, then J-Up and Stassi 6 and 7... we can only dream hey? Maybe next year. 

Talking of next year, we don't need another big bat at SS, in this line-up a really good defender that hits .240 would do just fine.

Just re-up Iglesias. Great in the clubhouse, good defender after early season hiccups, and he's not a hole in the lineup with the stick.

[ten ocho recon scout]

4 hours ago, WicketMaiden said:

And then add Tony Too-Sick 

Im going with tony two I.V. bags

[WicketMaiden]

1 hour ago, Second Base said:

Just re-up Iglesias. Great in the clubhouse, good defender after early season hiccups, and he's not a hole in the lineup with the stick.

Yes, good call, I'd go for that assuming the cost is reasonable - which it should be as he is earning $3.5m this year. I was hoping Rengifo was going to make the next step and hold down either SS or 2B with Fletch moving over but he still looks lost in the big leagues. Iglesias though has been quietly impressive since eradicating the early errors, his .285 BA is 14th in the AL and would do just fine in the 6-9 spots next year. Sign him up Perry!

[Second Base]

1 hour ago, WicketMaiden said:

Yes, good call, I'd go for that assuming the cost is reasonable - which it should be as he is earning $3.5m this year. I was hoping Rengifo was going to make the next step and hold down either SS or 2B with Fletch moving over but he still looks lost in the big leagues. Iglesias though has been quietly impressive since eradicating the early errors, his .285 BA is 14th in the AL and would do just fine in the 6-9 spots next year. Sign him up Perry!

I'm a big fan of Rengifo still, but the reason I re-up Iggy is because I think he's completely underrated. A good defense SS that's going to hit .290 and is great in the clubhouse? That's worth a lot more than 5 million or whatever he'll make. 

And as far as the utility job next year, I think Jack Mayfield had clearly separated himself from the pack. He's taken advantage of opportunities. And there's a plethora of options there, from Rengifo, Barretto and even Stefanic. 

[tdawg87]

1 minute ago, Second Base said:

I'm a big fan of Rengifo still, but the reason I re-up Iggy is because I think he's completely underrated. A good defense SS that's going to hit .290 and is great in the clubhouse? That's worth a lot more than 5 million or whatever he'll make. 

And as far as the utility job next year, I think Jack Mayfield had clearly separated himself from the pack. He's taken advantage of opportunities. And there's a plethora of options there, from Rengifo, Barretto and even Stefanic. 

I'd say Gosselin has done well, too. Just keep him away from the outfield.