Well this is different... Justin Upton taking ground balls at first base

[Inside Pitch]

 

[tdawg87]

Maddon have big brain.

[GoodTimesGoneBad]

Justin at 1B when a lefty is on the mound? This would open up LF for Marsh or Adell when Trout is back. 

[DMVol]

Walsh has struggled some against LHP so maybe Upton some at 1b? 

[DMVol]

Just now, GoodTimesGoneBad said:

Justin at 1B when a lefty is on the mound? This would open up LF for Marsh or Adell when Trout is back. 

Great minds think alike....except you are quicker to get things posted....

[m0nkey]

21 minutes ago, GoodTimesGoneBad said:

Justin at 1B when a lefty is on the mound? This would open up LF for Marsh or Adell when Trout is back. 

Trouts coming back?

[Slegnaac]

2 minutes ago, m0nkey said:

Trouts coming back?

Thats what we are wishing.

[Docwaukee]

[wopphil]

I know this board gives Maddon shit for things like this, but this is precisely why I like him. We all bitched about Scioscia’s stubbornness and inability to think outside the box. Maddon is the opposite of that (but we still bitch). Scioscia held players on a tight leash, but Maddon pushes players to the limits (like with how much playing time he had given Ohtani, or bringing Rodriguez out for the seventh inning a few days ago). But we still bitch. And Maddon maximizes the playing time for youngsters, while also putting pressure on vets to perform, to adapt, or to get out (Pujols). And we still bitch. 

[Lou]

I don't bitch.

[T.G.]

13 minutes ago, wopphil said:

 We all bitched about Scioscia’s stubbornness and inability to think outside the box.

Not me.

[failos]

Man I’m so tired of our injured players having ambiguous return dates. It’s kinda scary. This team is not good without Walsh

[JustATroutFan]

12 minutes ago, wopphil said:

I know this board gives Maddon shit for things like this, but this is precisely why I like him. We all bitched about Scioscia’s stubbornness and inability to think outside the box. Maddon is the opposite of that (but we still bitch). Scioscia held players on a tight leash, but Maddon pushes players to the limits (like with how much playing time he had given Ohtani, or bringing Rodriguez out for the seventh inning a few days ago). But we still bitch. And Maddon maximizes the playing time for youngsters, while also putting pressure on vets to perform, to adapt, or to get out (Pujols). And we still bitch. 

Maddon is a very good manager. He's terrific at putting his players in position to succeed. Dude started shifting against opposing hitters on a consistent basis when he was managing the Rays and a large part of why the Rays pitchers were successful was because of that. Managers across MLB started doing what he did, so he (Maddon) did changed the game with the shift. And he's not afraid of putting his sluggers in the leadoff to rejuvenate themselves. He did that with Rizzo when he managed the Cubs and Rizzo started swinging the bat well again. Did the same thing with Upton when he was put in the leadoff spot, Upton swung a hot bat. I think Maddon's going to put Upton back at leadoff pretty soon if he can't find it at the plate within a week or so. 

[fan_since79]

28 minutes ago, m0nkey said:

Trouts coming back?

There's no timetable. Maddon said when Trout "feels" okay then he'll be back. After a suitable rehab assgnment of course.

So I'm guessing August 15-20 at the minimum. If there's any setback then I imagine they'd shut him down.

[Tank]

31 minutes ago, m0nkey said:

Trouts coming back?

think of his return as being similar to a guy caught shoplifting and serving 2-5 in county jail. eventually you know he'll be released.

[ten ocho recon scout]

2 hours ago, cals said:

Flashbacks to Trumbo's 3 innings at 3B before the plug was pulled on that experiment. 

Played there for a no hitter though..  

[ettin]

Well....

1) The Angels are out of contention, basically, so experimenting with players at different defensive positions helps improve versatility while marginally helping to lose games.

2) Maddon could very well be telling the truth, to keep certain bats in the lineup (again the versatility thing).

3) This could be a prelude to opening up LF to one of our other outfielders (Trout, Adell, Marsh, et al, even moving Walsh out there in lieu of Upton) for next season.

Swapping a mixture of Walsh, Upton, Trout, Adell, and Marsh between 1B, DH, and the outfield is doable and defensively it will improve the team by limiting Upton's time in the OF.

[Angelsjunky]

4 hours ago, failos said:

Man I’m so tired of our injured players having ambiguous return dates. It’s kinda scary. This team is not good without Walsh

This team was not good with Walsh.