Gameday Thread: Angels @ Red Sox (5/3/22): Syndergaard on the mound, Ohtani back, Mayfield in LF

[tdawg87]

[bloodbrother]

This game sucks

[Angelsjunky]

Are the Angels really going for two straight shut-outs? That would be impressive.

[TrumBomb]

Now would be a good time for a rare Syndergaard K

[jsnpritchett]

Just now, Angelsjunky said:

Are the Angels really going for two straight shut-outs? That would be impressive.

And 3 of 4 if it happens tonight.

[TrumBomb]

Just now, TrumBomb said:

Now would be a good time for a rare Syndergaard K

Now would be a good time for a double play

[tdawg87]

Hit a dinger. It doesn't matter.

[Angelsjunky]

This was only the second multi-hit game of Jackie Bradley's season, and he had as many hits tonight as he had in the previous eight games.

[TrumBomb]

Welp. Sad

[tdawg87]

The Red Sox fucking own this entite organization.

[HeavenlyHalos]

The theory that they were just playing shitty teams seems to be about right

[TrumBomb]

Just now, Angelsjunky said:

This was only the second multi-hit game of Jackie Bradley's season, and he had as many hits tonight as he had in the previous eight games.

We wouldn’t be worried about this if we could score runs

[HeavenlyHalos]

Can we play Cleveland again?

[TrumBomb]

Just now, HeavenlyHalos said:

The theory that they were just playing shitty teams seems to be about right

The white sox and Red Sox were both playing like shit before we played them

[CaliAngel]

Surprised Maddon is letting Syndergaard go this deep into the game. Angel's bats need to show some run support!

[Jason]

I understand that every player slumps but it’s annoying AF when the entire team does it at the exact same time

[HeavenlyHalos]

Just now, TrumBomb said:

The white sox and Red Sox were both playing like shit before we played them

Yes, but they are not shit. 

[eligrba4ever]

What is the MLB record for most consecutive scoreless innings by a team's batters?

[Jason]

1 minute ago, tdawg87 said:

The Red Sox fucking own this entite organization.

To be fair, there aren’t many teams that don’t

[TrumBomb]

Just now, Jason said:

I understand that every player slumps but it’s annoying AF when the entire team does it at the exact same time

It happens multiple times every year for this team

[Angel Oracle]

10 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

He's been dogshit the whole year. 

Back to middling prospect days!

[HeavenlyHalos]

Just now, Jason said:

I understand that every player slumps but it’s annoying AF when the entire team does it at the exact same time

Yes, yes it does. The MIF just sucks ass though. Not really a slump, this is just who they are. Hopefully, Duffy returns and gets more playing time since he can actually hit.

[Angelsjunky]

Maybe we just got overly optimistic, and were thinking the Angels were not just good but really good. I still think they're good enough to win 90ish games. But it looked like they could be a 95+ win team for a minute there.

[Inside Pitch]

10 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

Here's the worry. He's got a 2.57 ERA right now, but a 4.29 xFIP. For the statphobic, xFIP is a calculated ERA based upon peripherals, and equalizing HR to league average. Thor's ERA is as low as it is because he's only given up 1 HR all year, which is nice, but subject to luck.

Meanwhile, he's striking out only 5.14 per 9, which is 89th out of 93 pitchers with 20 IP or more.

Were you using worry for the sake of hyperbole? 

xFIP is just FIP with a normalized (league average) HR rate -- a good statistic but one built around the league average HR rate. The reason I wouldn't really "worry" is because you're talking about a guy with a career 0.8 HR/9 compared to the typical league average HR/9 of 1.3 - so, unless there is something in his batted ball profile that hints at a severe uptick in HR rate, it's mostly noise.  Even after allowing a HR totday his HR/9 would be half the league average FWIW.

Given how K/9 factors into the FIP equation that's really what's dinging his xFIP.   Meanwhile his xERA was 2.14 .vs his actual ERA of 2.12 and his FIP sat at 2.85.

So has he been getting lucky, has the league been torching him or has he been given up a lot of hard contract?

2022 MLB Percentile Rankings

Other than his K rate, there really isn't anything really troubling in those predictive numbers....  Or the ones below.
 

 

The K rate is definitely odd, whether it's by design or a case of his no longer being able to fool people I'd argue it's too early to tell.

[TrumBomb]

Good start by Noah. Get some effing runs for him